Anaerobic Membrane Bioreactors

A special issue of Membranes (ISSN 2077-0375).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 January 2017)

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Department of Chemical Engineering, Lakehead University, 955 Oliver Road, Thunder Bay, ON P7B 5E1, Canada
Interests: membrane bioreactors; membrane separations; membrane fouling; wastewater treatment; particle science and technology; colloidal and surface chemistry; sludge management; anaerobic digestion; environmental nanoparticle technology; environmental engineering; biorefinery; bioenergy production

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue will focus on the fundamental studies and applications of anaerobic membrane bioreactors (AnMBR). Although aerobic MBR has been widely used in both municipal and industrial wastewater treatment, AnMBR is a relatively new technology for sustainable wastewater management for bioenergy recovery and potential system closure, and has received a great deal of attention in recent years. A number of lab-scale studies on AnMBR have been conducted to explore the advantages and identify the limitations of AnMBR for municipal and industrial wastewater treatment. Pilot-scale studies and full-scale applications are limited. There are a number of issues, such as membrane fouling, microbial community populations, extreme environmental conditions (psychrophilic and thermophilic temperatures), economic analysis, recovery of dissolved methane in treated effluents, and stability of the AnMBR systems, that needs to be further addressed. This provides tremendous opportunities for research on AnMBRs.

We call for submissions from both fundamental studies, such as new and hybrid types of AnMBR technologies, membrane fouling characterization and control, microbial community population characterization, and lab-scale and pilot-scale studies and full-scale applications of AnMBR for both municipal and industrial wastewater treatment.

We look forward to your contributions to this Special Issue.

Prof. Dr. Baoqiang Liao
Guest Editor

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

2893 KiB  
Article
Anaerobic Membrane Bioreactor for Continuous Lactic Acid Fermentation
by Rong Fan, Mehrdad Ebrahimi and Peter Czermak
Membranes 2017, 7(2), 26; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes7020026 - 03 May 2017
Cited by 34 | Viewed by 9389
Abstract
Membrane bioreactor systems can enhance anaerobic lactic acid fermentation by reducing product inhibition, thus increasing productivity. In batch fermentations, the bioconversion of glucose is strongly inhibited in the presence of more than 100 g·L−1 lactic acid and is only possible when the [...] Read more.
Membrane bioreactor systems can enhance anaerobic lactic acid fermentation by reducing product inhibition, thus increasing productivity. In batch fermentations, the bioconversion of glucose is strongly inhibited in the presence of more than 100 g·L−1 lactic acid and is only possible when the product is simultaneously removed, which can be achieved by ceramic membrane filtration. The crossflow velocity is a more important determinant of flux than the transmembrane pressure. Therefore, to stabilize the performance of the membrane bioreactor system during continuous fermentation, the crossflow velocity was controlled by varying the biomass concentration, which was monitored in real-time using an optical sensor. Continuous fermentation under these conditions, thus, achieved a stable productivity of ~8 g·L−1·h−1 and the concentration of lactic acid was maintained at ~40 g·L−1 at a dilution rate of 0.2 h−1. No residual sugar was detected in the steady state with a feed concentration of 50 g·L−1. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Anaerobic Membrane Bioreactors)
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2842 KiB  
Article
Impact of Coagulant and Flocculant Addition to an Anaerobic Dynamic Membrane Bioreactor (AnDMBR) Treating Waste-Activated Sludge
by Guido Kooijman, Wilton Lopes, Zhongbo Zhou, Hongxiao Guo, Merle De Kreuk, Henri Spanjers and Jules Van Lier
Membranes 2017, 7(2), 18; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes7020018 - 23 Mar 2017
Cited by 13 | Viewed by 5735
Abstract
In this work, we investigated the effects of flocculation aid (FA) addition to an anaerobic dynamic membrane bioreactor (AnDMBR) (7 L, 35 °C) treating waste-activated sludge (WAS). The experiment consisted of three distinct periods. In period 1 (day 1–86), the reactor was operated [...] Read more.
In this work, we investigated the effects of flocculation aid (FA) addition to an anaerobic dynamic membrane bioreactor (AnDMBR) (7 L, 35 °C) treating waste-activated sludge (WAS). The experiment consisted of three distinct periods. In period 1 (day 1–86), the reactor was operated as a conventional anaerobic digester with a solids retention time (SRT) and hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 24 days. In period 2 (day 86–303), the HRT was lowered to 18 days with the application of a dynamic membrane while the SRT was kept the same. In period 3 (day 303–386), a cationic FA in combination with FeCl3 was added. The additions led to a lower viscosity, which was expected to lead to an increased digestion performance. However, the FAs caused irreversible binding of the substrate, lowering the volatile solids destruction from 32% in period 2 to 24% in period 3. An accumulation of small particulates was observed in the sludge, lowering the average particle size by 50%. These particulates likely caused pore blocking in the cake layer, doubling the trans-membrane pressure. The methanogenic consortia were unaffected. Dosing coagulants and flocculants into an AnDMBR treating sludge leads to a decreased cake layer permeability and decreased sludge degradation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Anaerobic Membrane Bioreactors)
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