International Journal of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering.

ISSN 2248-9924 Volume 3, Number 2 (2013), pp. 115-122

© Research India Publications
http://www.ripublication.com

Application of Membrane-Bio-Reactor in
Waste-Water Treatment: A Review

Jain Jyoti, Dubey Alka and Singh Jitendra Kumar

Department of Chemical Engineering, MNIT, Jaipur, Rajasthan.

Abstract

In the near future, the availability of fresh clean water will become
increasingly limited in many areas of the world. Salinity intrusion into
ground water supplies, nutrient eutrophication, endocrine disruptors,
and heavy metals are just a few source of contamination that may be
encountered in water supplies. One possible solution to these problems
is the application of membrane bioreactor for wastewater treatment and
reuse. The recycling or reuse of wastewater is one way of
supplementing available water supplies. The recent developments in
membrane technology have made the recycling of wastewater a
realistic possibility since the costs involved have reduced by 80% over
the past 20 years. The membrane separation of microorganisms from
the treated wastewater is discussed in detail. Problems of membrane
fouling and membrane washing and regeneration, linked to activated
sludge characteristics, are examined. This paper provides a literature
review with special focus on comparing the principle, operation and
performance of these four types of MBRs with respect to industrial
effluent treatment elaborately. In conclusion, MBR represents an
efficient and cost effective process that copes excellently with the
growing needs for transforming wastewater into clean water that can
be returned to the hydrological cycle without detrimental effects.

Keywords: Membrane Bioreactor, Industrial Wastewater,

Performance, Fouling.

1. Introduction
The availability of fresh clean water is becoming increasingly limited in many areas of
the world, at the same time an increasing quantity and quality of water is required to
116 Jain Jyoti et al

maintain and support the growing population. Many under developed areas of the
world already face a shortage of clean drinking water and irrigation water for food
production, while in industrialized nations, the quality of available water for public and
industrial use will be a larger issue in next years.
Portions of Africa, Asia, India, China, Australia, Europe, Mexico, the Middle East
and southeast United States are identified as areas having a great water scarcity. It
defines as a supply less than 200 m3/person/year (Howell, 2004). Areas with adequate
supplies may face issues with quality. Salinity intrusion into ground water supplies,
nutrient eutrophication, endocrine disruptors, and heavy metals are just a few source of
contamination that may be encountered in water supplies. One possible solution to
these problems is the application of membrane bioreactor for wastewater treatment and
reuse.
The recycling or reuse of wastewater is one way of supplementing available water
supplies. The recent developments in membrane technology have made the recycling
of wastewater a realistic possibility. Effluent from membrane treatment is able to meet
or exceed current drinking water regulations. Despite the high quality, the reuse of
water faces several hurdles. The perception of recycled water by the public is less than
favorable. In areas with greater water scarcity, such as India, Singapore, the acceptance
of recycled water is much greater (Howell, 2004). The additional treatment required
for reuse comes at an increased cost, which may not be justified in areas with sufficient
water supplies. Although once considered economical, membrane technology costs
have decreased by 80% over the past 20 years, making the use of membranes and
MBR a viable option for the first time (Layson, 2004).

2. Membrane –BIO-Reactors
The technology of membrane separation of activated sludge, commonly referred to as
“membrane bioreactor” (MBR), is the combination of two processes viz. activated
sludge treatment together with a separation of the biological sludge by micro or ultra-
filtration membranes with pore size of typically 10 nm to 0.5µm to produce the
particle-free effluent. Membrane Bioreactors are able to provide the benefits of
biological treatment with a physical barrier separation. Compared to conventional
treatment processes, membranes are able to provide better quality effluent with a
similar, automated treatment process.

