Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 3, 2026
A Novel Bioreactor for High Density Cultivation of Diverse Microbial Communities
Published on: December 25, 2015
Biocarriers facilitated gravity-driven membrane (GDM) reactor for wastewater reclamation: Effect of intermittent
Seonki Lee1, Matthias Sutter2, Michael Burkhardt2
1Singapore Membrane Technology Centre, Nanyang Environment and Water Research Institute, Nanyang Technological University, 1 Cleantech Loop, Clean Tech One 06-08, 637141, Singapore; School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, 50 Nanyang Avenue, 639798, Singapore.
Abstract:
This study investigated the performances of gravity-driven membrane (GDM) reactors integrated with granule activated carbon (GAC) biofilm process for wastewater treatment under different intermittent aeration cycles (intensity and frequency). The results showed the removal efficiencies of dissolved organic carbon, total nitrogen, ammonia were significantly improved under intermittent aeration conditions (~86-87%, ~29-37%, and ~83-99%, respectively) compared to non-aeration condition (~72% and ~18%, and ~17%, respectively). In addition, it was found that the intermittent aeration significantly reduced the cake layer resistance and therefore improved ~130-300% the permeate flux compared to control without aeration. Microbial community analysis indicated that prokaryotic and eukaryotic compositions in the cake layer biofilm were significantly influenced by aeration condition. Lastly, energy consumption analysis revealed that GAC + GDM with shorter aeration period and low aeration intensity could be promising as a decentralized wastewater treatment process in terms of water quality and operating energy.
