Influence of suspension viscosity and colloidal particles on permeability of membrane used in membrane bioreactor (MBR)

In this study, pilot scale experiments were carried out to examine membrane fouling occurring in membrane bioreactors (MBR) with or without pre-treatment (coagulation/sedimentation). Especially, the influence of suspension viscosity and dissolved organic matter (DOM) on membrane fouling was investigated. The pre-coagulation/sedimentation process improved the performance of a MBR in terms of membrane permeability by controlling irreversible fouling and formation of thick cake layer. The upper limit of MLSS concentration for an efficient operation in MBR without pre-treatment was suggested to be around 10 g/L based on the measurement of suspension viscosity. In-this study, it was difficult to directly relate membrane fouling to DOM detected in the membrane chamber. A series of laboratory scale dead-end filtration experiments was carried out to investigate which fractions in biomass suspension would be the most influential in the deterioration of membrane permeability. Based on the dead-end tests, it was shown that the deterioration of membrane permeability was mainly caused by the colloidal particle fraction in the biomass suspension.