Material mass balance and elemental flow analysis in a submerged anaerobic membrane bioreactor for municipal wastewater treatment towards low-carbon operation and resource recovery

Runda Du; Yisong Hu; Shiori Nitta; Jiayuan Ji; Yu-You Li

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.158586

Material mass balance and elemental flow analysis in a submerged anaerobic membrane bioreactor for municipal wastewater treatment towards low-carbon operation and resource recovery

Sci Total Environ. 2022 Dec 15:852:158586. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.158586. Epub 2022 Sep 6.

Authors

Runda Du¹, Yisong Hu², Shiori Nitta³, Jiayuan Ji⁴, Yu-You Li⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University, 6-6-06 Aramaki Aza Aoba, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8579, Japan.
² Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University, 6-6-06 Aramaki Aza Aoba, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8579, Japan; Key Lab of Northwest Water Resource, Environment and Ecology, MOE, Xi'an University of Architecture and Technology, Xi'an 710055, PR China.
³ Department of Frontier Sciences for Advanced Environment, Graduate School of Environmental Studies, Tohoku University, 6-6-20 Aoba, Aramaki-Aza, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8579, Japan.
⁴ Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University, 6-6-06 Aramaki Aza Aoba, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8579, Japan; Institute of Fluid Science, Tohoku University, 2-1-1 Katahira, Aoba-ku, Sendai 980-8577, Japan.
⁵ Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University, 6-6-06 Aramaki Aza Aoba, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8579, Japan; Department of Frontier Sciences for Advanced Environment, Graduate School of Environmental Studies, Tohoku University, 6-6-20 Aoba, Aramaki-Aza, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8579, Japan. Electronic address: gyokuyu.ri.a5@tohoku.ac.jp.

PMID: 36075441
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.158586

Abstract

The anaerobic membrane bioreactor (AnMBR) has gained huge attention as a municipal wastewater (MWW) treatment process that combined high organics removal, a low sludge yield and bioenergy recovery. In this study, a 20 L AnMBR was set up and operated steadily for 70 days in temperate conditions with an HRT of 6 h and a flux of 12 LMH for the treatment of real MWW, focusing on the behavior of the major elements (C, N, P and S) from an elemental balance perspective. The results showed that the AnMBR achieved more than 85 % COD removal, a low sludge yield (0.081 gVSS/gCOD_removed) and high methane production (0.31 L-CH₄/gCOD_removed) close to the theoretical value. The elemental flow analysis revealed that the AnMBR converted 77 % of the influent COD to methane (57 % gaseous and 20 % dissolved) and 6 % of the COD for sludge production. In addition, the AnMBR converted 34 % of the total carbon to energy-generated carbon, and only 3 % was in the form of CO₂ in the biogas for further upgradation, which was in line with the concept of carbon neutrality. Since little nitrogen or phosphorus were removed, the permeate was nutrient-rich and further treatment to recover the nutrients would be required. This study illustrates the superior performance of the AnMBR for MWW treatment with a microscopic view of elemental behavior and provides a reference for implementing the mainstream AnMBR process in carbon-neutral wastewater treatment plants.

Keywords: Anaerobic membrane bioreactor; Biogas energy; Elemental flow; Material balance; Real municipal wastewater.

MeSH terms

Anaerobiosis
Biofuels
Bioreactors
Carbon
Carbon Dioxide
Membranes, Artificial
Methane
Nitrogen
Phosphorus
Sewage*
Waste Disposal, Fluid / methods
Wastewater
Water Purification* / methods

Substances

Sewage
Waste Water
Biofuels
Carbon
Carbon Dioxide
Membranes, Artificial
Methane
Phosphorus
Nitrogen