The osmotic membrane bioreactor: a critical review

Holloway, Ryan W.; Achilli, Andrea; Cath, Tzahi Y.

doi:10.1039/c5ew00103j

Cited by 92 publications

(67 citation statements)

References 153 publications

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“…A subsequent separation process, such as RO or membrane distillation, is often used for draw solute recovery and clean water production [9]. By employing a selective, semi-permeable FO membrane, various emerging TrOCs can be effectively retained in the bioreactor for further biodegradation.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Evaluating ionic organic draw solutes in osmotic membrane bioreactors for water reuse

Luo

Hai

Price

et al. 2016

Journal of Membrane Science

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The performance of two ionic organic draw solutes, namely sodium acetate (NaOAc) and ethylene-diaminetetra acetic acid disodium salt (EDTA-2Na), during osmotic membrane bioreactor (OMBR) operation was investigated in this study. Their performance was compared to that of sodium chloride (NaCl). A reverse osmosis (RO) process was integrated with OMBR to form an OMBR-RO hybrid system for draw solute recovery and clean water production. Results show that the NaOAc and EDTA-2Na draw solutes significantly reduced salinity build-up in the bioreactor in comparison with NaCl during OMBR operation. At the same osmotic pressure, these two ionic organic draw solutions produced slightly lower water flux, but considerably less reverse salt flux than NaCl. Compared to NaCl and NaOAc, EDTA-2Na resulted in significantly less fouling to the forward osmosis membrane. Regardless of the draw solutes, the OMBR-RO hybrid system could remove all 31 trace organic contaminants investigated in this study by more than 97%. Results reported here suggest that ionic organic draw solutes can be used to mitigate salinity build-up in the bioreactor during OMBR operation. AbstractThe performance of two ionic organic draw solutes, namely sodium acetate (NaOAc) and ethylene-diamine-tetra acetic acid disodium salt (EDTA-2Na), during osmotic membrane bioreactor (OMBR) operation was investigated in this study. Their performance was compared to that of sodium chloride (NaCl). A reverse osmosis (RO) process was integrated with OMBR to form an OMBR-RO hybrid system for draw solute recovery and clean water production. Results show that the NaOAc and EDTA-2Na draw solutes significantly reduced salinity build-up in the bioreactor in comparison with NaCl during OMBR operation. At the same osmotic pressure, these two ionic organic draw solutions produced slightly lower water flux, but considerably less reverse salt flux than NaCl. Compared to NaCl and NaOAc, EDTA-2Na resulted in significantly less fouling to the forward osmosis membrane.Regardless of the draw solutes, the OMBR-RO hybrid system could remove all 31 trace organic contaminants investigated in this study by more than 97%. Results reported here suggest that ionic organic draw solutes can be used to mitigate salinity build-up in the bioreactor during OMBR operation.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Another promising approach to control salinity build-up in OMBR operation is to use ionic organic draw solutes as organic salts that diffuse into the bioreactor can be biodegraded by activated sludge [9,19,20]. However, with very few exceptions, ionic organic draw solutes have only been evaluated in FO applications.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluating ionic organic draw solutes in osmotic membrane bioreactors for water reuse

Luo

Hai

Price

et al. 2016

Journal of Membrane Science

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“…Thus, membrane fouling is less severe and more reversible than conventional MBR systems using either microfiltration (MF) or ultrafiltration [2,10]. OMBR can potentially be used as a stand-alone process to extract treated water for osmotic dilution [11], or integrated with other processes, such as membrane distillation (MD) [12] and nanofiltration (NF) or reverse osmosis (RO) [13][14][15], to recover the draw solute and produce clean water. In particular, coupling OMBR with MD can be an energy-efficient option as it allows for the utilisation of solar thermal or waste heat.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biodegradation of cellulose triacetate and polyamide forward osmosis membranes in an activated sludge bioreactor: Observations and implications

