Application of a membrane bioreactor for treating explosives process wastewater

Nowadays, much attention is being paid to environmental issues since legislation has become stricter. Membrane bioreactors (MBR) are non-conventional treatment systems that gain ground in wastewater processing. In this study, the operation of a 24 L submerged membrane bioreactor, treating municipal wastewater, was investigated under different organic loading rates and high mixed liquor suspended solids concentrations (up to 13 g/L). The system, consisting of a hollow fibre membrane for ultrafiltration (0.1 μm pore-size), was operated under intermittent aeration (30 min/30 min aeration - on & off) and periodic feeding at the beginning of the anoxic phase, while effluent was discarded at the end of the aerobic phase. The transmembrane pressure and operation processes were monitored and controlled by a programmable logic controller (PLC). Complete suspended solids removal was achieved throughout the entire operation and BOD and COD average removal values higher than 97 % and 93 % were determined. Moreover, TKN and NH4 +-N mean removal efficiencies were estimated to be higher than 77 % and 91 %, respectively, regardless of the increase in the organic loading rate and biomass concentration. No membrane fouling was observed since the submerged membrane bioreactor was operated below the critical flux. A 2nd order equation considering fouling and sieving phenomena was found to mathematically express critical flux. It is concluded that the MBR system could effectively operate without membrane fouling for a long period of time, even at high volumetric organic loading rates and high biosolids concentrations.

In a slaughterhouse's full-scale extended aeration activated sludge wastewater treatment plant (WWTP), operating under complete solids retention time, the evolution of mixed liquor suspended solids (MLSS) and mixed liquor volatile suspended solids (MLVSS) concentration, food to micro-organisms ratio (F/M) and substrate utilization rate (SUR) were studied for over a year. Biomass growth phases in correlation to sludge biological and morphological characteristics were studied. Three distinguished growth phases were observed during the 425 days of monitoring. The imposed operational conditions led the process to extended biomass starvation conditions, minimum F/M, minimum SUR and predator species growth. MLSS and MLVSS reached a stabilization phase (plateau phase) where almost zero sludge accumulation was observed. The concept of degradation of the considered non-biodegradable particulate compounds in influent and in biomass (cell debris) was also studied. Comparison of evolution of observed sludge yields (Yobs) in the WWTP with Yobs predictions by activated sludge models verified the degradation concept for the considered non-biodegradable compounds. Control of the sedimentation process was achieved, by predicting the solids loading rate critical point using state point analysis and stirred/unstirred settling velocity tests and by applying a high return activated sludge rate. The nitrogen gas related sedimentation problems were taken into consideration.

Sustainable practices require that manure nutrients be reused within the agricultural sector. Reverse osmosis (RO) is one of the few technologies capable of producing nitrogen and potassium concentrates that can be transported to fertilize distant cultivated fields. However, solid-liquid separators produce a liquid fraction that could significantly foul RO membranes because of high colloidal and particulate concentrations. This project investigated the effect of high suspended solids (SS) concentrations, ranging from 258 to 3897 mg L-1, in pretreated manure on the performance of a spiral-wound RO membrane. The effluents were first concentrated to 47% of the initial volume. The concentrates, containing from 453 to 6893 mg SS L-1, were then filtered in full-recycle mode for a total of 22.5 h. Permeate flux stabilized during the full-recycle filtration period at SS levels up to 4000 mg L-1 in RO concentrate, but it was 13% lower at 4016 than at 453 mg SS L-1. At the highest SS level of 6893 mg L-1 in concentrate, flux decreased throughout the full-recycle filtration period, and it was 27% below that measured at 453 mg L-1 after 22.5 h. Lower flux was attributed to the formation of a concentrated gel layer at the membrane surface. While the thickness or density of the gel layer appeared to stabilize below 4000 mg SS L-1 in concentrate, it kept increasing at the highest tested SS level. However, with all effluents, the gel layer was easily removed by rinsing the membrane with tap water, and water flux recovery after rinsing (82.3% 1.6%) and chemical cleaning (99.1% 1.2%) were similar at all SS concentrations. Results thus suggested that spiral-would RO membrane systems could be used to directly process swine manure pretreated by physically based solid-liquid separators, but permeate flux will be significantly reduced at SS concentrations above 4000 mg L-1 in the membrane element.

