State-of-the-art of membrane bioreactors: worldwide research and commercial applications in north america

Cicek, N. 2003. A review of membrane bioreactors and their potential application in the treatment of agricultural wastewater. Canadian Biosystems Engineering/Le génie des biosystèmes au Canada 45: 6.37-6.49. Membrane Bioreactors (MBRs) can be broadly defined as systems integrating biological degradation of waste products with membrane filtration. They have proven quite effective in removing organic and inorganic contaminants as well as biological entities from wastewater. Advantages of the MBR include good control of biological activity, high quality effluent free of bacteria and pathogens, smaller plant size, and higher organic loading rates. Current applications include water recycling in buildings, wastewater treatment for small communities, industrial wastewater treatment, and landfill leachate treatment. This paper summarizes the potential applications of the MBR technology for the treatment of wastewater from agricultural sources. Anaerobic digestion coupled with an aerobic/anoxic membrane bioreactor could be utilized for treating manure and wastewater from livestock operations to levels suitable for direct reuse or safe discharge to surface water bodies. Wastewater generated from industries such as slaughterhouses, meat, dairy, egg, and potato processing and liquor production could potentially be treated with MBRs resulting in compact systems producing high quality reusable water. Also effective removal of nitrates, herbicides, pesticides, and endocrine disrupting compounds may be achieved by MBRs.

A review of membrane bioreactors and their potential application in the treatment of agricultural wastewater

https://bib.irb.hr/datoteka/195868.biores_technol.JApdf.pdf

High nitrate removal from synthetic wastewater with the mixed bacterial culture.

The perchlorate anion (ClO 4 -) has been found in potentially harmful concentrations in numerous water sources. Because perchlorate is not removed by conventional water treatment processes, new treatment processes are needed. Biological perchlorate reduction is a promising alternative. The authors investigated a hydrogen-oxidizing hollow-fiber membrane-biofilm reactor system for perchlorate removal. Hydrogen is an ideal electron donor for biological drinking water treatment because it presents no toxicity, is inexpensive, and is unlikely to persist as a source of biological instability in distributions systems. The reactor delivers hydrogen in an efficient and safe manner. Results showed that biological perchlorate reduction takes place concurrently with nitrate reduction, no specialized inoculation is required, and perchlorate can be removed to below the preliminary regulatory standards with no chemical addition other than hydrogen gas. The optimal pH is 8, and the accumulation of intermediates is unlikely. Full denitrification and pH control may be required for excellent perchlorate removal.

Perchlorate reduction in a HYDROGEN-BASED MEMBRANE–BIOFILM REACTOR

Biological reactors currently treat nearly 30 million liters of perchlorate-contamined groundwater per day, and in situ treatment techniques are now showing success at the field scale.

http://pubs.acs.org/doi/pdf/10.1021/es053280x

Perchlorate biodegradation for water treatment.

Drinking water denitrification in a membrane bioreactor

Some fundamental data on biological denitrification with ethanol are reported. The optimal pH was found to be about 8. At that pH, the carbon requirements were estimated to be 1.4–1.5 g C.g‐1N. Within the temperature range of 10–40°C, the dependence of the specific denitrification activity on temperature and pH was expressed mathematically, and showed that a temperature change of 10°C affected the specific activity by a factor 1.9. The activation energy of the denitrification reaction was 38.3 kJ.mol‐1. The specific denitrification activity had an average value of 0.16 kg N‐NO3 ‐.kg‐1MLSS.d‐1 at the optimal pH and 20°C. A pilot plant study of a membrane bioreactor showed that the shear stress on the ultrafiltration membranes did not affect the specific denitrification activity of the sludge. The suspended solids concentration in the bioreactor had little influence on the permeation flux through the membranes. An increase in the nitrate volumetric load by a factor of 3.3 did not impair the effluen...

H. Myoga

Papers

Drinking water denitrification in a membrane bioreactor

Biological denitrification with ethanol in a membrane bioreactor