Membrane distillation as post-treatment for anaerobic fluidized bed membrane bioreactor for organic and nitrogen removal

Low energy-consumption oriented membrane fouling control strategy in anaerobic fluidized membrane bioreactor

Anaerobic fluidized membrane bioreactors (AFMBR) has attracted growing interest as an emerging wastewater treatment technology towards energy recovery from wastewater. AFMBR combines the advantages of anaerobic digestion and membrane bioreactors and shows great potential in overcoming limiting factors such as membrane fouling and low efficiency in treating low-strength wastewater such as domestic sewage. In AFMBR, the fluidized media performs significant role in reducing the membrane fouling, as well as improving the anaerobic microbial activity of AFMBRs. Despite extensive research aimed at mitigating membrane fouling in AFMBR, there has yet to emerge a comprehensive review focusing on strategies for controlling membrane fouling with an emphasis on low energy consumption. Thus, this work overviews the recent progress of AFMBR by summarizing the factors of membrane fouling and energy consumption in AFMBR, and provides targeted in-depth analysis of energy consumption related to membrane fouling control. Additionally, future development directions for AFMBR are also outlooked, and further promotion of AFMBR engineering application is expected. By shedding light on the relationship between energy consumption and membrane fouling control, this review offers a useful information for developing new AFMBR processes with an improved efficiency, low membrane fouling and low energy consumption, and encourages more research efforts and technological advancements in the domain of AFMBR.

Membrane Technologies for Nitrogen Recovery from Waste Streams: Scientometrics and Technical Analysis

The concerns regarding the reactive nitrogen levels exceeding the planetary limits are well documented in the literature. A large portion of anthropogenic nitrogen ends in wastewater. Nitrogen removal in typical wastewater treatment processes consumes a considerable amount of energy. Nitrogen recovery can help in saving energy and meeting the regulatory discharge limits. This has motivated researchers and industry professionals alike to devise effective nitrogen recovery systems. Membrane technologies form a fundamental part of these systems. This work presents a thorough overview of the subject using scientometric analysis and presents an evaluation of membrane technologies guided by literature findings. The focus of nitrogen recovery research has shifted over time from nutrient concentration to the production of marketable products using improved membrane materials and designs. A practical approach for selecting hybrid systems based on the recovery goals has been proposed. A comparison between membrane technologies in terms of energy requirements, recovery efficiency, and process scale showed that gas permeable membrane (GPM) and its combination with other technologies are the most promising recovery techniques and they merit further industry attention and investment. Recommendations for potential future search trends based on industry and end users' needs have also been proposed.

Modeling and Life Cycle Assessment of a Membrane Bioreactor–Membrane Distillation Wastewater Treatment System for Potable Reuse

Wastewater treatment for indirect potable reuse (IPR) is a possible approach to address water scarcity. In this study, a novel membrane bioreactor–membrane distillation (MBR-MD) system was evaluated to determine the environmental impacts of treatment compared to an existing IPR facility (“Baseline”). Physical and empirical models were used to obtain operational data for both systems and inform a life cycle inventory. Life cycle assessment (LCA) was used to compare the environmental impacts of each system. Results showed an average 53.7% reduction in environmental impacts for the MBR-MD system when waste heat is used to operate MD; however, without waste heat, the environmental impacts of MBR-MD are significantly higher, with average impacts ranging from 218% to 1400% greater than the Baseline, depending on the proportion of waste heat used. The results of this study demonstrate the effectiveness of the novel MBR-MD system for IPR and the reduced environmental impacts when waste heat is available to power MD.

Rejections and membrane fouling of submerged direct contact hollow-fiber membrane distillation as post-treatment for anaerobic fluidized bed bioreactor treating domestic sewage

In this study, submerged direct contact membrane distillation (SDCMD) with a hollow-fiber membrane was applied as a post-treatment for an anaerobic fluidized bed bioreactor (AFBR) treating domestic sewage. The rejection efficiency of organic contaminants and nutrients, such as ammonia nitrogen and phosphate in SDCMD were investigated. As the transmembrane temperature difference increased, the permeate flux of SDCMD increased, while the rejection efficiency of ammonia nitrogen decreased. Regardless of the transmembrane temperature applied in this study, rejection efficiencies greater than 90% were achieved for organics and phosphate by SDCMD treatment of the AFBR effluent. A higher solution pH resulted in a lower ammonia nitrogen rejection efficiency, probably because nitrogen dominantly exists in the gaseous form and can easily pass through the hollow-fiber membrane. Long-term operation with the integrated AFBR-SDCMD process over 50 d at a transmembrane temperature of 30 °C and solution pH of 5.5 showed rejection efficiencies of 98.7%, 98.1%, and 90.5% for ammonia nitrogen, phosphate, and dissolved organic carbon (DOC), respectively. During the entire integrated process for treating domestic sewage, both DOC and nutrients present in the bulk solution of the SDCMD reactor were effectively removed to a concentrate. However, the permeate flux produced by the SDCMD membrane decreased over time, mainly because of the progressive biofouling.

