Bioprocess and Biosystems Engineering

, Volume 30, Issue 4, pp 217–224 | Cite as

Carbon membrane-aerated biofilm reactor for synthetic wastewater treatment

  • Huijun Liu
  • Fenglin Yang
  • Tonghua Wang
  • Qiang Liu
  • Shaowei Hu
Original Paper
First Online:
Received:
Accepted:

Abstract

A carbon membrane-aerated biofilm reactor (CMABR) was developed to treat synthetic wastewater. Such membrane exhibited a high degree of adhesion and good permeability. Continuous experiments showed that COD and \( {\text{NH}}^{ + }_{4} \)-N removal efficiency were 90 ± 2 and 92 ± 4% at removal rates of 35.6 ± 3.8 g COD/m2 per day and 9.3 ± 0.6 g \( {\text{NH}}^{ + }_{4} \)-N/m2 per day, respectively. After 108 days, effluent total nitrogen (TN) kept at 35 ± 4 mg/L when influent \( {\text{NH}}^{ + }_{4} \)-N increased to 144–164 mg/L and removal efficiency of TN reached 78 ± 3%. Furthermore, Stoichiometric analysis revealed that 70–90% of oxygen supplied was consumed by nitrifier. Scanning electron microscopic (SEM) images and component analysis of penetrating fluid revealed that extracellular polymeric substance (EPS) adhered to pore and that alkaline washing was an effective method to remove them. The study demonstrated that carbon membrane could be used as effective gas-permeable membrane in MABR for wastewater treatment.

Keywords

Carbon membrane Membrane-aerated biofilm reactor (MABR) Removal efficiency Scanning electron microscopic (SEM) Extracellular polymeric substance (EPS) 
This is a preview of subscription content, log in to check access.

Notes

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the National Science Council of China for financially supporting this research under contract no. 50578023.

References

  1. 1.
    Zhang TC, Fu YC, Bishop PL (1995) Competition for Substrate and Space in Biofilms. Water Environ Res 67(6):992–1003CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  2. 2.
    Parke DS, Romano LS, Horneck HS (1988) Making a trickling filter/solids contact process work for cold weather nitrification and phosphorus removal. Water Environ Res 70(2):181–188CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  3. 3.
    Timberlake DL, Strand SE, Williamsonm KJ (1988) Combined aerobic heterotrophic oxidation, nitrification and denitrification in a permeable-support biofilm. Water Res 22(12):1513–1517CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  4. 4.
    Semmens MJ, Dahm K, Shanahan J, Christianson A (2003) COD and nitrogen removal by biofilms growing on gas permeable membranes. Water Res 37:4343–4350CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  5. 5.
    Satoh H, Ono H, Rulin B, Kamo J, Okabe S, Fukushi K (2004) Macroscale and microscale analyses of nitrification and denitrification in biofilms attached on membrane aerated biofilm reactors. Water Res 38:1633–1641CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  6. 6.
    Brindle K, Stephenson T, Semmens MJ (1998) Nitrification and oxygen utilisation in a membrane aeration bioreactor. J Membr Sci 144:197–209CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  7. 7.
    Terada A, Hibiya K, Nagai J, Tsuneda S, Hirata AJ (2003) Nitrogen removal characteristics and biofilm analysis of a membrane-aerated biofilm reactor applicable to high-strength nitrogenous wastewater treatment. Biosci Bioeng 95(2):170–178Google Scholar
  8. 8.
    Pankhania M, Stephenson T, Semmens MJ (1994) Hollow fibre bioreactor for wastewater treatment using bubbleless membrane aeration. Water Res 28(10):2233–2236CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  9. 9.
    Takesono S, Onodera M, Toda K, Yoshida M, Yamagiwa K, Ohkawa A (2006) Improvement of foam breaking and oxygen-transfer performance in a stirred-tank fermenter. Bioproc Biosyst Eng 28(4):235–242CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  10. 10.
    Reij MW, Keurentjies JTF, Harrmans SJ (1998) Membrane bioreactors for waste gas treatment. Biotechnol 59:155–167CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  11. 11.
    Ismail AF, David LIB (2001) A review on the latest development of carbon membranes for gas separation. J Membr Sci 193:1–18CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  12. 12.
    Wang TH, Liu SHQ, You BL (1998) Preparation of a tube carbon membrane supporter with coal precursor. Coal Conversion 21(3):73–76Google Scholar
  13. 13.
    Semmens MJ (1991) Bubbleless Aeration. Water Eng Manage 138(4):18–19Google Scholar
  14. 14.
    Terada A, Yamamoto T, Hibiya K, Tsuneda S, Hirata A (2004) Enhancement of biofilm formation onto surface-modified hollow-fiber membranes and its application to a membrane-aerated biofilm reactor. Water Sci Technol 49(11–12):263–268Google Scholar
  15. 15.
    APHA/AWWA/WEF(1995) Standard methods for the examination of water and wastewater, 19th edn. American Public Health Association, WashingtonGoogle Scholar
  16. 16.
    Dubois M, Gilles KA, Hamilton JK, Rebers PA, Smith F (1956) Colorimetric method for determination of sugars and related substances. Anal Chem 28:350–356CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  17. 17.
    Lowery OH, Rosebrough NJ, Farr AL, Randall RJ (1951) Protein measurement with the folin phenol reagent. J Biol Chem 193:265–275Google Scholar
  18. 18.
    Casey E, Glennon B, Hamer G (1999) Oxygen mass transfer characteristics in a membrane-aerated biofilm reactor. Biotech Bioeng 62:183–192CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  19. 19.
    Schroeder ED (1985) Nitrification in activated sludge processes. Compr Biotechnol 4:871–880Google Scholar
  20. 20.
    Ahmed T, Semmens MJ, Voss MA (2004) Oxygen transfer characteristics of hollow-fiber, composite membranes. Adv Environ Res 8(3–4):637–646CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  21. 21.
    Andreadakis AD (1987) A comparative study of the air and oxygen activated sludge systems. Environ Technol Lett 8:209–220CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  22. 22.
    Cote P, Bersillon JL, Faup G (1988) Bubble free aeration using membranes: process analysis. J Water Pollut Control Fed 60(11):1986–1992Google Scholar
  23. 23.
    Wilderer PA, Brautigam J, Sekoulov I (1985) Application of gas permeable membranes for auxiliary oxygenation of sequencing batch reactors. Conserv Recyl (1–2):181–192Google Scholar
  24. 24.
    Osa JJ, Eguia E, Vidart T, Jacome A, Lordal I, Amieva JJ, Tejero I (1997) Water treatment with biofilm membrane reactors. In: International conference on advanced wastewater treatment process. Leeds University, UKGoogle Scholar
  25. 25.
    Casey E, Glennon B, G. Hamer (2000) Biofilm development in a membrane-aerated biofilm reactor; effect of flow velocity on performance. Biotech Bioeng 67:476–486CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  26. 26.
    Cole AC, Semmens MJ, Lapara TM (2004) Stratification of activity and bacterial community structure in biofilms grown on membranes transferring oxygen. Appl Environ Microbiol 70:1982–1989CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Copyright information

© Springer-Verlag 2007

Authors and Affiliations

  • Huijun Liu
    • 1
  • Fenglin Yang
    • 1
  • Tonghua Wang
    • 2
  • Qiang Liu
    • 1
  • Shaowei Hu
    • 1
  1. 1.School of Environmental and Biological Science and TechnologyDalian University of TechnologyDalianChina
  2. 2.School of Chemical EngineeringDalian University of TechnologyDalianChina

Personalised recommendations