Impacts of energy distribution and electric field on membrane fouling control in microbial fuel cell-membrane bioreactor (MFC-MBR) coupling system

Microbial Electrochemical Systems and Membrane Bioreactor Technology for Wastewater Treatment

“…In the presence of the electric field generated in the coupling system connecting a membraneless MFC to the MBR, membrane fouling was reduced. However, this was only successful when the energy of the system was sufficient for both the MFC and the MBR, as reported by Wang et al [128]. In a previous study [129], three MFC-MBRs, an integrated system of electrochemical membrane bioreactors (EMBRs), and a control MBR (CMBR) were constructed to investigate the effects of energy distribution on membrane fouling and the mechanism for reducing membrane fouling in the electric field.…”

A Review on Microbial Electrocatalysis Systems Coupled with Membrane Bioreactor to Improve Wastewater Treatment

“…The internal configuration is a type of MFC-MBR system where electrochemistry is applicable within MBR. In this type of system, the membrane component was installed in the cathode chamber [27]. Compared with conventional MBR (CMBR), several advantages were presented in the MFC-MBR combined system, which included proper membrane fouling mitigation, wastewater treatment efficiency improvement, and energy consumption reduction (Table 1) [31].…”

“…Membrane fouling of MBR is attributed to colloids, solutes, cell debris, microorganisms, and biopolymers on the membrane, which lead to membrane pore plugging that declines membrane flux [27]. The membrane fouling mainly includes inorganic fouling, organic fouling, and biofouling.…”

“…One system is an internal configuration in which the anode chamber submerges into the bioreactor. The cathode chamber is composed of an aeration tank of MBR [27]. The power generation by MFC can effectively alleviate membrane fouling and partially offset MBR energy consumption [11].…”

On line monitoring local fouling behavior of membrane filtration process by in situ hydrodynamic and electrical measurements

“…Due to current water shortages and problems concerning contamination, the UF process applied to the drinking water industry has undergone accelerated development in recent decades [1,2]. However, membrane fouling is still considered a crucial challenge due to the resulting severe flux decline and hence process efficiency during the pressure-driven filtration mode [3,4]. Although various operational conditions and non-uniform distribution of transmembrane pressure (TMP) could lead to membrane fouling, the most important factors are flux and filtration resistance along the axis direction of the fiber owing to the lumen-side pressure drop [5,6].…”