Optimal cleaning strategy to alleviate fouling in membrane distillation process to treat anaerobic digestate

This paper deals with the membrane fouling issue in the Direct Contact Membrane Distillation (DCMD) process treating a wasted sludge from an anaerobic digestion process. The main objective is to define an optimal cleaning strategy to alleviate fouling. Using a lab scale DCMD process, a cleaning strategy based on DI water flushing followed by 0.2% sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl) and 3% citric acid (C₆H₈O₇) cleaning was tested with different cleaning frequencies and various chemical cleaning durations at different cross-flow velocities. To avoid severe fouling, the optimal cross-flow velocity was found at 0.18 m/s (0.8 L/min). Moreover, even if higher cross-flow velocity allows higher flux, it could increase fouling risks. For a better membrane regeneration and process productivity, a cleaning of 60 min duration for each chemical cleaning applied every two days was defined as the optimal cleaning strategy. Such conditions allowed the preservation of 75.5% of the initial flux after 96 h of operation. Furthermore, the effect on membrane flux regeneration of DI water flushing, sodium hypochlorite, and citric acid cleaning registered were, 31.52%, 11.95% and 20.65%, respectively. This study revealed that in the MD process treating real wastewater both external and internal fouling are responsible of permeate flux decline due to the accumulation of organic and inorganic matter on the membrane surface as well as within the pores.

Laboratory Scale Evaluation of Fertiliser Factory Wastewater Treatment through Membrane Distillation and Reverse Osmosis

The incumbent water stress scenario imposes wastewater valorisation to freshwater, promoting technology for its effective treatment. Wastewater from fertiliser factories is quite problematic because of its relevant acidity and solute content. Its treatment through vacuum membrane distillation (VMD) was evaluated through laboratory scale tests at 40 °C and 25 mbar vacuum pressure with polytetrafluoroethylene and polypropylene flat-sheet porous membranes. The wastewater from a partially disused Italian industrial site was considered. VMD distillate fluxes between 22 and 57.4 L m^-2 h^-1 (LMH), depending on the pore size of the membranes, along with very high retention (R > 99%) for anions (Cl^-, NO₃^-, SO₄^2-, PO₄^3-), NH₄⁺, and chemical oxygen demand (COD) were observed. Laboratory scale reverse osmosis (RO) tests at 25 °C and increasing of the operating pressure (from 20 bar to 40 bar) were carried out with a seawater desalination membrane for comparison purposes. Permeability values around 1.1 LMH/bar almost independently of the operating pressure were observed. Lower retentions than those measured from VMD tests were found. Finally, for any given RO operating pressure, the flux recovery ratio (FRR) calculated from permeate fluxes measured with pure water before and after wastewater treatment was always much lower that evaluated for VMD membranes.

Organic Fouling Impact in a Direct Contact Membrane Distillation System Treating Wastewater: Experimental Observations and Modeling Approach

This study aims to investigate the effect of operational conditions on organic fouling occurring in a direct contact membrane distillation (DCMD) system used to treat wastewater. A mixed solution of sodium alginate (SA) and bovine serum albumin (BSA) was used as a feed solution to simulate polysaccharides and proteins, respectively, assumed as the main organic foulants. The permeate flux was observed at two feed temperatures 35 and 50 °C, as well as three feed solution pH 4, 6, and 8. Higher permeate flux was observed for higher feed temperature, which allows higher vapor pressure. At higher pH, a smaller particle size was detected with lower permeate flux. A mathematical model based on mass balance was developed to simulate permeate flux with time by assuming (i) the cake formation controlled by attachment and detachment of foulant materials and (ii) the increase in specific cake resistance, the function of the cake porosity, as the main mechanisms controlling membrane fouling to investigate the fouling mechanism responsible of permeate flux decline. The model fitted well with the experimental data with R² superior to 0.9. High specific cake resistance fostered by small particle size would be responsible for the low permeate flux observed at pH 8.

