Field testing of polymeric mesh and ash-based ceramic membranes in a membrane bioreactor (MBR) for decentralised sewage treatment

Abstract

This paper presents the initial findings of field testing of 2 low-cost membrane filters, viz. 30 μm polymeric mesh and 2-6 μm macroporous waste-ash based ceramic filter, in a submerged membrane bioreactor (MBR) employing batch anoxic and aerobic conditions. The influent was raw wastewater from a residential complex located near Delhi, India. The results indicated that the ceramic filter was able to operate for longer periods without cleaning; however, there is a limit to the transmembrane pressure it can withstand. The suspended solids retention was high with both filters (average of 96%). Moderate reduction in chemical oxygen demand (COD), total nitrogen (NH 4 + ) and total phosphorus (PO 4 3-) was achieved. The improvements in operation required in such systems are also underlined.

Performance of Anaerobic Membrane Bioreactor (AnMBR) with Sugarcane Bagasse Ash-based Ceramic Membrane treating Simulated Low-strength Municipal Wastewater: Effect of Operation Conditions

“…SBA is primarily silica (65% by weight), with small fraction of other oxides such as alumina (0.49%) and titania (0.08%) (Umamaheswaran and Batra, 2008); the high silica content contributes to membrane strength (Jamalludin et al, 2020). SBA based membranes have been developed and tested in MBRs for treatment of industrial effluents such as distillery wastewater (Gupta et al, 2008) and oily wastewater (Jamalludin et al, 2018(Jamalludin et al, , 2020 as well as synthetic wastewater (Basu et al, 2014) and sewage (Tewari et al, 2012). To eventually mainstream the use of SBA waste-based ceramic membranes in MBRs, more research is required for optimizing the operation parameters and understanding fouling behaviour.…”