Abstract
Membrane bioreactor is a process for biological wastewater treatment based on suspended activated sludge. Sludge flocs and particles are separated from the treated wastewater with membranes. Depending on the application, a big variety of systems and membrane types can be used. In municipal applications, often ultrafiltration membranes with a pore size of 0.01–0.1 μm or microfiltration membranes with a pore size of up to several μm are used. Both membranes are submerged and operated outside-in.
Advantages of the membrane bioreactors include the smaller footprint compared to many other biological treatment systems, the excellent effluent quality including partial mechanical disinfection, and large independency of the sludge settling properties.
Downsides of the membranes are higher operational cost compared to conventional treatment technologies (including energy, chemicals, and wear parts).
The right system should carefully be chosen based on effluent requirements and existing structures or spatial requirements.
WABAG used the MBR technology in many WWTP where either space was very limited (e.g., WWTP Zermatt in a man-made cavern inside the mountain) or where the effluent requirement asked for a membrane solution. MBR applications typically include plants, where treatment capacity had to be increased substantially within existing structures of a conventional treatment plant.
WABAG mainly applies hollow fiber UF membranes.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Abbreviations
- BW:
-
Backwash
- CAPEX:
-
Capital expenditures
- CAS:
-
Conventional activated sludge (technology)
- COD:
-
Chemical oxygen demand
- DOC:
-
Dissolved organic carbon
- MF:
-
Microfiltration
- MLD:
-
Millions of liters per day
- MLSS:
-
Mixed liquor suspended solids
- MWCO:
-
Molecular weight cutoff
- NOM:
-
Natural organic matter
- OPEX:
-
Operational expenditures
- PAC:
-
Powder activated carbon
- PES:
-
Polyether sulfone
- PVDF:
-
Polyvinylidene difluoride
- RAS:
-
Return activated sludge
- SS:
-
Suspended solids
- TCC:
-
Total cell count
- TMP:
-
Transmembrane pressure
- UF:
-
Ultrafiltration
- UV:
-
Ultraviolet
- WWTP:
-
Wastewater treatment plant
References
Brepols C, Drensla K, Janot A, Trimborn M, Engelhardt N (2008) Strategies for chemical cleaning in large scale membrane bioreactors. Water Sci Technol 57(3):457–463. https://doi.org/10.2166/wst.2008.112
Brepols C, Schäfer H, Engelhardt N (2010) Considerations on the design and financial feasibility of full-scale membrane bioreactors for municipal applications. Water Sci Technol 61(10):2461–2468. https://doi.org/10.2166/wst.2010.179
Brindle K, Stephenson T (1996) The application of membrane biological reactors for the treatment of wastewaters. Biotechnol Bioeng 49(6):601–610. https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1097-0290(19960320)49:6<601::AID-BIT1>3.0.CO;2-S
Defrance L, Jaffrin MY (1999) Comparison between filtrations at fixed transmembrane pressure and fixed permeate flux: application to a membrane bioreactor used for wastewater treatment. J Membr Sci 152(2):203–210. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0376-7388(98)00220-8
GWI (2017) Breaking down the barriers for membrane bioreactors. Global Water Intell 18(13):42–47
Hoinkis J, Deowan SA, Panten V, Figoli A, Huang RR, Drioli E (2012) Membrane bioreactor (MBR) technology – a promising approach for industrial water reuse. Proc Eng 33(2009):234–241. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.proeng.2012.01.1199
Huyskens C, Brauns E, Van Hoof E, De Wever H (2008) A new method for the evaluation of the reversible and irreversible fouling propensity of MBR mixed liquor. J Membr Sci 323(1):185–192. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.memsci.2008.06.021
Judd S (2008) The status of membrane bioreactor technology. Trends Biotechnol 26(2):109–116. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tibtech.2007.11.005
Judd SJ (2016) The status of industrial and municipal effluent treatment with membrane bioreactor technology. Chem Eng J 305:37–45. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2015.08.141