Hybrid forward osmosis/membrane distillation integrated with anaerobic fluidized bed bioreactor for advanced wastewater treatment

Forward osmosis (FO)-membrane distillation (MD) process was integrated with anaerobic fluidized bed bioreactor (AFBR) to advance wastewater treatment. Low removal efficiency of nutrients such as ammonia nitrogen was improved significantly by combining FO-MD process with AFBR. The MD membrane was applied to concentrate the draw solution (DS) which can be diluted by FO filtration. By using 1 M of NaCl as DS, about 80% of ammonia nitrogen was further removed by the FO membrane while the phosphorous was removed almost completely (99%). However, the accumulation of ammonia nitrogen in DS and the reverse salt flux through the FO membrane was unavoidable. Nevertheless, combining MD membrane produced excellent removal efficiency yielding only 4 and 5.6 mg/L of ammonia nitrogen and chemical oxygen demand (COD) in MD permeate, respectively at 15 ℃ of transmembrane temperature. Alternatively, there is the possibility that the FO-MD process can be superior to concentrate resources such as nitrogen and phosphorous present in AFBR. The reverse salt flux from DS into AFBR bulk suspension did not show adverse effects on the performances of bioreactor with respect to COD removal efficiency, conductivity and methane production during operational period. Deposit of the fouling layer on FO membrane was also observed, but the fouling on MD membrane was not severe probably because crystallization rate could be retarded by diluting the DS during FO filtration.

Improvement of Membrane Distillation Using PVDF Membrane Incorporated with TiO2 Modified by Silane and Optimization of Fabricating Conditions

The objectives in this study are to improve the performance of PVDF membrane by incorporating TiO₂ and silane at various dosages and optimize fabricating conditions by using response surface methodology (RSM) for membrane distillation (MD) application. The PVDF membrane was synthesized by phase inversion method using various TiO₂, silane and polymer concentrations. Membranes were characterized by performing contact angle measurements, SEM and FTIR observations. Ammonia rejection and permeate flux were measured by operating a direct contact distillation module treating ammonium chloride solution. A PVDF membrane created by adding TiO₂ modified by silane improved membrane hydrophobicity. However, the effect of silane on membrane hydrophobicity was less pronounced at higher TiO₂ concentrations. Highest ammonium rejection was associated with the highest membrane hydrophobicity. RSM analysis showed that fabricating conditions to achieve highest flux (10.10 L/m²·h) and ammonium rejection (100.0%) could be obtained at 31.3% silane, 2.50% TiO₂, and 15.48% polymer concentrations. With a PVDF-TiO₂ composite membrane for MD application, the effect of TiO₂ was dependent upon silane concentration. Increasing silane concentration improved membrane hydrophobicity and ammonium rejection. RSM analysis was found to bea useful way to explore optimum fabricating conditions of membranes for the permeate flux and ammonium rejection in MD.

Permeate Flux and Rejection Behavior in Submerged Direct Contact Membrane Distillation Process Treating a Low-Strength Synthetic Wastewater

The effects of operational conditions such as permeate recirculation velocity, mixing intensity, and trans-membrane temperature on the performances of hydrophobic polyethylene (PE) hollow-fiber membrane were investigated by operating the submerged direct contact membrane distillation (SDCMD) process treating a synthetic low-strength wastewater. Permeate flux of the membrane increased with increasing a permeate recirculation velocity through the fiber lumen. However, the effectiveness was less pronounced as the velocity was higher than 0.5 m/s. Increasing rotational speed to 600 rpm, which can lead to mixing intensity from a bulk wastewater toward hollow-fiber membrane, enhanced permeate flux. Feed temperature played a more significant role in enhancing permeate flux rather than a permeate temperature under constant trans-membrane temperature. The SDCMD process treating a synthetic low-strength wastewater achieved an excellent rejection efficiency which is higher than 97.8% for both chemical oxygen demand (CODCr) and total phosphorus (T-P) due to the hydrophobic property of membrane material which can allow water vapor through membrane. However, the rejection efficiency of the ammonia nitrogen (NH3-N) was relatively low at about 87.5% because ammonia gas could be volatized easily through membrane pores in SDCMD operation. In a long-term operation of the SDCMD process, the permeate flux decreased significantly due to progressive formation of inorganic scaling on membrane.