Modeling prediction of membrane bioreactor process with the concept of soluble microbial product

The existence of soluble microbial products (SMP) produced by microbial cultures involved in biological wastewater treatment process has been widely investigated. This paper aims to establish an available mathematical model by incorporating the SMP concept into the Activated Sludge Model (ASM) No. 3. Prediction of sewage treatment performance in membrane bioreactor process under intermittent aerobic condition by model simulation was presented, and the results provided a more comprehensive image for this process. It was found that SMP could not be ignored and it contributed about 15% of total COD in the reactor under HRT = 12 hr and SRT = 10 days condition. The model also provided reasonable simulation results for nitrogen, biomass concentration, and other treatment behaviors. Furthermore, the treatment performance can be predicted under various operating conditions by this proposed model.