Biological processes modelling for MBR systems: A review of the state-of-the-art focusing on SMP and EPS

Giorgio Mannina; Bing-Jie Ni; Jacek Makinia; Jérôme Harmand; Marion Alliet; Christoph Brepols; M Victoria Ruano; Angel Robles; Marc Heran; Hazal Gulhan; Ignasi Rodriguez-Roda; Joaquim Comas

doi:10.1016/j.watres.2023.120275

Biological processes modelling for MBR systems: A review of the state-of-the-art focusing on SMP and EPS

Water Res. 2023 Aug 15:242:120275. doi: 10.1016/j.watres.2023.120275. Epub 2023 Jun 27.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Engineering Department, Palermo University, Viale delle Scienze, Ed.8, 90128 Palermo, Italy. Electronic address: giorgio.mannina@unipa.it.
² Centre for Technology in Water and Wastewater, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales 2007, Australia.
³ Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Gdańsk University of Technology, ul. Narutowicza 11/12, 80-233 Gdańsk, Poland.
⁴ LBE-INRAE, University of Montpellier, Narbonne, France.
⁵ Laboratoire de Génie Chimique, Université de Toulouse, CNRS, INPT, UPS, Toulouse, France.
⁶ Erftverband, Wastewater Department, Am Erftverband 6, 50126 Bergheim, Germany.
⁷ Departament d'Enginyeria Química, Escola Tècnica Superior d'Enginyeria (ETSE-UV), Universitat de València, Avinguda de la Universitat s/n, 46100 Burjassot, València, Spain.
⁸ Institut Européen des Membranes, IEM, Univ Montpellier, CNRS, ENSCM, Montpellier, France.
⁹ Engineering Department, Palermo University, Viale delle Scienze, Ed.8, 90128 Palermo, Italy; Environmental Engineering Department, Civil Engineering Faculty, Istanbul Technical University, Ayazaga Campus, Maslak, 34469 Istanbul, Turkey.
¹⁰ LEQUiA, Laboratory of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, University of Girona, Campus Montilivi, 17071 Girona, Spain.
¹¹ LEQUiA, Laboratory of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, University of Girona, Campus Montilivi, 17071 Girona, Spain; Catalan Institute for Water Research (ICRA), Emili Grahit 101, 17003 Girona, Spain.

PMID: 37413746
DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2023.120275

Abstract

A mathematical correlation between biomass kinetic and membrane fouling can improve the understanding and spread of Membrane Bioreactor (MBR) technology, especially in solving the membrane fouling issues. On this behalf, this paper, produced by the International Water Association (IWA) Task Group on Membrane modelling and control, reviews the current state-of-the-art regarding the modelling of kinetic processes of biomass, focusing on modelling production and utilization of soluble microbial products (SMP) and extracellular polymeric substances (EPS). The key findings of this work show that the new conceptual approaches focus on the role of different bacterial groups in the formation and degradation of SMP/EPS. Even though several studies have been published regarding SMP modelling, there still needs to be more information due to the highly complicated SMP nature to facilitate the accurate modelling of membrane fouling. The EPS group has seldom been addressed in the literature, probably due to the knowledge deficiency concerning the triggers for production and degradation pathways in MBR systems, which require further efforts. Finally, the successful model applications showed that proper estimation of SMP and EPS by modelling approaches could optimise membrane fouling, which can influence the MBR energy consumption, operating costs, and greenhouse gas emissions.

Keywords: Biomass kinetic models; Extracellular polymeric substances; Membrane bioreactors; Soluble microbial products.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Bacteria
Biomass
Bioreactors / microbiology
Extracellular Polymeric Substance Matrix*
Membranes, Artificial*
Sewage / microbiology

Substances

Membranes, Artificial
Sewage