Relationships between mechanically induced hydrodynamics and membrane fouling in a novel rotating membrane bioreactor

Abstract

The influence of mechanically induced hydrodynamics on membrane fouling in a novel rotating flat-sheet membrane bioreactor (RFMBR) with the comparison of a common membrane bioreactor (CMBR) is analyzed here by the particle image velocimetry (PIV). Obtained results suggest that the fluid velocity has a slight impact on membrane fouling. With the increase in fluid velocity, the membrane fouling does not necessarily mitigate. In contrast, the variations in turbulence intensity have a great negative correlation with the changes in membrane fouling rate for both MBRs, which means that the turbulence induced by fluctuating velocities is helpful for the alleviation of membrane fouling. When comparing the membrane fouling between RFMBR and CMBR, it can be concluded that the membrane fouling rate for RFMBR is much slower compared to CMBR when consuming the same energy, indicating a more outstanding filtration performance of RFMBR.

Keywords:

• Hydrodynamics
• Membrane bioreactor (MBR)
• Membrane fouling
• Particle image velocimetry (PIV)

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology, China (No. QA200906). The authors would also like to express their sincere appreciation to the Editor and Reviewers for their helpful suggestions and comments.