Pierre Le-Clech

Membrane bioreactors and their uses in wastewater treatments

With the current need for more efficient and reliable processes for municipal and industrial wastewaters treatment, membrane bioreactor (MBR) technology has received considerable attention. After just a couple of decades of existence, MBR can now be considered as an established wastewater treatment system, competing directly with conventional processes like activated sludge treatment plant. However, MBR processes still suffer from major drawbacks, including high operational costs due to the use of anti-fouling strategies applied to the system to maintain sustainable filtration conditions. Moreover, this specific use of membranes has not reached full maturity yet, as MBR suppliers and users still lack experience regarding the long-term performances of the system. Still, major improvements of the MBR design and operation have been witnessed over the recent years, making MBR an option of choice for wastewater treatment and reuse. This mini-review reports recent developments and current research trends in the field.

Do biological-based strategies hold promise to biofouling control in MBRs?

Biofouling in membrane bioreactors (MBRs) remains a primary challenge for their wider application, despite the growing acceptance of MBRs worldwide. Research studies on membrane fouling are extensive in the literature, with more than 200 publications on MBR fouling in the last 3 years; yet, improvements in practice on biofouling control and management have been remarkably slow. Commonly applied cleaning methods are only partially effective and membrane replacement often becomes frequent. The reason for the slow advancement in successful control of biofouling is largely attributed to the complex interactions of involved biological compounds and the lack of representative-for-practice experimental approaches to evaluate potential effective control strategies. Biofouling is driven by microorganisms and their associated extra-cellular polymeric substances (EPS) and microbial products. Microorganisms and their products convene together to form matrices that are commonly treated as a black box in conventional control approaches. Biological-based antifouling strategies seem to be a promising constituent of an effective integrated control approach since they target the essence of biofouling problems. However, biological-based strategies are in their developmental phase and several questions should be addressed to set a roadmap for translating existing and new information into sustainable and effective control techniques. This paper investigates membrane biofouling in MBRs from the microbiological perspective to evaluate the potential of biological-based strategies in offering viable control alternatives. Limitations of available control methods highlight the importance of an integrated anti-fouling approach including biological strategies. Successful development of these strategies requires detailed characterization of microorganisms and EPS through the proper selection of analytical tools and assembly of results. Existing microbiological/EPS studies reveal a number of implications as well as knowledge gaps, warranting future targeted research. Systematic and representative microbiological studies, complementary utilization of molecular and biofilm characterization tools, standardized experimental methods and validation of successful biological-based antifouling strategies for MBR applications are needed. Specifically, in addition, linking these studies to relevant operational conditions in MBRs is an essential step to ultimately develop a better understanding and more effective and directed control strategy for biofouling.

Arsenic removal technologies for drinking water treatment

Arsenic contamination as a consequence of human activities such as mining and pesticide use is affecting the water resource quality worldwide. Because of the high risk of arsenic exposure, specific water treatment processes are required to meet the anticipated more severe water quality standards. Better understanding of presently available processes is necessary to develop economic, efficient and effective methods for arsenic removal. Arsenic could either be coagulated, adsorbed using a wide range of materials both mineral and organic or could be directly rejected by membrane processes such as reverse osmosis and nanofiltration. The recent development of submerged hybrid membrane systems, such as membrane bioreactor in wastewater treatment, offers alternative technologies for arsenic treatment. The membrane in hybrid systems allows a better phase separation between the particles binding the arsenic and the treated water. The effect of pH and contact time, and the existence of other ionic compounds must be taken into account when designing the system for optimum arsenic rejection. Further research on both hydraulic and removal performances of hybrid adsorption/membrane technology is still required to assess the full potential of this technology for arsenic removal.

Novel filtration mode for fouling limitation in membrane bioreactors

A novel filtration mode is presented to reduce fouling propensity in membrane bioreactors (MBR). During this mode, an elevated high instantaneous flux (60Lm(-2)h(-1)) is initially applied for a short time (120s), followed by a longer filtration (290s) at lower flux (10.3Lm(-2)h(-1)) and a backwash in each filtration cycle. The mixed mode is expected to limit irreversible fouling as the reversible fouling created during the initial stage appears to protect the membrane. Hydraulic performance and the components of foulants were analyzed and compared with conventional continuous and backwash modes. It was found that the mixed mode featured lower trans-membrane pressure (TMP) after 24h of filtration when compared to other modes. The mixed mode was effective in preventing soluble microbial products (SMP) attaching directly onto the membrane surface, keeping the cake layer weakly compressed, and reducing the mixed liquor suspended solids (MLSS) accumulation on the membrane. This strategy reduced the resistances of both the cake layer and the gel layer. A factorial experimental design was carried out for eight runs with different conditions to identify the major operational parameters affecting the hydraulic performances. The results showed that the value of the flux in the initial high-flux period had the most effect on the performance of the mixed mode: high initial flux (60Lm(-2)h(-1)) led to improved performance.

