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Analysis of an aerobic membrane bioreactor with the application of event detection software and variable operational filtration modes

Leow, Aaron S
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1447070203

Abstract Details

2015, MS, University of Cincinnati, Engineering and Applied Science: Environmental Engineering.
Water reuse systems must produce water of consistent quality in order to ensure the protection of human health and the environment. In this study, several online real-time sensors and the CANARY event detection software were utilized to track the treatment performance of a wastewater fed laboratory-scale membrane bioreactor (MBR) under both nominal and simulated failure conditions. The failure/high risk conditions evaluated included a membrane breach, which was mimicked by allowing the reactor mixed liquor suspended solids to bypass the membrane modules, and a high virus load, as could be the case during an outbreak, by spiking MS2 bacteriophage into the reactor. The monitoring system (sensors and CANARY) was evaluated for its ability to differentiate these events from baseline behavior. In all bypass and spiking trials, CANARY issued an alarm that indicated a deviation from the baseline effluent quality in one or more of the sensor signals. Additionally, CANARY issued alarms related to significant operator-induced perturbations to effluent quality throughout the evaluation period. CANARY’s performance suggests it can be a useful tool for monitoring the water quality of MBR effluent in water reuse applications. The energy requirements of reuse systems must also be reduced to promote implementation in municipalities and industries. While membrane fouling remains a key hindrance to improving MBR energy efficiency, the incremental process for optimizing operational parameters to mitigate fouling is impractical for full-scale operations. In this study, three physical membrane-cleaning cycles were tested: relaxation, backflushing, and a relaxation/backflushing hybrid, as well as two continuous operational fluxes: one at the instantaneous flux of the physical cleaning cycles, and one at the net flux of the physical cleaning cycles. The affects of these operational modes on fouling were compared to determine whether or not any operation showed significant operational sustainability improvements. The treatment performance was also compared across operational modes to indicate if any mode compromised effluent quality. The higher flux continuous mode reached the manufacturer recommended transmembrane pressure (TMP) limit in 3.3 days, the relaxation cycle in 17.0 days, the low flux continuous mode in 18.7 days, and the backflush was ended manually at 24.8 days due to time constraints. The backflush mode showed a significant improvement in fouling mitigation indicating that some operational mode testing may be worthwhile. Additionally, there were no significant differences in the MBR treatment performance between operational modes.
George Sorial, Ph.D. (Committee Chair)
William E. Platten III, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
Pablo Campo, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
72 p.
Environmental Engineering
membrane bioreactors; event detection software; fouling mitigation; CANARY; water reuse; real-time monitoring

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Leow, A. S. (2015). Analysis of an aerobic membrane bioreactor with the application of event detection software and variable operational filtration modes [Master's thesis, University of Cincinnati]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1447070203

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Leow, Aaron. Analysis of an aerobic membrane bioreactor with the application of event detection software and variable operational filtration modes. 2015. University of Cincinnati, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1447070203.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Leow, Aaron. "Analysis of an aerobic membrane bioreactor with the application of event detection software and variable operational filtration modes." Master's thesis, University of Cincinnati, 2015. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1447070203

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

ucin1447070203
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This open access ETD is published by University of Cincinnati and OhioLINK.