TY - JOUR
T1 - Roles of colloidal particles and soluble biopolymers in long-term performance and fouling behaviors of submerged anaerobic membrane bioreactor treating methanolic wastewater
AU - Lu, Xueqin
AU - Zheng, Chaoting
AU - Zhen, Guangyin
AU - Tan, Yujie
AU - Zhou, Yuhan
AU - Zhang, Zhongyi
AU - Niu, Chengxin
AU - Li, Wanjiang
AU - Kudisi, Dilibaierkezi
AU - Wang, Yue
AU - Li, Yu You
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was sponsored by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51908217 and 51808226 ), the Shanghai Yangfan Program (No. 19YF1414000 ), Professor of Special Appointment (Eastern Scholar) at Shanghai Institutions of Higher Learning (No. TP2017041 ), the Science & Technology Innovation Action Plan of Shanghai under the Belt and Road Initiative (No. 20230742100 ), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities, Shanghai Engineering Research Center of Biotransformation of Organic Solid Waste ( SERC 2020A02 , and SERC 2020B02 ), and Shanghai Institute of Pollution Control and Ecological Security .
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Elsevier Ltd
PY - 2021/3/25
Y1 - 2021/3/25
N2 - Anaerobic membrane bioreactor (AnMBR) has been applied as a promising technology for treating a variety of industrial wastewaters. Nevertheless, the potential of AnMBR for methanolic wastewater treatment is still not well recognized. In this study, a lab-scale AnMBR fed with low-strength methanolic wastewater was operated for 166 days with stepwise decreased HRT, and the roles of colloidal particles and soluble biopolymers in membrane fouling behaviors were elucidated comprehensively. The results showed that AnMBR showed the desirable performance and process stability with total chemical oxygen demand removal of 89.8 ± 1.1% and the highest methane production rate of 5.49 L/L-reactor/d at organic loading rate of 20.00 g-COD/L-reactor/d and hydraulic retention time of 18 h. The serious membrane fouling was observed after a period of operation at low HRT or high OLR due to the production of colloidal particles and the liberation of soluble biopolymers. Decreased particle size, and increased adhesion forces of gel-like flocs caused by the secretion of hydrophobic protein-bearing biopolymers accelerated the deposition of foulants and the formation of cake layer, inducing the easily mitigated membrane fouling. Further observations proved that the main bioconversion pathway of methanolic wastewater to biomethane was methylotrophic methanogenesis, followed by acetotrophic/hydrogenotrophic processes. Collectively, although the membrane fouling cannot be eliminated, this research confirmed the technical feasibility of AnMBR for methanolic wastewater treatment in real-world applications.
AB - Anaerobic membrane bioreactor (AnMBR) has been applied as a promising technology for treating a variety of industrial wastewaters. Nevertheless, the potential of AnMBR for methanolic wastewater treatment is still not well recognized. In this study, a lab-scale AnMBR fed with low-strength methanolic wastewater was operated for 166 days with stepwise decreased HRT, and the roles of colloidal particles and soluble biopolymers in membrane fouling behaviors were elucidated comprehensively. The results showed that AnMBR showed the desirable performance and process stability with total chemical oxygen demand removal of 89.8 ± 1.1% and the highest methane production rate of 5.49 L/L-reactor/d at organic loading rate of 20.00 g-COD/L-reactor/d and hydraulic retention time of 18 h. The serious membrane fouling was observed after a period of operation at low HRT or high OLR due to the production of colloidal particles and the liberation of soluble biopolymers. Decreased particle size, and increased adhesion forces of gel-like flocs caused by the secretion of hydrophobic protein-bearing biopolymers accelerated the deposition of foulants and the formation of cake layer, inducing the easily mitigated membrane fouling. Further observations proved that the main bioconversion pathway of methanolic wastewater to biomethane was methylotrophic methanogenesis, followed by acetotrophic/hydrogenotrophic processes. Collectively, although the membrane fouling cannot be eliminated, this research confirmed the technical feasibility of AnMBR for methanolic wastewater treatment in real-world applications.
KW - Membrane fouling
KW - Methanogenic process
KW - Methanolic wastewater
KW - Submerged anaerobic membrane bioreactor
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85099208205&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85099208205&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.jclepro.2021.125816
DO - 10.1016/j.jclepro.2021.125816
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85099208205
SN - 0959-6526
VL - 290
JO - Journal of Cleaner Production
JF - Journal of Cleaner Production
M1 - 125816
ER -
