Anaerobic dynamic membrane bioreactors for synthetic blackwater treatment under room temperature and mesophilic conditions

A Novel Anaerobic Gravity-Driven Dynamic Membrane Bioreactor (AnGDMBR): Performance and Fouling Characterization

“…It is noted that, after the addition of the carrier, the TMP growth rate and the flux reduction rate decreased from 18.7 to 4.7 Pa/h and 0.07 to 0.01 L/(m 2 ·h 2 ), indicating that adding the carrier is an effective method for causing a reduction in membrane fouling [ 45 ]. Compared with other research results in Table S1 , it was found that the membrane fouling rate of the reactor was lower in this work, which could be greatly affected by the bioreactor operation (such as influent characteristics, HRT, physical cleaning methods), temperature, and other operating factors [ 8 , 13 , 46 , 47 ]. In our study, the nylon net with smaller pore sizes was used and operated under lower TMP and fluxes, leading to faster development of the DM layer with less compact [ 8 ].…”

“…-glucopyranose polysaccharides [49]. However, we note that the fouling resistance in the report of Tang, et al [23] was lower than that in Pan, et al [13], with the same temperature in Table S1, indicating that temperature could be not the only factor affecting membrane fouling resistance. In this reactor, the total membrane fouling resistance (3.2 × 10 7 m −1 ) was minimum compared with others in Table S1, which could be probably due to the smaller compact structure of the DM layers that operated under a lower pressure and flux.…”

“…Although it was found that more EPS was produced at a lower temperature, leading to faster membrane fouling [48], Pan, et al [13] showed a higher resistance at mesophilic condition compared with room temperature, which was due to the fouling induced by proteins and β- Although it was found that more EPS was produced at a lower temperature, leading to faster membrane fouling [48], Pan, et al [13] showed a higher resistance at mesophilic condition compared with room temperature, which was due to the fouling induced by proteins and βɒ -glucopyranose polysaccharides [49]. However, we note that the fouling resistance in the report of Tang, et al [23] was lower than that in Pan, et al [13], with the same temperature in Table S1, indicating that temperature could be not the only factor affecting membrane fouling resistance. In this reactor, the total membrane fouling re-sistance (3.2 × 10 7 m −1 ) was minimum compared with others in Table S1, which could be probably due to the smaller compact structure of the DM layers that operated under a lower pressure and flux.…”

“…The accumulation of foulant on the supporting coarse materials is the main reason of membrane fouling for AnDMBRs [ 7 ]. Nylon nets [ 12 ], stainless steel nets [ 13 ], and non-woven fabrics [ 14 ] were generally used as support materials due to their lower cost and larger pores [ 15 ]. In recent years, many studies have discussed the effect of the different pore sizes of the same materials on the formation of DM and the mitigation of reversible fouling [ 16 , 17 ].…”

“…Table S1 shows the performance and membrane fouling with different reactor configurations and supporting materials of AnDMBRs reported in recent years. As far as we know, a continuous stirred tank reactor (CSTR) [ 13 , 21 ] and upflow anaerobic sludge bed (UASB) [ 8 , 17 ] could normally combine with the DM module to set up AnDMBRs [ 7 ]. The supporting material was exposed to the supernatant of the sludge bed in the membrane-coupled UASB system [ 17 ], which led to denser layers and severer membrane fouling [ 22 ].…”