Fouling and wetting in membrane distillation (MD) and MD-bioreactor (MDBR) for wastewater reclamation

The membrane distillation (MD) process is seldom employed in wastewater reclamation since the high organic and nutrient in wastewater promote wetting. The MD bioreactor (MDBR) can remediate this by biologically removing retentate carbohydrates and proteins. However, the inclusion of biomass in the M...

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Main Authors: Goh, Shuwen, Zhang, Jinsong, Liu, Yu, Fane, Anthony Gordon
Other Authors: School of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: 2013
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Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10356/96925
http://hdl.handle.net/10220/11661
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Institution: Nanyang Technological University
Language: English
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spelling sg-ntu-dr.10356-969252020-03-07T11:43:41Z Fouling and wetting in membrane distillation (MD) and MD-bioreactor (MDBR) for wastewater reclamation Goh, Shuwen Zhang, Jinsong Liu, Yu Fane, Anthony Gordon School of Civil and Environmental Engineering Singapore Membrane Technology Centre DRNTU::Engineering::Environmental engineering The membrane distillation (MD) process is seldom employed in wastewater reclamation since the high organic and nutrient in wastewater promote wetting. The MD bioreactor (MDBR) can remediate this by biologically removing retentate carbohydrates and proteins. However, the inclusion of biomass in the MDBR can result in biofouling and flux decline. The objectives of this work are to determine the effectiveness of the bioprocess in delaying membrane wetting (by removing organics and nutrients) and the significance of the biofouling on flux decline. From this work, the MDBR flux can be maintained at more than 6.8 L/m2 h (8% lower than the average MD flux) for at least 13 days. The faster flux decline in the MDBR is attributed to the thermal and mass transfer resistance of the biofilm but this can be controlled with periodic membrane cleaning and process optimization. Membrane fouling has been shown to compromise membrane hydrophobicity and accelerate wetting. By lowering the retentate organic and nutrient concentration, the MDBR has successfully delayed wetting by 1.7–3.6 times in this work, reducing the frequency of membrane cleaning and drying. With further process optimization, the MDBR could be a good option for reclamation of industrial wastewater with low volatile organic content and access to waste heat. 2013-07-17T03:08:14Z 2019-12-06T19:36:43Z 2013-07-17T03:08:14Z 2019-12-06T19:36:43Z 2012 2012 Journal Article Goh, S., Zhang, J., Liu, Y., & Fane, A. G. (2013). Fouling and wetting in membrane distillation (MD) and MD-bioreactor (MDBR) for wastewater reclamation. Desalination, 323, 39-47. 0011-9164 https://hdl.handle.net/10356/96925 http://hdl.handle.net/10220/11661 10.1016/j.desal.2012.12.001 en Desalination © 2012 Elsevier B.V.
institution Nanyang Technological University
building NTU Library
country Singapore
collection DR-NTU
language English
topic DRNTU::Engineering::Environmental engineering
spellingShingle DRNTU::Engineering::Environmental engineering
Goh, Shuwen
Zhang, Jinsong
Liu, Yu
Fane, Anthony Gordon
Fouling and wetting in membrane distillation (MD) and MD-bioreactor (MDBR) for wastewater reclamation
description The membrane distillation (MD) process is seldom employed in wastewater reclamation since the high organic and nutrient in wastewater promote wetting. The MD bioreactor (MDBR) can remediate this by biologically removing retentate carbohydrates and proteins. However, the inclusion of biomass in the MDBR can result in biofouling and flux decline. The objectives of this work are to determine the effectiveness of the bioprocess in delaying membrane wetting (by removing organics and nutrients) and the significance of the biofouling on flux decline. From this work, the MDBR flux can be maintained at more than 6.8 L/m2 h (8% lower than the average MD flux) for at least 13 days. The faster flux decline in the MDBR is attributed to the thermal and mass transfer resistance of the biofilm but this can be controlled with periodic membrane cleaning and process optimization. Membrane fouling has been shown to compromise membrane hydrophobicity and accelerate wetting. By lowering the retentate organic and nutrient concentration, the MDBR has successfully delayed wetting by 1.7–3.6 times in this work, reducing the frequency of membrane cleaning and drying. With further process optimization, the MDBR could be a good option for reclamation of industrial wastewater with low volatile organic content and access to waste heat.
author2 School of Civil and Environmental Engineering
author_facet School of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Goh, Shuwen
Zhang, Jinsong
Liu, Yu
Fane, Anthony Gordon
format Article
author Goh, Shuwen
Zhang, Jinsong
Liu, Yu
Fane, Anthony Gordon
author_sort Goh, Shuwen
title Fouling and wetting in membrane distillation (MD) and MD-bioreactor (MDBR) for wastewater reclamation
title_short Fouling and wetting in membrane distillation (MD) and MD-bioreactor (MDBR) for wastewater reclamation
title_full Fouling and wetting in membrane distillation (MD) and MD-bioreactor (MDBR) for wastewater reclamation
title_fullStr Fouling and wetting in membrane distillation (MD) and MD-bioreactor (MDBR) for wastewater reclamation
title_full_unstemmed Fouling and wetting in membrane distillation (MD) and MD-bioreactor (MDBR) for wastewater reclamation
title_sort fouling and wetting in membrane distillation (md) and md-bioreactor (mdbr) for wastewater reclamation
publishDate 2013
url https://hdl.handle.net/10356/96925
http://hdl.handle.net/10220/11661
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