Membrane fouling in thermophilic aerobic membrane distillation bioreactor treating hospital wastewater

Authors

  • Elif İnce Gebze Technical University, Department of Environmental Engineering, Kocaeli, Turkey
  • Mahir İnce Gebze Technical University, Department of Environmental Engineering, Kocaeli, Turkey
  • Handenur Yaşar Gebze Technical University, Department of Environmental Engineering, Kocaeli, Turkey
  • Yasin Abdullah Uslu Gebze Technical University, Department of Environmental Engineering, Kocaeli, Turkey

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.17159/wsa/2022.v48.i4.3930

Keywords:

membrane distillation bioreactor, membrane fouling, SEM, FTIR, EDX

Abstract

In the membrane distillation bioreactor (MDBR) process, flux increases with increasing feed temperature, but the presence of microorganisms limits the feed temperature. Also, the accumulation of cells and other substances on the membrane surface can affect the efficiency of MDBR. In this study, hospital wastewater was treated by thermophilic activated sludge MDBR. In the MDBR, the initial flux was 7.87 L‧m−2·h−1 and the stable flux was 3.88 L‧m−2·h−1. The particle size, zeta potential and hydrophobicity of the activated sludge in MDBR were 2.25 µm, −14 mV and 24%, respectively. In addition, EPS (extracellular polymeric substances) and SMP (soluble microbial products), having a significant effect on membrane fouling, were determined to be 201.50 mg·L−1 and 669.35 mg·L−1 in MDBR, respectively. Contact angle, FTIR (Fourier transform infrared), SEM (scanning electron microscope) and EDX (energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy) measurements were also made on a virgin membrane and used membrane. Analysis of EDX, SEM and F-TIR showed that the membrane fouling was caused by CaCO3 and EPS.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Downloads

Published

2022-10-26

Issue

Vol. 48 No. 4 October (2022): Water SA

Section

Research paper

License

Copyright (c) 2022 Elif İnce, Mahir İnce, Handenur Yaşar, Yasin Abdullah Uslu

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

Creative Commons License

The content of this journal is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Licence.  Users are permitted to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search or link to the full texts of the articles in this journal under the terms of this Licence, without asking prior permission from the publisher or the author, provided the source is attributed. Copyright is retained by the authors.

How to Cite

Elif İnce (2022) “Membrane fouling in thermophilic aerobic membrane distillation bioreactor treating hospital wastewater”, Water SA, 48(4 October). doi:10.17159/wsa/2022.v48.i4.3930.