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Published on: March 6, 2017
Pilot scale study on a new membrane bioreactor hybrid system in municipal wastewater treatment
Tien Thanh Nguyen1, Huu Hao Ngo, Wenshan Guo
1School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology Sydney, Broadway, NSW 2007, Australia.
Abstract:
A pilot scale membrane bioreactor hybrid system (MBR-HS) was evaluated for municipal wastewater treatment. This novel system comprised of a granular activated carbon-sponge fluidized bed bioreactor (GACS-FBBR) followed by a submerge membrane bioreactor (MBR) with the capacity of 2 L/min. The results indicated that the MBR-HS could effectively remove 90% DOC and 95% NH₄-N. PO₄-P removal efficiency was remained stable at about 70% throughout the experiment. Specific oxygen uptake rate (SOUR) of activated sludge increased from 0.72 to 2.21 mg O₂/g VSSh for the first 10 days and then followed by a steady stage until the end of experiment. Sludge volume index (SVI) was always below 50 mL/g, demonstrated an excellent settling properties of sludge. The system also showed an achievement in terms of low trans-membrane pressure (TMP) development rate. The TMP increasing rate was only 0.65 kPa/day, suggesting GACS-FBBR can be a promising pre-treatment for MBR.
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