This study investigated the efficacy of membrane bioreactor (MBR) technology in treating saline industrial wastewater, focusing on the impact of the organic loading rate (OLR) and the food-to-microorganism (F/M) ratio on treatment performance. This research utilized saline industrial wastewater from Al-Hasa, which had salinity levels ranging from 5000 to 6900 mg/L. It explored treatment processes at varying Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) concentrations of 800, 1400, and 2000 mg/L, corresponding to an OLR of 0.80 ± 0.05, 1.41 ± 0.07, and 1.98 ± 0.12 g COD/L, respectively. The average F/M ratios used were 0.20, 0.36, and 0.50 g COD/g MLSS·d, maintaining a constant Sludge Residence Time (SRT) of 12 days, a hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 24 h (hrs.), and a flux of 10 L/m2·h. The MBR system demonstrated high COD removal efficiencies, averaging 95.7 ± 1.6%, 95.5 ± 0.4%, and 96.1 ± 0.3%, alongside Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) removal rates of 98.3 ± 0.2%, 99.8 ± 0.1%, and 98.5 ± 0.1%, respectively. However, an increased OLR led to elevated residual COD and BOD levels in the treated effluent, with COD concentrations reaching 34.2 ± 12.8, 63.3 ± 5.9, and 76.5 ± 5.4 mg/L, respectively. This study also reveals a significant decline in ammonia and Total Kjeldahl Nitrogen (TKN) removal efficiencies as OLR increases, dropping from 96.1 ± 0.5% to 80.2 ± 0.9% for ammonia and from 83.8 ± 3.4% to 65.8 ± 2.3% for TKN. Furthermore, higher OLRs significantly contribute to membrane fouling and elevate the transmembrane pressure (TMP), indicating a direct correlation between OLRs and operational challenges in MBR systems. The findings suggest that for optimal performance within the Saudi disposal limits for industrial wastewater, the MBR system should operate at an F/M ratio of ≤0.33 g COD/g of Mixed Liquor Suspended Solid (MLSS)·d. This study underscores the critical role of the OLR and F/M ratio in treating saline industrial wastewater using MBR technology, providing valuable insights for enhancing treatment efficiency and compliance with environmental standards.

A membrane bioreactor (MBR) with sludge retention time (SRT) of 300 days was maintained for over 2 years. Polypropylene microfiltration (MF) membrane with pore size of 0.2 <TEX>${\mu}m$</TEX> was used in the MBR system. The fouling behaviors of various sludge fractions from the MBR were studied and sub-divided resistances were analyzed. It was observed that <TEX>$R_{cp}$</TEX> was a dominant resistance during the filtration of activated sludge, contributing 63.0% and 59.6% to the total resistance for MBR and sequential batch reactor (SBR) respectively. On the other hand, <TEX>$R_c$</TEX> played the significant role during the filtration of supernatant and solutes, varying between 54.54% and 67.18%. Compared with <TEX>$R_{cp}$</TEX> and <TEX>$R_c$</TEX>, <TEX>$R_{if}$</TEX> was negligible, and <TEX>$R_m$</TEX> values remained constant at <TEX>$0.20{\times}10^{12}m^{-1}$</TEX>. Furthermore, resistances of all sludge fractions increased linearly with rising mixed liquor suspended solids (MLSS) concentration and growing trans-membrane pressure (TMP), while the relationship was inversed between fraction resistances and cross flow velocity (CFV). Among all fractions of activated sludge, suspended solid was the main contributor to the total resistance. A compact cake layer was clearly observed according to the field emission scanning electro microscopy (FE-SEM) images.

