Patterned Membrane in an Energy-Efficient Tilted Panel Filtration System for Fouling Control in Activated Sludge Filtration

Abstract

A membrane bioreactor enhances the overall biological performance of a conventional activated sludge system for wastewater treatment by producing high-quality effluent suitable for reuse. However, membrane fouling hinders the widespread application of membrane bioreactors by reducing the hydraulic performance, shortening membrane lifespan, and increasing the operational costs for membrane fouling management. This study assesses the combined effect of membrane surface corrugation and a tilted panel in enhancing the impact of air bubbling for membrane fouling control in activated sludge filtration, applicable for membrane bioreactors. The filterability performance of such a system was further tested under variable parameters: Filtration cycle, aeration rate, and intermittent aeration. Results show that a combination of surface corrugation and panel tilting enhances the impact of aeration and leads to 87% permeance increment. The results of the parametric study shows that the highest permeance was achieved under short filtration–relaxation cycle of 5 min, high aeration rate of 1.5 L/min, and short switching period of 2.5 min, to yield the permeances of 465 ± 18, 447 ± 2, and 369 ± 9 L/(m2h bar), respectively. The high permeances lead to higher operational flux that helps to lower the membrane area as well as energy consumption. Initial estimation of the fully aerated system yields the energy input of 0.152 kWh/m3, much lower than data from the full-scale references of <0.4 kWh/m3. Further energy savings and a lower system footprint can still be achieved by applying the two-sided panel with a switching system, which will be addressed in the future.

Development of Polyvinylidene Fluoride Membrane via Assembly of Tannic Acid and Polyvinylpyrrolidone for Filtration of Oil/Water Emulsion

“…The membrane fouling issue suffered by the membranes can further be addressed by optimizing operational parameters. Several operational approaches can be considered, to name a few, improved bubbling [39], imposing surface patterning [40], employing enhanced module or spacer system [41,42], or rotating spacer [43].…”

Halloysite Nanotube-Ferrihydrite Incorporated Polyethersulfone Mixed Matrix Membrane: Effect of Nanocomposite Loading on the Antifouling Performance

“…The surface of the pristine membrane appeared to be smooth with only slight apparent surface pores, as opposed to those with nanoparticles and PVP as additives in which surface pores are clearly visible. This morphological characteristic of the modified membrane has contributed to its increased hydrophilic properties, as detailed elsewhere [ 44 , 45 ]. The increasing loading of HNT-HFO together with the presence of PVP affect the surface pore formation and the morphology in the modified membranes, as also reported elsewhere [ 45 ].…”

Detergent and Water Recovery from Laundry Wastewater Using Tilted Panel Membrane Filtration System

“…It can be attributed to the randomness of measurement and was not addressed in great detail, particularly since it did not affect the trend on the effect of aeration rate on hydraulic performance. It is worth noting that substantial improvement in performance can be expected when optimum parameters and membranes materials are applied in the tilted panel system as demonstrated elsewhere [ 34 , 35 ].…”