VIBRATING MEMBRANE BIOREACTOR FOR FOULING CONTROL AND PERFORMANCE ENHANCEMENT DURING DOMESTIC WASTEWATER TREATMENT

Abstract

Two main issues have emerged from the widely applied membrane bioreactors (MBRs) in domestic wastewater (DWW) treatment hitherto: membrane fouling and energy consumption. Energy-saving methods to alleviate membrane fouling in MBRs have been of great interest for scientists and engineers during DWW treatment. This study worked on: 1) developing a novel energy-efficient vibrating MBR for fouling mitigation and performance enhancement for domestic wastewater treatment; 2) understanding the fouling mechanisms between this novel vibrating MBR and the conventional gas-sparging MBR; 3) optimizing the vibrating MBR for enhancing fouling control and treatment performance; 4) investigating the feasibility of novel vibrating anaerobic MBR towards energy-positive wastewater treatment technology. Results demonstrated that the favorable organics removal, fouling mitigation and energy efficiency from the vibrating MBR, both in the aerobic and anaerobic vibrating MBR, make this a promising technology to advance next-generation energy-efficient MBR to translate conventional wastewater treatment plants into a resource recovery facility.