Development of thermophilic anaerobic membrane distillation bioreactor | |
| Author | Phanwatt Phungsai |
| Call Number | AIT Thesis no.EV-13-21 |
| Subject(s) | Membrane reactors Thermophilic bacteria Sewage--Purification--Biological treatment |
| Note | A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Engineering in Environmental Engineering and Management |
| Publisher | Asian Institute of Technology |
| Series Statement | Thesis ; no. EV-13-21 |
| Abstract | Thermophilic anaerobic membrane bioreactor (TAnMBR) has been investigated that the system can successfully treat high temperature and high strength wastewater with obtaining high biogas product. In first phase of this study, flat sheet membrane distillation module was fabricated and then verified with salt, albumin and carbohydrate solutions testing to investigate the membrane distillation mechanism. The system was operated 8 hours for each experiment. DI water experiments with various feed operating temperatures such as 40°C, 50°C, 60°C and 70°C were done to gain DI water flux, membrane distillation coefficient and membrane resistance while the permeate operating temperature was maintained at 10°C for all experiments. As a result, DI water fluxes at 40°C, 50°C, 60°C and 70°C of feed operating temperature were 2.32, 3.53, 5.47 and 8.32 L/m²-h, respectively, while salt solution fluxes were 1.57, 2.89, 4.72 and 6.29L/m²-h, respectively. Salt rejection of MD system was 99.9%. The verified system was operated to treat the effluent from TAnMBR of 20 batches with the various feed operating temperatures and cross flow velocities such as 0.005 m/s 0.008 m/s 0.01 m/s, 0.012 m/s and 0.014 m/s. Observations indicate the volatilization of water, ammonia and volatile organic acids through the membrane into the permeate solution. The volatilization rates of such components increased with the increase of feed operating temperature and cross flow velocity. Moreover, the permeate flux also increased with the feed operating temperature and cross flow velocity. COD rejection efficiency of the system was around 99.53-97.19%. Ammonia rejection efficiency at 40°C, 50°C, 60°C and 70°C of feed operating temperature were around 91%, 86%, 76% and 62%, respectively. Suitable operating condition at 40°C of feed operating temperature and 0.014 m/s of cross flow velocity was chosen for the experiments for treatment the TAnMBR effluent with biomass. 72 hours of MDBR experiments to treat the effluent with various biomass concentrations was done to observe the trend of permeate flux and a propensity of fouling. It was found that the permeate flux of MDBR decreased with time due to the increase of fouling layer on the membrane surface. The results of fouling investigation studies indicate that the major fouling the experiments with biomass was removable fouling, accounting for 70.73% and 77.71% of 6 and 12 g/L MLVSS, respectively. Moreover, organic fouling was predominant. However, cleaned membrane was able to achieve 96% of the initial flux. Pilot scale MDBR was also designed and proposed for further study. |
| Year | 2013 |
| Type | Thesis |
| School | School of Environment, Resources, and Development (SERD) |
| Department | Department of Energy and Climate Change (Former title: Department of Energy, Environment, and Climate Change (DEECC)) |
| Academic Program/FoS | Environmental Engineering and Management (EV) |
| Chairperson(s) | Visvanathan, C.; |
| Examination Committee(s) | Nguyen, Thi Kim Oanh;Thammarat Koottatep; |
| Scholarship Donor(s) | RTG Fellowship; |
| Degree | Thesis (M.Sc.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 2013 |