Luo

Xie

Hai

et al. 2016

Journal of Membrane Science

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. Biodegradation of cellulose triacetate and polyamide forward osmosis membranes in an activated sludge bioreactor: observations and implications. Journal of Membrane Science, 510 284-292. Biodegradation of cellulose triacetate and polyamide forward osmosis membranes in an activated sludge bioreactor: observations and implications AbstractThis study investigated long-term stability of forward osmosis (FO) membranes against biodegradation during prolonged exposure to activated sludge. Results show that cellulose triacetate (CTA) membranes were more resistant against biodegradation than polyamide thin film composite (TFC) ones. Nevertheless, CTA membrane biodegradation was discernible after seven months of exposure to activated sludge as manifested by an increase in the membrane average pore size, water and salt permeability, and membrane structural parameter. Asaresult, of prolonged exposure to activated sludge, the water and reverse salt fluxes of the CTA membrane increased; and concomitantly the rejection of a range of trace organic contaminants decreased significantly. The impact of prolonged exposure to activated sludge on the polyamide active layer of TFC FO membranes was even more severe. Our results indicate that currently available commercial CTA and polyamide TFC FO membranes may not be readily compatible for practical osmotic membrane bioreactor (OMBR) operation. Thus, the development of new and robust FO membrane materials specifically designed for membrane bioreactor operation is essential for commercial OMBR applications. Disciplines Engineering | Science and Technology Studies

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“…1). The first studies on OMBR-RO demonstrated interesting properties of the hybrid system: 8,9 (1) two successive dense membrane barriers for reliable production of high quality water, (2) low fouling propensity of OMBR, (3) low fouling in the RO step since the draw solution that must be concentrated is a clean stream (OMBR effluent), (4) no brine production (Fig. 1b).…”

Section: Where Can Osmotic Membrane Bioreactor Be Implemented In Watementioning

confidence: 99%

“…9 Significant improvement of osmotic pressure efficiency is required for OMBR to become competitive, i.e. by reaching similar operating flux as for MBR (at least 10 L m −2 h −1 ) while reducing significantly the osmotic pressure of the draw solutions (below 10 bar for standalone OMBR-RO) in order to limit energy costs for RO draw recovery.…”

Section: What Are the Necessary Ombr Improvements For Implementation?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Can osmotic membrane bioreactor be a realistic solution for water reuse?

et al. 2018

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A growing emphasis on water recycling resulted in intense research activity, aiming to develop and validate reliable and highquality water treatment processes at lowest cost. In parallel, significant advances in the field of osmotically driven processes have been obtained in the past decade. While the combination of membrane bioreactor (MBR) and reverse osmosis (RO) has become the preferred choice for water reuse, the osmotic membrane bioreactor (OMBR) has begun to be considered as a promising alternative. Based on the current state of knowledge, this paper critically asses the potential for OMBR to be implemented for water reuse application and highlights challenges to reach full scale operation. The initial vision of an energy-free osmotic gradient process is not realistic and its low fouling behaviour is still to be properly assessed. However, OMBR demonstrated unique features such as high rejection of contaminants and an absence of RO brine stream that can support its implementation, especially in the context of high end (potable, industrial) water reuse. However, to become a viable and effective technology for water reuse, significant research and development is still required. Tackling the salinity build-up, developing membranes and modules adapted to OMBR, evaluating long term performance and economics, validating removal of contaminants and developing design, maintenance and automatic control systems constitute critical topics to be considered in future research.

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The osmotic membrane bioreactor: a critical review

Abstract: The osmotic membrane bioreactor (OMBR) is a hybrid biological-physical treatment process for wastewater treatment and water reuse.

Cited by 92 publications

References 153 publications

Evaluating ionic organic draw solutes in osmotic membrane bioreactors for water reuse

Evaluating ionic organic draw solutes in osmotic membrane bioreactors for water reuse

Biodegradation of cellulose triacetate and polyamide forward osmosis membranes in an activated sludge bioreactor: Observations and implications

Can osmotic membrane bioreactor be a realistic solution for water reuse?

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