Biogas plant operators often face huge challenges in the monitoring, controlling and optimisation of the anaerobic digestion (AD) process, as it is very sensitive to surrounding changes, which often leads to process failure and adversely affects biogas production. Conventional implemented methods and mechanistic models are impractical and find it difficult to model the nonlinear and intricate interactions of the AD process. Thus, the development of machine learning (ML) algorithms has attracted considerable interest in the areas of process optimization, real-time monitoring, perturbation detection and parameter prediction. This paper provides a comprehensive and up-to-date overview of different machine learning algorithms, including artificial neural network (ANN), fuzzy logic (FL), adaptive network-based fuzzy inference system (ANFIS), support vector machine (SVM), genetic algorithm (GA) and particle swarm optimization (PSO) in terms of working mechanism, structure, advantages and disadvantages, as well as their prediction performances in modelling the biogas production. A few recent case studies of their applications and limitations are also critically reviewed and compared, providing useful information and recommendation in the selection and application of different ML algorithms. This review shows that the prediction efficiency of different ML algorithms is greatly impacted by variations in the reactor configurations, operating conditions, influent characteristics, selection of input parameters and network architectures. It is recommended to incorporate mixed liquor volatile suspended solids (MLVSS) concentration of the anaerobic digester (ranging from 16,500 to 46,700mg/L) as one of the input parameters to improve the prediction efficiency of ML modelling. This review also shows that the combination of different ML algorithms (i.e. hybrid GA-ANN model) could yield better accuracy with higher R2 (0.9986) than conventional algorithms and could improve the optimization model of AD. Besides, future works could be focused on the incorporation of an integrated digital twin system coupled with ML techniques into the existing Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system of any biogas plant to detect any operational abnormalities and prevent digester upsets.

Ultrasonic irradiation is one of the most promising membrane cleaning techniques for membrane bioreactors (MBRs) because of several advantages such as high flux-recovery capacity and in situ application without interrupting the filtration process. However, significant contradictions may be found and, consequently, this method has not yet been widely developed. In this paper, four MBRs equipped with hollow-fibre polyvinylidene fluoride ultrafiltration membranes were operated continuously. The cleaning method applied consisted of sonication at low power (15 W) with different frequencies (20, 25, 30, and 40 kHz) for each module and aerated backwashing. The different MBRs were analysed comparatively between them and with a conventional MBR in order to check the effects of the irradiated waves on membrane integrity, effluent quality and process performance. Effluent turbidity and chemical oxygen demand, total and volatile suspended solid concentration and activated sludge viscosity were affected by biomass fragmentation or membrane cake removal, mainly at lower frequencies. The best transmembrane pressure control was achieved at the frequency of 20 kHz without a significant effect on membrane integrity. The results showed that under these operational conditions, no negative effects on effluent quality or membrane integrity were found, suggesting that this method was suitable for this type of membrane.

Exploring the links between population dynamics of total and active bacteria and the variables influencing a full-scale membrane bioreactor (MBR).

Decontamination of heavy metal laden sewage sludge with simultaneous solids reduction using thermophilic sulfur and ferrous oxidizing species

Discharge of suspended solids and radiocesium into stream water in a forested watershed before and after line thinning with spur road construction

The performance of a bench-scale submerged membrane bioreactor (MBR) equipped with ultrafiltration membranes (ZENON) was investigated at different mixed liquor suspended solid (MLSS) concentrations (3069, 4314 and 6204 mg/L). The pilot plant was located in the wastewater treatment plant of the city of Granada (Puente de los Vados, Granada, Spain), which receives the wastewater of the milk from the dairy industry of Granada. The results showed the capacity of the MBR systems to remove organic material (COD and BOD5), suspended solids, turbidity, color and microbial indicators such as E. coli and coliphages. Therefore, the results suggest that the transmembrane pressure (TMP) was influence by the MLSS concentration assayed. However, an increase in the MLSS concentration increases the nitrification processes and consequently the amount of NO3 − in permeate.

