The sustainability of a large pilot-scale hollow fibre immersed membrane bioreactor (HF iMBR) has been investigated with specific reference to membrane surface fouling and membrane channel clogging. Studies were conducted at normal sludge solids concentration of around 8 g/L and were also extended to concentrations more associated with thickening processes (around 32 g/L). A review of mechanically- moved membranes was conducted with a view to exploring a low energy means of sustaining operation through suppressing clogging. Methods were devised to quantify the amount of clogged solids within the membrane fibre bundle, either through their separation and gravimetric analysis or in-situ gravimetic estimation of the clogged solids without their removal from the membrane HF bundle. Outcomes generally revealed clogging to be as important a contributor to suppression of permeability as fouling, the key differentiator being that chemical cleaning had no sustained impact on permeability recovery when clogging took place. It was further substantiated that the operating permeability of membranes, once they had been clogged, could not be returned to that of the preclogged state despite declogging (i.e. mechanical removal of the solids) followed by the repeated application of chemically-enhanced backwashing. This was attributed to membrane pore plugging. Cont/d.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:600696 |
| Date | January 2013 |
| Creators | Zsirai, Tamas |
| Contributors | Judd, Simon J.; McAdam, Ewan |
| Publisher | Cranfield University |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://dspace.lib.cranfield.ac.uk/handle/1826/8411 |
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