Long term operation performance and membrane fouling mechanisms of anaerobic membrane bioreactor treating waste activated sludge at high solid concentration and high flux

Guangze Guo; Yemei Li; Shitong Zhou; Yujie Chen; Kampachiro Urasaki; Yu Qin; Kengo Kubota; Yu-You Li

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.157435

Long term operation performance and membrane fouling mechanisms of anaerobic membrane bioreactor treating waste activated sludge at high solid concentration and high flux

Sci Total Environ. 2022 Nov 10:846:157435. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.157435. Epub 2022 Jul 18.

Authors

Guangze Guo¹, Yemei Li², Shitong Zhou¹, Yujie Chen³, Kampachiro Urasaki³, Yu Qin³, Kengo Kubota⁴, Yu-You Li⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Frontier Science for Advanced Environment, Graduate School of Environmental Studies, Tohoku University, 6-6-20 Aoba, Aramaki-Aza, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8579, Japan.
² Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University, 6-6-06 Aoba, Aramaki-Aza, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8579, Japan; Material Cycles Division, National Institute for Environmental Studies, Tsukuba 305-8506, Japan.
³ Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University, 6-6-06 Aoba, Aramaki-Aza, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8579, Japan.
⁴ Department of Frontier Science for Advanced Environment, Graduate School of Environmental Studies, Tohoku University, 6-6-20 Aoba, Aramaki-Aza, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8579, Japan; Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University, 6-6-06 Aoba, Aramaki-Aza, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8579, Japan.
⁵ Department of Frontier Science for Advanced Environment, Graduate School of Environmental Studies, Tohoku University, 6-6-20 Aoba, Aramaki-Aza, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8579, Japan; Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University, 6-6-06 Aoba, Aramaki-Aza, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8579, Japan. Electronic address: gyokuyu.ri.a5@tohoku.ac.jp.

PMID: 35863570
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.157435

Abstract

High solid anaerobic membrane bioreactor (HSAnMBR) is widely applied in biomass treatment and energy regeneration, while membrane operation performance and membrane fouling control remain critical issues. In this study, a HSAnMBR was utilized for waste activated sludge (WAS) treatment at organic loading rates of 3.69-3.72 gCOD/L·d and biogas yield was ranged in 0.38-0.39 L/gVS_fed with the COD conversion efficiency of 40 %. The membrane operated stably when the average flux was 9.6, 4.5 and 1.2 L/m²/h at mixed liquor total solid of 25, 30 and 40 g/L with a filtration: relaxation of 4:1, 1:1 and 1:2, respectively. The distinctive characteristics of membrane fouling at high solid condition were that the polysaccharides and proteins had high fouling propensity and were the main composition of the foulant layer. Furthermore, phosphorus and magnesium were the predominant causes of inorganic fouling. The minerals precipitated on the membrane and were embedded into membrane pores, contributing to cake layer formation and pore blocking. This research provided a comprehensive analysis of the membrane operation characterization and fouling mechanisms of HSAnMBR, which was expected to push forward HSAnMBR applications to WAS treatment.

Keywords: Filtration performance; Fouling mitigation; High solid AnMBR; Membrane fouling; Waste activated sludge.

MeSH terms

Anaerobiosis
Biofuels
Bioreactors*
Filtration
Membranes, Artificial
Sewage*
Solid Waste
Waste Disposal, Fluid
Wastewater

Substances

Biofuels
Membranes, Artificial
Sewage
Solid Waste
Waste Water