A Pilot-Plant Test of a Membrane Bioreactor with a Novel Membrane Made from Chlorinated Poly (Vinyl Chloride) (CPVC) and Hydroxy-Propyl Cellulose

Abstract

A pilot-plant test that can treat an amount of 30 ton per day of wastewater is performed. The purpose of this test is to prove the usefulness and applicability of newly developed microfiltration membranes made from chlorinated poly (vinyl chloride) and polyester nonwoven. Here, the hydrophilicity of membranes is important and hydroxyl-propyl cellulose is used to mitigate their hydrophobicity. The membrane consists of the novel structure in which small particles made from hydroxyl-propyl cellulose gel are homogeneously dispersed and attached on the surface of micro fibrils in the structure. The result of the pilot-plant test shows that the newly developed membrane has anti-fouling properties better than that of a conventional membrane made from chlorinated poly (vinyl chloride) by another company. It still shows high hydrophilicity after the use of one year, while the conventional one loses such properties. Saving electricity in producing water is one of important issues in developing membrane bioreactor systems and the case in use of newly-developed membranes is revealed to need 2.0 kWh of electricity to produce 1 m 3 of filtered water. This amount is fairly good and reasonable when the pilot-plant test is considered to belong to a medium-size facility.

Long Term Pilot MBR Test for a Newly Developed Flat Sheet Membrane Made from Chlorinated Polyvinyl Chloride in Treatment of Kitchen Wastewater from a Cafeteria

“…The applicability of the newly developed membrane for treating municipal sewage has been already demonstrated in separate publications [13][14][15] and the MBR operational condition of water temperature in this experiment has been shown to be stable during whole years. But the applicability of this membrane has not been demonstrated well in a low water temperature condition, yet.…”