Fouling Mitigation for Pressurized Membrane of Side-Stream MBR Process at Abnormal Operation Condition

Ko, Byeong-Gon; Na, Ji-Hun; Nam, Duck-Hyun; Kang, Ki-Hoon; Lee, Chae-Young; Ko, Byeong-Gon; Na, Ji-Hun; Nam, Duck-Hyun; Kang, Ki-Hoon; Lee, Chae-Young

doi:2016.38.6.323

The Korean text of this paper can be translated into multiple languages on the website of http://jksee.or.kr through Google Translator.

J Korean Soc Environ Eng > Volume 38(6); 2016 > Article

Original Paper

J Korean Soc Environ Eng 2016;38(6): 323-328. doi: https://doi.org/10.4491/KSEE.2016.38.6.323

가압식 분리막을 이용한 Side-Stream MBR 공정의 비정상 운전조건에서 막 오염 저감

고병곤¹, 나지훈², 남덕현², 강기훈², 이채영^1,3,†

¹수원대학교 토목공학과
²대림산업(주)
³하천환경기술연구소

Fouling Mitigation for Pressurized Membrane of Side-Stream MBR Process at Abnormal Operation Condition

Byeong-Gon Ko¹, Ji-Hun Na², Duck-Hyun Nam², Ki-Hoon Kang², Chae-Young Lee^1,3,†

¹Department of Civil Engineering, The University of Suwon
²Daelim Industrial Co. Ltd.
³Institute of River Environmental Technology

Corresponding author

Chae-Young Lee ,Tel: 031-220-2470, Fax: 031-220-2522, Email: chaeyoung@suwon.ac.kr

Received: March 22, 2016; Revised: April 18, 2016; Accepted: April 25, 2016. Published online: June 30, 2016.

ABSTRACT

Pressurized membrane used for side-stream MBR process requires fouling control strategy both for normal and abnormal operation conditions for stable operation of the facilities. In this study, 85 m³/day of pilot-scale side-stream MBR process was constructed for the evaluation of fouling mitigation by air bubble injection into the membrane module. In addition, fouling phenomena at abnormal operation conditions of low influent and/or loading rate were also investigated. Injection of air bubble was found to be effective in delaying transmembrane pressure (TMP) increase mainly due to scouring effect on the membrane surface, resulting in expanded filtration cycle at a high flux of 40 L/m²∙h (LMH). At abnormal operation condition, injection of PACl (53 mg/L as Al) into the bioreactor showed 19% reduction of TMP increase. However, inhibition of nitrifying bacteria by continuous PACl injection was observed from batch experiments. In contrast, injection of powdered activated carbon (PAC, 0.6 g/L) was able to maintain the initial TMP of 0.2 kg/cm² for 5 days at the abnormal conditions. It may have been caused from the adsorption of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS), which was known to be excessively released during growth inhibition condition and act as the major foulants in MBR operations.

Key Words: Side-Stream Membrane, Air Lift Membrane, Membrane Bio-Reactor (MBR), Fouling, Sewage Treatment