Real-time monitoring of membrane fouling development during early stages of activated sludge membrane bioreactor operation

Fortunato, Luca; Pathak, Nirenkumar; Rehman, Zahid Ur; Shon, Ho Kyong; Leiknes, TorOve

doi:10.1016/j.psep.2018.09.022

Cited by 37 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 45 publications

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“…Finally, it is possible to recognize a fouling mechanism related to the adsorption of foulants on the membrane, producing similar effects to the ones discussed previously (intermediate blocking). This mechanism considers the superficial adsorption that results in the clogging of the membrane pores, either totally or partially, as a consequence of gel layer deposition (polarization concentration) or macromolecule adhesion on the membrane surface [ 95 , 96 ]. In particular, “gel formation” is an intermediate blocking, almost irreversible, derived from a high concentration of an extracellular polymeric substance (EPS), especially tightly bound ones (TB-ESP).…”

Section: Analysis Of Fouling Mechanismsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Brief Review on the Resistance-in-Series Model in Membrane Bioreactors (MBRs)

Bella

Trapani

2019

Membranes

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The cake layer deposited on the membrane modules of membrane bioreactors (MBRs), especially under a submerged configuration, represents a relevant and fundamental mechanism deeply influencing the development of membrane fouling. It negatively affects the total resistance to filtration, while exerting a positive effect as a “pre-filter” promoting the “dynamic membrane” that protects the physical membrane from internal fouling. These two opposite phenomena should be properly managed, where the submerged membranes are usually subjected to a periodical cake layer removal through ordinary (permeate backwashing and air scouring) and/or irregular cleaning actions (manual physical cleaning). In this context, the physical removal of the cake layer is needed to maintain the design filtration characteristics. Nevertheless, the proper evaluation of the effect of physical cleaning operations is still contradictory and under discussion, referring in particular to the correct evaluation of fouling mechanisms. The aim of the present work was to summarize the different aspects that influence the fouling investigations, based on simple models for the evaluation of the resistance to filtration due to the cake layer, through physical cleaning operations.

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Section: Analysis Of Fouling Mechanismsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Brief Review on the Resistance-in-Series Model in Membrane Bioreactors (MBRs)

Bella

Trapani

2019

Membranes

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“…First, UV-C may act on the whole bacterial community by killing the bacteria and loosening the biofilm matrix. This biofilm dislodging effect was observed from the OCT analysis (43,44), in which cavities in the biofilm matrix were characterized by a lower biofilm coverage and a reduction of thickness and biovolume compared with the control (Figure 3). Second, by loosening the biofilm matrix, bacteriophages are able to penetrate deeper into the biofilm matrix to infect those embedded nearer to the membrane surface.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 73%

“…Firstly, 2 mL of biofilm suspension was filtered through 0.22 µm syringe filter to quantify only the filtrate (i.e., dissolved constituents). The biomass morphology descriptors, namely biovolume, biofilm coverage, average thickness and the relative roughness were calculated using the equation reported in literature (43,44), by analyzing 500 scan images for the 3D scan. More details can be found in supporting information, section "OCT images analysis".…”

Section: Bacteriophages Isolation and Characterization Bacteriophagementioning

confidence: 99%

UV and bacteriophages as a chemical-free approach for cleaning membranes from anaerobic bioreactors

Scarascia

Fortunato

Myshkevych

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Anaerobic membrane bioreactor (AnMBR) for wastewater treatment has attracted much interest due to its efficacy in providing high quality effluent with minimal energy costs. However, membrane biofouling represents the main bottleneck for AnMBR because it diminishes flux and necessitates frequent replacement of membranes. In this study, we assessed the feasibility of combining bacteriophages and UV-C irradiation to provide a chemical-free approach to remove biofoulants on the membrane. The combination of bacteriophage and UV-C resulted in better log cells removal and twice higher extracellular polymeric substance (EPS) concentration reduction in mature biofoulants compared to UV-C. A reduction in the relative abundance of Acinetobacter spp. and selected gram-positive bacteria associated with the membrane biofilm was also achieved by the new cleaning approach. Microscopic analysis further revealed the formation of cavities in the biofilm due to bacteriophages and UV-C irradiation, which would be beneficial to maintain water flux through the membrane. When the combined treatment was further compared with the common chemical cleaning procedure, a similar reduction on the cell numbers was observed (1.4 log). However, combined treatment was less effective in removing EPS compared with chemical cleaning. These results suggest that the combination of UV-C and bacteriophage have an additive effect in biofouling reduction, representing a potential chemical-free method to remove reversible biofoulants on membrane fitted in an anaerobic membrane bioreactor.

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“…Moreover, when it was applied as antibiofilm agent (38,39), the cell log reduction was in agreement with that observed in our study. UV-C can therefore lead to these dead cells being dislodged from the membrane surface which was observed from the OCT analysis UV and bacteriophages as a chemical-free approach for cleaning membranes from anaerobic bioreactors (40,41), in which cavities within the biofilm matrix were characterized by a lower biofilm coverage and a reduction of thickness and biovolume compared with the control (Fig. 3).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

UV and bacteriophages as a chemical-free approach for cleaning membranes from anaerobic bioreactors

Scarascia

Fortunato

Myshkevych

et al. 2021

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Anaerobic membrane bioreactor (AnMBR) for wastewater treatment has attracted much interest due to its efficacy in providing high-quality effluent with minimal energy costs. However, membrane biofouling represents the main bottleneck for AnMBR because it diminishes flux and necessitates frequent replacement of membranes. In this study, we assessed the feasibility of combining bacteriophages and UV-C irradiation to provide a chemical-free approach to remove biofoulants on the membrane. The combination of bacteriophage and UV-C resulted in better log cells removal and ca. 2× higher extracellular polymeric substance (EPS) concentration reduction in mature biofoulants compared to either UV-C or bacteriophage alone. The cleaning mechanism behind this combined approach is by 1) reducing the relative abundance of Acinetobacter spp. and selected bacteria (e.g., Paludibacter, Pseudomonas, Cloacibacterium, and gram-positive Firmicutes) associated with the membrane biofilm and 2) forming cavities in the biofilm to maintain water flux through the membrane. When the combined treatment was further compared with the common chemical cleaning procedure, a similar reduction on the cell numbers was observed (1.4 log). However, the combined treatment was less effective in removing EPS compared with chemical cleaning. These results suggest that the combination of UV-C and bacteriophage have an additive effect in biofouling reduction, representing a potential chemical-free method to remove reversible biofoulants on membrane fitted to an AnMBR.

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Real-time monitoring of membrane fouling development during early stages of activated sludge membrane bioreactor operation

Cited by 37 publications

References 45 publications

A Brief Review on the Resistance-in-Series Model in Membrane Bioreactors (MBRs)

A Brief Review on the Resistance-in-Series Model in Membrane Bioreactors (MBRs)

UV and bacteriophages as a chemical-free approach for cleaning membranes from anaerobic bioreactors

UV and bacteriophages as a chemical-free approach for cleaning membranes from anaerobic bioreactors

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