Abstract:
The aim of this work included the investigation of the impact of membrane material properties
on fouling propensity and permeate flux decline in MBR biomass systems. Furthermore, the
impact of membrane configuration on the respective fouling behaviour was of interest. A direct
comparative study of different membrane module configurations including a multi-tubular
membrane (MT), a single flat sheet module (FS) and a hollow fibre (HF) pilot scale module
was undertaken. Membrane module filtration performances, especially with respect to their
fouling propensity under varying hydraulic conditions, were investigated to ultimately evaluate
the impact of varying parameters such as aeration and biomass make up on fouling and to
determine optimised operational parameters. Subsequently, a range of different membrane
materials, such as flat sheet membrane samples made of polyethylene (PE), polyethersulfone
(PES), polysulfone (PS) and polyvynilidene fluoride (PVDF) and a single-tube made of PVDF
and PES were characterised and their fouling propensity to MBR biomass was studied at
bench-scale.
Cont/d.