2.1 History
The idea for coupling the activated sludge process and membrane separation was
firstly reported by research conducted at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, New
York, and Dorr-Oliver, Inc. Milford, Connecticut, US. The first MBR installation
(Membrane Sewage System-MST) commercialized in the 70’s and 80’s were based on
what have come to be known as side stream configurations, was made by Dorr-Oliver,
Inc., with flat sheet ultra filtration plate and frame membrane. Due to the high energy
demand, these technologies targeted only small and niche market applications such as
treatment of ship-board sewage, landfill leachate or industrial effluents and hence did
Application of Membrane-Bio-Reactor in Waste-Water Treatment: A Review 117

not gain much interest in America but it had considerable success in Japan in the 1970s
and 1980s.

2.2 Functions Of Membrane –Bio-Reactors

The physical barrier imposed by the membrane system provides complete
disinfection of the treated effluent. It also enables not only recycling of the activated
sludge to the bioreactor but also production of a permeate free of suspended matter,
bacteria, and viruses and it also enables operation at higher sludge concentrations
(typically up to 20 g/L instead of max. 6 g/L with conventional systems), and therefore
permits to reduce the required footprint and/or sludge production. The bioreactor and
membrane module each have a specific function:
(i) Biological degradation of organic pollution is carried out in the bioreactor by
adapted microorganisms;
(ii) Separation of microorganisms from the treated wastewater is performed by the
membrane module.

2.3 Advantages of MBR over Tradiditional Processes

When compared to traditional activated sludge systems, the MBR offers many
attractive advantages:
 The traditional secondary clarifier is replaced by a membrane module. This
module is more compact and the quality of rejected water is independent of the
variations of sludge settling velocity.
 The MBR allows the biomass concentrations to be higher than for traditional
treatment plants. Jefferson et al. [3] utilized a 20 g _ L-1 in biomass
concentration while Yamamoto et al. [4] utilized 30 g _ L-1, whereas
conventional processes utilize biomass concentrations less than 5 g _ L-1 in
order to avoid problems inherent to settling of concentrated flocs. With poor
settling flocs avoided, biological degradation is more complete and treatment
efficiency is higher.
Other advantages of this system are as follows:
 The volume of the aeration tank can be also reduced since a higher
concentration of biomass can be stored in the bioreactor.
 The production of sludge, the disposal of which is often difficult, is decreased
by a factor of 2 to 3 [6], resulting in a reduction of the overall operating costs.
 The membrane bioreactor is perfectly integrated in the industrial process
because the wastewater can directly be treated in situ, allowing water reuse and
concomitant reduction of the manufacturing costs linked to water consumption.
Unlike the conventional activated sludge system, the membrane bioreactor is
characterized by a complete retention of the biomass inside the bioreactor because of
the use of membrane separation, which controls and increases the sludge retention time
(SRT) independently from the hydraulic retention time (HRT). High SRTs enable one
to increase the sludge concentration and the applied organic load, thereby increasing
the pollutant degradation.
118 Jain Jyoti et al

2.4 MBR Configurations

MBR systems can be classified into two major categories according to the location of
the membrane component: External membrane MBR configuration which typically
involves the use of polymeric organic or inorganic membranes located external to the
bioreactor.

Figure 1: Simplified Schematics Depicting MBR Configurations.

Table 1: Comparison of External and Internal Membrane MBR

System Configurations.
S. Comparative External Membrane Internal Membrane MBR
No. Factor MBR
1. Membrane area Characterized by higher Lower flux but higher membrane
requirement flux and hence lower packing density (i.e. membrane
membrane area area per unit volume).
requirement.
2. Space or Higher flux membranes Higher membrane packing
Footprint with bioreactor operating density and operation at
Requirement at higher VSS bioreactor VSS concentration of
concentration and skidded 10 g/l or greater translates to
assembly construction compact system.
results in compact
system.
3. Bioreactor and Bioreactor can be Design and operation of
Membrane designed and operated bioreactor and membrane
Component under optimal conditions compartment or tank are not
Design and including those to achieve independent. High membrane
Operation biological N and P tank recycle required (e.g.,
Dependency removal, if required. recycle ratio 4) to limit tank VSS
concentration build-up.
Application of Membrane-Bio-Reactor in Waste-Water Treatment: A Review 119

