10 years of Industrial & Municipal MBR Systems Lessons from the field

Abstract

The use of Membrane Bio-Reactors (MBR) in activated sludge wastewater treatment has grown significantly in the last decade. While there is growing awareness and knowledge about the application of MBR technology in municipal wastewater treatment, not much information is available on the application of MBR in industrial wastewater treatment. A comparative study of 24 MBR plants both municipal and industrial built by, and or operated by Praxair Inc. is presented. Of the 24 MBR systems described, 12 of the plants use high purity oxygen (HPO). By allowing a wide range of F/M ratios and loading conditions in the same system, HPO MBR systems can extend the options available to plant operators for impacting process variables as MLSS. While fouling can be an issue, adequate flux and permeability values can be reliably maintained by the use of good maintenance strategies and effective process controls (pretreatment, cleaning and membrane autopsies).