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The optimum air backflushing and filtration cycle was investigated for a 0.1 μm hollow fiber membrane module immersed in an activated sludge aeration tank. It was found that 15 minutes filtration and 15 minutes air backflushing gave the best result both in terms of flux stability and net cumulative permeate volume. Although this cyclic operation could not completely remove the clogging, this process improved the flux by up to 371% compared to the continuous operation. During the long term runs, three different hydraulic retention times (HRT) of 12, 6 and 3 hours, corresponding to 0.16, 0.32 and 0.64 m3/m2.d of permeate flux respectively, were investigated. Stable operation was obtained at the HRT of 12 hours. Decrease in HRT led to rapid formation of a compact cake layer on the membrane surface thus increasing the transmembrane pressure. It was also noted that filtration pressure increases with increase in bioreactor MLSS concentration. With operation time, the MLVSS/MLSS value decreased without significant effect on the process performance, indicating that inorganic mass constantly accumulated in the bioreactor. All the experimental runs produced more than 90% removal of COD, and TKN. In terms of physical, chemical, biological and bacteriological parameters, the membrane bioreactor effluent was superior to the conventional activated sludge process.

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The potentials of UF and NF membrane processes have been evaluated for separation of oil water emulsion generated from car washing operations. Using membranes, wastewater can be effectively recycled and fresh water usage could be reduced. The parameters studied were membrane type, emulsifier types, pressure and competing compounds. Both an-ionic and non-ionic emulsifiers were used for the experimental runs. The Ca2+ and Mg2+ were used as the main competitive ions. Results indicate that a polysulfone membrane caused more flux reduction than the cellulose acetate and thin film polyamide membranes. Higher concentrations of emulsifier presented negative flux decline in both UF and NF membranes. However, the presence of nonionic emulsifier in oil emulsion caused more significant flux reduction than an anionic emulsifier. The NF membrane produced higher TOC removal and less fouling than UF. The results indicate that increased competitive Ca2+ and Mg2+ ions resulted in significant positive NF flux and TOC removal.

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