Fouling Mitigation by Composite Membrane in Membrane Bioreactors
Publication: Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 138, Issue 3
Abstract
Membrane bioreactors (MBRs) have attracted widespread attention in advanced water treatment because of their production of consistent and high-quality effluent. However, membrane fouling during operation has greatly hindered their application. Studies have suggested that a coating of nanoparticles on membranes may reduce membrane fouling by enhancing the hydrophilicity of the membrane. In this study, two membranes were coated with nanoparticles for membrane fouling mitigation. To evaluate the filtration performance of the composite membranes, a synthetic wastewater was prepared to model the municipal wastewater for the MBR operation. The mixed liquor from the MBR was used in the filtration test to evaluate the performance of the composite membrane. Filtration tests showed that membrane fouling was reduced substantially, which was attributable to the increased hydrophilicity of the membrane. Results also shows that optimal amount of coating is important in fouling mitigation. An ultrasonic washing test suggests that most of the particles were firmly coated on the surface of the composite membrane.
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Acknowledgments
The authors acknowledge financial support from the National Science Council of the Republic of China (Project No. UNSPECIFIED96-2628-E-009-006-MY3).
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 138 • Issue 3 • March 2012
Pages: 344 - 350
Copyright
© 2012 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Nov 26, 2010
Accepted: Apr 28, 2011
Published online: Apr 30, 2011
Published in print: Mar 1, 2012
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