A modelling approach to study the fouling of an anaerobic membrane bioreactor for industrial wastewater treatment.

An Anaerobic Membrane BioReactors (AnMBR) model is presented in this paper based on the combination of a simple fouling model and the Anaerobic Model 2b (AM2b) to describe biological and membrane dynamic responses in an AnMBR. In order to enhance the model calibration and validation, Trans-Membrane Pressure (TMP), Total Suspended Solid (TSS), COD, Volatile Fatty Acid (VFA) and methane production were measured. The model shows a satisfactory description of the experimental data with R2≈0.9 for TMP data and R2≈0.99 for biological parameters. This new model is also proposed as a numerical tool to predict the deposit mass composition of suspended solid and Soluble Microbial Products (SMP) on the membrane surface. The effect of SMP deposit on the TMP jump phenomenon is highlighted. This new approach offers interesting perspectives for fouling prediction and the on-line control of an AnMBR process.

Concentration of field and skim latex by microfiltration - membrane fouling and biochemical methane potential of serum.

Cross-flow microfiltration was used to concentrate field and skim latex suspensions and recover the smallest compounds (proteins, sugars, etc.) in permeate (serum solutions). The experiments were performed in a lab-scale microfiltration unit equipped with ceramic membranes. In continuous mode, the operations were performed at constant trans-membrane pressure (0.5 bars), constant cross-flow velocity (3 m/s) and constant temperature (28 ± 2°C). In retentate, the volumetric concentration factor was only close to 2 (about 54% of total solid content, TSC) when concentrating the field latex suspensions, and it reached 10 (close to 40% TSC) when concentrating skim latex suspensions. The quality of retentate suspensions let envisage a significant potential of industrial valorization. The membrane fouling rates appeared as an increasing function of dry rubber content suspension, and the main fouling origin (94%) was linked to a reversible accumulation of suspended compounds on the membrane surface. Permeate appeared as a clear yellow solution containing the smallest soluble organic fractions that show a high degree of biodegradability when using biochemical methane potential tests. The chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal was then higher than 92% and the methane production yield was close to 0.29 NLCH4/gCODremoved. The association of a membrane separation step and anaerobic digestion appeared, then, as a relevant solution to recover rubber content from skim latex suspensions and energy from the anaerobic digestion of serum.