Investigating the transport of suspended solids by water sampling usually leads to an underestimation of loads and an unrealistically high sampling frequency is required to properly characterize temporal trends. An alternative method is to use in situ optical turbidimeters to estimate the suspended solids concentration; however, the relationship between turbidity and suspended solids concentration is potentially confounded by variations in particle size, particle composition and water colour. Field measurements, and laboratory measurements using the type of natural material suspended in streamwater, were made to quantify the influences of these factors on nephelometric turbidity (Hach 2100A) and attenuance turbidity (Partech 7000 3RP MKII). The attenuance turbidity was approximately 2.5 times higher than nephelometric turbidity. The turbidity instruments were most sensitive to dispersions with a median diameter of 1.2‐1.4γm. Particle size variation can cause the turbidity to vary by a factor of four for the same concentration of suspended solids. However, the numerous close correlations between turbidity and suspended solids concentration reported previously suggests that either the particle size variations are not usually great, or that particle size variations are often associated with variations in suspended solids concentration. For the same concentration and particle size, organic particles gave attenuance turbidity values two to three times higher than mineral particles. However, shortterm temporal variations from purely organic to purely mineral particle loads are rare in nature, so variations in the percentage of organic matter in the paniculate load will not confound turbidity to this extent. Coloured dissolved organic matter is unlikely to alter the turbidity reading by more than 10%. An adequate relationship between turbidity measured in the field and suspended solids concentration should be expected in most situations. Some variance can be tolerated because a continuous estimate of suspended solids concentration overcomes the problem of infrequent sampling, which is the greatest source of error in the estimation of stream sediment loads.

The suitability of a flexible fiber filter for removing suspended solid (SS) in a recirculating aquaculture system was evaluated. This study focused on variation in the performance with a change in filtering time, influent water quality, and filtering mode duration. The particle distribution diagram of the filter effluent showed that the number of particles bigger than decreased dramatically, and the removal efficiency exceeded 80%. Although the removal efficiencies of SS and chemical oxygen demand (COD) were dependent on the quality of the influent, the SS and COD concentrations of the effluent were not affected by the influent concentrations. This was despite the deterioration if water quality after feeding in the rearing tank. The performance of the filter was not affected by the filtering mode duration, feeding conditions, or filtering time. The SS concentration and turbidity of the recirculating-type rearing tank were 30% and 50% lower, respectively, than of the a non-recirculating-type rearing tank under the same operating conditions. The flexible fiber filter was applicable to a recirculating aquaculture system that uses plenty of seawater, based on its low filtering resistance , high flux , and high fine particle removal efficiency (80%, ).

Peak flux performance and microbial removal by selected membrane bioreactor systems

Waste water treatment system plays a vital role in controlling pollution of natural water bodies like lake, pond, river etc., by Municipal and Industrial effluents. Different industrial effluents play its own role in contaminating the water bodies which in turn creates huge impact for aquatic and terrestrial life. From past studies we understood that, all the sewage treatment systems have a secondary treatment step which are mainly driven by Bacterial oxidation or in other terms can be pronounced as Biological augmentation, Biological calcification etc., In environmental engineering term this bacterial growth will be pronounced as MLSS (Mixed Liquor Suspended Solids) and MLVSS (Mixed Liquor Volatile Suspended Solids). MLVSS will be an inclusive part of the MLSS and also can be sorted as live bacterial cells which can really does the oxidation process in the secondary treatment step of Sewage treatment plant. Hence, this study was performed to evaluate the percentage or concentration of MLVSS available in the total value of MLSS. For this study aeration tank water samples were collected from 6 different STP capacities from 6 different areas. All the samples were tested for MLSS and MLVSS concentration with the available standard method of drying. Drying with 105° C in oven gives the value of MLSS and drying with 550° C in furnace gives the value of MLVSS. With all the tested samples the concentration of MLVSS from the total MLSS was evaluated and standardized.