4. Membrane Less susceptible to More susceptible to changing

Performance changing wastewater and wastewater and biomass
consistency biomass characteristics. characteristics requiring
alteration in membrane cleaning
strategy and/or cleaning
frequency.
5. Recovery of Off-line cleaning required Off-line “recovery” cleaning
Membrane every 1 to 2 months. required every 2 to 6 months. A
Performance Simple, automated more complex procedure
procedure normally requiring significantly more time
requiring less than 4 and manual activity, at least on
hours. occasion may be required (i.e.,
physical membrane cleaning).
6. Membrane Life Results to-date imply an Results to-date imply an
or Replacement operating life of 7 years operating life of 5 years may be
Requirements or more can be achieved possible prior to irreversible
with polymerics prior to fouling and/or excessive
irreversible fouling. membrane physical damage.
Operating life of ceramics
much longer.
7. Full Scale Conventional membrane Full scale application
Application based systems have a widespread.
Status very long track record.

3. Advantages of MBR System in Treatment of Industrial

Wastewater
Specific advantages of MBR systems in the treatment of industrial wastewaters include
the following.
 Slower growing organisms, such as nitrifying bacteria and those capable of
degrading Complex organics, can be readily maintained in MBR's.
 Largely unencumbered control of the SRT provides optimum control of the
microbial Population and flexibility in operation. A short SRT maximizes
biomass production and its organic content which if the biomass is
anaerobically processed, maximizes digester gas production and therefore its
energy value. A long SRT favors aerobic digestion of bio solids, which may be
attractive under certain circumstances.
 High mixed liquor concentrations in the reactor allow wastewater to be treated
efficiently at long SRTs, minimizing biomass yield.
 More compact biological reactors are possible.
 Non-biodegradable compounds tend to be discharged with the sludge rather
than with treated water.
 Rapid initial process startup due to retention of all microbial seed material.
120 Jain Jyoti et al

 Particulate, colloidal and higher molecular weight organics are retained for a
period equivalent to the reactor SRT versus the liquid contact time or hydraulic
retention time (HRT), providing maximum opportunity for biological
degradation of these compounds.
 Eliminates concern for changing biomass settling characteristics (e.g.,
filamentous growth) and associated cost implications (e.g., polymer addition,
chlorine addition to control filaments).
 Can be readily configured to achieve biological nitrogen and phosphorus
removal if required. Ideal process configuration to promote removal of certain
metals through external chemical addition, and retention of resulting salts and
hydroxides.
 MBR systems can operate largely unattended except for occasional routine
performance checks and maintenance of mechanical components.
 Represents an attractive technology for upgrading and/or expanding an existing
activated sludge system plagued by clarifier performance problems or
excessive operational needs, or where site constraints dictate against addition of
new structures.
 Ideal first step in producing water for reuse through reverse osmosis.

4. Conclusion
The application of MBR technology is rapidly expanding, with new installation
occuring every year. MBR technology is highly suited for the reclamation of
wastewater due to the ability to produce drinking water quality effluent. The effluent
produced can be reused within industrial processes or discharged to surface waters
without degrading streams and rivers. The small footprint and ease of operation of the
MBR system makes it ideal for application in remote areas where wastewater can be
reused for irrigation or groundwater discharge.
In addition MBR can be adapted to almost any industrial or municipal wastewater,
reducing demand on local water supplies, and pollution in local waterbodies.
The following conclusions can be made regarding the use of MBRs for treatment
of wastewater.
 The MBR technology has proven optimal for treatment of many industrial
wastewaters.
 The external membrane MBR configuration is preferred versus the internal
membrane configuration, for a number of technical reasons.
 Recent membrane and system design advances have resulted in comparable
economics for external versus internal membrane MBRs over a much broader
wastewater flow rate range.
 Future developments are likely to include the emergence of cost-effective
anaerobic MBR systems and full scale application of alternative MBR
configurations in which membranes are used for other purposes than simply
biomass-effluent separation.
Application of Membrane-Bio-Reactor in Waste-Water Treatment: A Review 121

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