The application of membrane biological reactors for the treatment of wastewaters

✍ Scribed by Keith Brindle; Tom Stephenson

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2000
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 904 KB
• Volume: 49
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0006-3592
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1097-0290(19960320)49:6<601::aid-bit1>3.0.co;2-s

✦ Synopsis

Combining membrane technology with biological reactors for the treatment of municipal and industrial wastewaters has led to the development of three generic membrane processes within bioreactors: for separation and recycle of solids; for bubbleless aeration of the bioreactor; and for extraction of priority organic pollutants from hostile industrial wastewaters. Commercial aerobic and anaerobic membrane separation bioreactors already provide a small footprint alternative t o conventional biological treatment methods, producing a high-quality effluent at high organic loading rates. Both the bubbleless aeration and extractive membrane bioreactors are in the development stages. The former uses gas-permeable membranes to improve the mass transfer of oxygen to the bioreactor by providing bubbleless oxygen. By using a silicone membrane process, extractive membrane bioreactors transfer organic pollutants from chemically hostile wastewaters to a nutrient medium for subsequent biodegradation. All three membrane bioreactor (MBR) processes are comparatively and critically reviewed.