Judd S, Kim B, Amy G (2008) Membrane bioreactors. In: Henze M et al. (eds) Biological wastewater treatment. IWA Publishing, London, pp 335–360. https://www.iwapublishing.com/books/9781843391883/biological-wastewater-treatment
Krzeminski P, Leverette L, Malamis S, Katsou E (2017) Membrane bioreactors – a review on recent developments in energy reduction, fouling control, novel configurations, LCA and market prospects. J Membr Sci 527(December 2016):207–227. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.memsci.2016.12.010
Lesjean B, Tazi-Pain A, Thaure D, Moeslang H, Buisson H (2011) Ten persistent myths and the realities of membrane bioreactor technology for municipal applications. Water Sci Technol 63(1):32–39. https://doi.org/10.2166/wst.2011.005
Marrot B, Barrios-Martinez A, Moulin P, Roche N (2004) Industrial wastewater treatment in a membrane bioreactor: a review. Environ Prog 23(1):59–68. https://doi.org/10.1002/ep.10001
Melin T, Jefferson B, Bixio D, Thoeye C, De Wilde W, De Koning J et al (2006) Membrane bioreactor technology for wastewater treatment and reuse. Desalination 187(1–3):271–282. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.desal.2005.04.086
Meng F, Zhang S, Oh Y, Zhou Z, Shin HS, Chae SR (2017) Fouling in membrane bioreactors: an updated review. Water Res 114:151–180. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2017.02.006
Mutamim NSA, Noor ZZ, Hassan MAA, Olsson G (2012) Application of membrane bioreactor technology in treating high strength industrial wastewater: a performance review. Desalination 305:1–11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.desal.2012.07.033
Ng ANL, Kim AS (2007) A mini-review of modeling studies on membrane bioreactor (MBR) treatment for municipal wastewaters. Desalination 212(1–3):261–281. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.desal.2006.10.013
Smith CW, Di Gregorio D, Talcott RM (1969) The use of ultrafiltration membrane for activated sludge separation. In: 24th annual Purdue industrial waste conference. Purdue University, West Lafayette, pp 1300–1310
Tchobanoglous G, Burton FL, Stensel HD (2003) Wastewater engineering: treatment and reuse. Metcalf & Eddy, Inc. engineering, vol 4. https://doi.org/10.1016/0309-1708(80)90067-6
Tewari PK, Singh RK, Batra VS, Balakrishnan M (2010) Membrane bioreactor (MBR) for wastewater treatment: filtration performance evaluation of low cost polymeric and ceramic membranes. Sep Purif Technol 71(2):200–204. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.seppur.2009.11.022
Ueda T, Hata K (1999) Technical note domestic wastewater treatment by a submerged membrane bioreactor with gravitational filtration. Water Resour 33(12):2888–2892. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0043-1354(98)00518-1
Van Dijk L, Roncken GCG (1997) Membrane bioreactors for wastewater treatment: the state of the art and new developments. Water Sci Technol. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0273-1223(97)00219-9
Wintgens T, Rosen J, Melin T, Brepols C, Drensla K, Engelhardt N (2003) Modelling of a membrane bioreactor system for municipal wastewater treatment. J Membr Sci 216(1–2):55–65. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0376-7388(03)00046-2
Wu J, Chen F, Huang X, Geng W, Wen X (2006) Using inorganic coagulants to control membrane fouling in a submerged membrane bioreactor. Desalination 197(1–3):124–136. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.desal.2005.11.026
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this entry
Cite this entry
Lehmann, C. (2020). Membrane Bioreactors in Municipal Used Water Purification. In: Lahnsteiner, J. (eds) Handbook of Water and Used Water Purification. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-66382-1_121-1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-66382-1_121-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-66382-1
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-66382-1
eBook Packages: Springer Reference Earth and Environm. ScienceReference Module Physical and Materials ScienceReference Module Earth and Environmental Sciences