TY - JOUR
T1 - Anaerobic membrane bioreactors
T2 - Are membranes really necessary?
AU - Jeison, David
AU - Díaz, Israel
AU - Van Lier, Jules B.
PY - 2008/10/15
Y1 - 2008/10/15
N2 - Membranes themselves represent a significant cost for the full scale application of anaerobic membrane bioreactors (AnMBR). The possibility of operating an AnMBR with a self-forming dynamic membrane generated by the substances present in the reactor liquor would translate into an important saving. A self-forming dynamic membrane only requires a support material over which a cake layer is formed, which determines the rejection properties of the system. The present research studies the application of self-forming dynamic membranes in AnMBRs. An AnMBR was operated under thermophilic and mesophilic conditions, using woven and non woven materials as support for the dynamic membranes. Results showed that the formation of a cake layer over the support materials enables the retention of more than 99% of the solids present in the reactor. However, only low levels of flux were achieved, up to 3 L/m2 x h, and reactor operation was unstable, with sudden increases in filtration resistance, due to excessive cake layer formation. Further fine-tuning of the proposed technology involves looking for conditions that can control effectively cake layer formation.
AB - Membranes themselves represent a significant cost for the full scale application of anaerobic membrane bioreactors (AnMBR). The possibility of operating an AnMBR with a self-forming dynamic membrane generated by the substances present in the reactor liquor would translate into an important saving. A self-forming dynamic membrane only requires a support material over which a cake layer is formed, which determines the rejection properties of the system. The present research studies the application of self-forming dynamic membranes in AnMBRs. An AnMBR was operated under thermophilic and mesophilic conditions, using woven and non woven materials as support for the dynamic membranes. Results showed that the formation of a cake layer over the support materials enables the retention of more than 99% of the solids present in the reactor. However, only low levels of flux were achieved, up to 3 L/m2 x h, and reactor operation was unstable, with sudden increases in filtration resistance, due to excessive cake layer formation. Further fine-tuning of the proposed technology involves looking for conditions that can control effectively cake layer formation.
KW - Cake layer
KW - Dynamic membrane
KW - MBR
KW - Woven filter
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=55449134809&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.2225/vol11-issue4-fulltext-9
DO - 10.2225/vol11-issue4-fulltext-9
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:55449134809
VL - 11
JO - Electronic Journal of Biotechnology
JF - Electronic Journal of Biotechnology
SN - 0717-3458
IS - 4
ER -