Full-Scale Implementation of a Vertical Membrane Bioreactor for Simultaneous Removal of Organic Matter and Nutrients from Municipal Wastewater

Water

So-Ryong Chae³  Jin-Ho Chung⁵  Yong-Rok Heo⁵  Seok-Tae Kang²  Sang-Min Lee¹  Hang-Sik Shin⁴ 

[1] Department of Environmental Engineering, Kongju National University, Chungcheongnam-do 330-717, Korea; E-Mail:;Department of Civil Engineering, Kyung Hee University, Gyeonggi-do 446-701, Korea; E-Mail:;Department of Biomedical, Chemical and Environmental Engineering, 701 Engineering Research Center, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH 45221-0012, USA;Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science & Technology, Daejeon 305-701, Korea; E-Mail:;Daewoo Institute of Construction Technology, Gyeonggi-do 440-200, Korea; E-Mails:

关键词: nutrients;    wastewater treatment plants;    vertical membrane bioreactor;    DMBR^TM;    specific energy consumption;   

DOI  :  10.3390/w7031164

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

In nutrient-sensitive estuaries, wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are required to implement more advanced treatment methods in order to meet increasingly stringent effluent guidelines for organic matter and nutrients. To comply with current and anticipated water quality regulations and to reduce the volume of produced sludge, we have successfully developed a vertical membrane bioreactor (VMBR) that is composed of anoxic (lower layer) and oxic (upper layer) zones in one reactor. Since 2009, the VMBR has been commercialized (Q = 1100–16,000 m³/d) under the trade-name of DMBR^TM for recycling of municipal wastewater in South Korea. In this study, we explore the performance and stability of the full-scale systems. As a result, it was found that the DMBR^TM systems showed excellent removal efficiencies of organic substances, suspended solids (SS) and Escherichia coli (E. coli). Moreover, average removal efficiencies of total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) by the DMBR^TM systems were found to be 79% and 90% at 18 °C, 8.3 h HRT and 41 d SRT. Moreover, transmembrane pressure (TMP) was maintained below 40 kPa at a flux of 18 L/m²/h (LMH) more than 300 days. Average specific energy consumption of the full-scale DMBR^TM systems was found to be 0.94 kWh/m³.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2015 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.