Membrane Bioreactor: How To Save Costs And Increase Life Of Your Membrane Module

By Author: Rohan Mehra
Total Articles: 23
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What is MBR?

MBR is a technology that has been increasingly used in the past decade. It also has overcome many of the limitations of conventional water treatment systems. Membrane bioreactor or MBR uses a combination of membrane processes like microfiltration or ultrafiltration along with a biological wastewater treatment process or the activated sludge process.

Membrane bioreactors are commonly used in municipal and industrial wastewater treatment. The membrane can be designed for and operated in small spaces. They are also highly efficient in removing contaminants like nitrogen, phosphorus, bacteria, biochemical oxygen demand, and total suspended solids.

Where is it used?

Although MBR systems are typically set up in smaller spaces, they are increasingly being used in large systems. MBR systems are well suited for many industrial and commercial applications. As membrane bioreactors produce high-quality effluent, they are extremely useful for water reuse applications and surface water discharge applications requiring extensive nutrient removal.

Many factors ...
... need to be considered before installing a membrane bioreactor, but they all can be boiled down to one standard parameter: money. There are many other motivating factors, however, the cost of installing and maintaining MBR triumphs over all the other elements.

So, to save your pocket, here is a list of nine things to keep in mind to save costs while operating an MBR.

1. Appropriate Primary treatment

To reduce the risk of membrane damage, wastewater must always go through a high level of debris removal prior to the membrane bioreactor treatment. Primary treatment is performed commonly in larger-scale facilities. It is also referred to as the mechanical treatment, although chemicals are used to accelerate the sedimentation process.

2. Effective Screening

Wastewater contains larger solids and grit that can interfere with the treatment process and cause undue mechanical wear and increased maintenance cost on the equipment. With a good screening of larger solids before the membrane treatment, the membranes are protected from physical damage.


3. Biological Treatment

A biological treatment is a key step when using a membrane bioreactor for wastewater treatment. It removes dissolved organic matter that is left over from primary treatment. The obvious economic advantage is in the form of reduced capital investment and operating costs.

4. Operate Under Critical Membrane Flux

The flux is the volume of permeate generated per unit area of the membrane per unit time. Critical flux is the existence of a critical value in constant flux filtration under certain operating conditions. When the membrane flux is greater than the critical flux, the transmembrane pressure rises rapidly and membrane fouling also develops rapidly. When membrane flux is lower than this value, membrane fouling takes place very slowly. Thus, the membrane must be operated under critical membrane flux.

5. Regular Cleaning

Regularly using mild cleaners like regular bleach and citric acid can help in increasing membrane life. Physical cleaning removes gross solids attached to the membrane surface. It is less strenuous than chemical cleaning as it demands no chemicals, generate no chemical waste and is less likely to degrade the membrane.

6. Optimized Membrane Modules

Studies show that the characteristics of membrane modules like the tightness, length and diameter of the membrane filaments also significantly affect the filtration performance and life of the membrane. Thus, by optimizing the design of the membranes, one can effectively extend the service life of the membrane bioreactor.

7. Improving Membrane Materials

The membrane material, pore size and hydrophobicity of the membrane surface all affect the membrane fouling rate to a certain level. The common membrane materials used in a membrane bioreactor for wastewater treatment are polypropylene resin, polyvinylidene fluoride, polyolefin, etc. The top membrane bioreactor manufacturers in India provide optimized and improved membrane modules that do not succumb to wear easily.

8. Membrane Location

The placement of the membrane module must take into account the distance between the membrane module and the wall of the aeration tank, between the membrane module and the liquid level of the reactor, between the membrane module and the air diffuser, and between the air diffuser and the bottom of the aeration tank.

this is vital to ensure that the water flows vertically upward from the bottom of the tank and that the surface of the membrane and water flow is evenly contacted, this will evenly be distributed the downward water flow around the membrane unit and minimize concertation polarization.

9. Enhanced Aeration and Backwash

Enhanced aeration reduces the organism deposited on the membrane surface. Backwashing helps in the effective control of membrane pollution by removing the blockage caused by soluble substances that enter the membrane pores. Both of these techniques can extend the use time of the membrane bioreactor and consequently reduce the cost of filtration.

The operation cost of the MBR also depends on the actual situation of the project site and the points mentioned above. So, while it is a little complicated to operate and maintain a membrane bioreactor, following the above tips will help save a lot of operational and maintenance costs.

About Author

I have been writing informative and high-quality article on Wastewater Treatment Plant. In the above articles have covered topics such as membrane bioreactor, membrane bioreactor for wastewater treatment, top membrane bioreactor manufacturers in India