Membrane bioreactors for sustainable water management
Introduction The Membrane Bioreactor (MBR) process (membrane activated sludge process) is an advanced wastewater treatment technology and constitutes a suspended growth activated sludge system, which instead of secondary clarifiers utilises low-pressure membranes for solid/liquid separation. As opposed to secondary clarification, the quality of solids separation is not dependent upon the mixed liquor suspended solids concentration, or the settling characteristic. Hence the fact that MBRs can operate with much higher mixed liquor suspended solid concentrations, which provides an intensified biological process. Accordingly, the two major benefits of the MBR process are substantially reduced land and space requirements, and the reclamation of water (permeate) of excellent quality, which is a valuable source for higher demand reuse applications.
Pre-Treatment of Municipal MBR Applications in Germany- Current Status and Treatment Efficiency
Since mid 1999 MBR technology is introduced into domestic wastewater treatment in Germany. First wwtps went in operation performing a conventional mechanical treatment (covering screens, grit chambers and grease traps) without any advanced mechanical pre-treatment stage. After a short operation period module-clogging and hence module sludging was observed. Thus, mechanical pre-treatment was upgraded introducing sieves, first of all to reduce hairs and fibrous substances. But today knowledge is relatively poor concerning effectiveness and treatment efficiency of the whole bunch of aggregates that had been brought to market and vary e.g. in gap size and gap geometry. This paper gives the basics of sieving, the current status of mechanical pre-treatment on German municipal MBR plants and exemplifies an investigation to determine treatment efficiency of two different sieve aggregates.
Effect of Aeration and Agitation Regimes on Lipase Production by Newly Isolated Rhodotorula mucilaginosa–MTCC 8737 in Stirred Tank Reactor Using Molasses as Sole Production Medium
The influence of media and process parameters (aeration and agitation) on fermentation broth rheology and biomass formation has been studied in 1.5-l stirred tank reactor for lipase production using Rhodotorula mucilaginosa MTCC 8737. Molasses, as sole production medium, is used for lipase production by varying aeration (1, 2, and 3 vvm) and agitation speeds (100, 200, and 300 rpm). Maximum lipase activity of 72 U/ml was obtained during 96 h of fermentation at 2 vvm, 200 rpm, pH 7, and 25 ± 2°C temperature. Lipase production kinetics with respect to dry cell weight of biomass showed YP/S of 25.71 U/mg, specific product formation of 10.9 U/mg DC, and YX/S 2.35 mg/mg. Maximum lipase activity (MC 2) of 56 U/ml was observed at 1% molasses, and a further increase in the molasses concentration of (%) 1.5 and 2 inhibited the product formation of lipase with 15 and 8.5 U/ml, respectively. The production kinetics of molasses media showed YP/X was 14 U/mg DC, YP/S 16 U/mg, and YX/S 1.14 mg/mg during 96 h of bioreactor operation. The kLa values for all batches (MC 1–MC 4) at 96 h of fermentation were 32, 28, 21, and 19/h, and the |oxygen transfer rate were 54.4, 56, 35.7, and 17.29 mg/l h, respectively. Increase in molasses concentration resulted in decreased lipase activity by increase in viscosity of the fermentation broth.