A comparison on membrane fouling and energy consumption between submerged flat sheet and hollow fiber membrane for anaerobic membrane bioreactor

Abstract

The objective of this report is to investigate how gas and liquid recirculation will affect the performance of both submerged flat sheet and hollow fiber membrane in anaerobic fluidized membrane bioreactors (AFMBR). The AFMBRs are being used for post-treatment of effluent from another anaerobic reactor treating low-strength wastewater. The impact of using granular activated carbon (GAC) to mitigate membrane fouling within the bioreactors for each type of membrane will also be examined.Flat sheet membrane has never been used in AFMBR before while a number of studies exist

for hollow fiber membranes for such two-stage anaerobic treatment system. Hence, the report

seeks to find out whether if the use of flat sheet membrane might offer the possibility of

lower energy consumption or improved membrane performances compared to the hollow

fiber membrane.