Trace organic solutes in closed-loop forward osmosis applications: Influence of membrane fouling and modeling of solute build-up

In this study, trace organics transport in closed-loop forward osmosis (FO) systems was assessed. The FO systems considered, consisted of an FO unit and a nanofiltration (NF) or reverse osmosis (RO) unit, with the draw solution circulating between both units. The rejection of trace organics by FO, NF and RO was tested. It was found that the rejection rates of FO were generally comparable with NF and lower than RO rejection rates. To assess the influence of fouling in FO on trace organics rejection, FO membranes were fouled with sodium alginate, bovine serum albumin or by biofilm growth, after which trace organics rejection was tested. A negative influence of fouling on FO rejection was found which was limited in most cases, while it was significant for some compounds such as paracetamol and naproxen, indicating specific compound-foulant interactions. The transport mechanism of trace organics in FO was tested, in order to differentiate between diffusive and convective transport. The concentration of trace organics in the final product water and the build-up of trace organics in the draw solution were modeled assuming the draw solution was reconcentrated by NF/RO and taking into account different transport mechanisms for the FO membrane and different rejection rates by NF/RO. Modeling results showed that if the FO rejection rate is lower than the RO rejection rate (as is the case for most compounds tested), the added value of the FO-RO cycle compared to RO only at steady-state was small for diffusively and negative for convectively transported trace organics. Modeling also showed that trace organics accumulate in the draw solution.

Removal of trace organic chemical contaminants by a membrane bioreactor

Emerging wastewater treatment processes such as membrane bioreactors (MBRs) have attracted a significant amount of interest internationally due to their ability to produce high quality effluent suitable for water recycling. It is therefore important that their efficiency in removing hazardous trace organic contaminants be assessed. Accordingly, this study investigated the removal of trace organic chemical contaminants through a full-scale, package MBR in New South Wales, Australia. This study was unique in the context of MBR research because it characterised the removal of 48 trace organic chemical contaminants, which included steroidal hormones, xenoestrogens, pesticides, caffeine, pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs). Results showed that the removal of most trace organic chemical contaminants through the MBR was high (above 90%). However, amitriptyline, carbamazepine, diazepam, diclofenac, fluoxetine, gemfibrozil, omeprazole, sulphamethoxazole and trimethoprim were only partially removed through the MBR with the removal efficiencies of 24-68%. These are potential indicators for assessing MBR performance as these chemicals are usually sensitive to changes in the treatment systems. The trace organic chemical contaminants detected in the MBR permeate were 1 to 6 orders of magnitude lower than guideline values reported in the Australian Guidelines for Water Recycling. The outcomes of this study enhanced our understanding of the levels and removal of trace organic contaminants by MBRs.

Analysis of UF membrane fouling mechanisms caused by organic interactions in seawater

Organic fouling remains a significant challenge in the application of ultrafiltration (UF) pretreatment systems in the desalination industry. In this study, the fouling potential of organic materials in seawater was investigated using model seawater solution containing humic acid and alginate. The buildup of organic fouling on UF membranes was studied after consecutive filtration cycles with periodical backwash. The effects of varying backwash conditions (duration, frequency, permeate/deionized water) on membrane performance were analysed. It was observed that the variation in filtration condition resulted in minor differences in membrane performance provided the total backwash volume applied remained constant. However, the substitution of permeate water backwash with deionized water improved fouling reversibility significantly. Furthermore, advanced characterisation of the membrane fouling layer after filtration revealed significant differences in foulant distribution due to the nature of the backwash solution. Deionized water backwash was found to be particularly effective in removing alginate from the membrane fouling layer, although the humic acid adsorbed onto the membrane surface were not significantly affected. However, permeability testing of the membranes after chemical cleaning revealed higher levels of irrecoverable fouling after deionized water backwash. From the data obtained in this study, a fouling mechanism is therefore proposed, in which the alginate fouling layer performs as a dynamic membrane, prefiltering smaller humic acid molecules and reducing adsorption on the membrane surface.

Efficiently Combining Water Reuse and Desalination through Forward Osmosis—Reverse Osmosis (FO-RO) Hybrids: A Critical Review

Forward osmosis (FO) is a promising membrane technology to combine seawater desalination and water reuse. More specifically, in a FO-reverse osmosis (RO) hybrid process, high quality water recovered from the wastewater stream is used to dilute seawater before RO treatment. As such, lower desalination energy needs and/or water augmentation can be obtained while delivering safe water for direct potable reuse thanks to the double dense membrane barrier protection. Typically, FO-RO hybrid can be a credible alternative to new desalination facilities or to implementation of stand-alone water reuse schemes. However, apart from the societal (public perception of water reuse for potable application) and water management challenges (proximity of wastewater and desalination plants), FO-RO hybrid has to overcome technical limitation such as low FO permeation flux to become economically attractive. Recent developments (i.e., improved FO membranes, use of pressure assisted osmosis, PAO) demonstrated significant improvement in water flux. However, flux improvement is associated with drawbacks, such as increased fouling behaviour, lower rejection of trace organic compounds (TrOCs) in PAO operation, and limitation in FO membrane mechanical resistance, which need to be better considered. To support successful implementation of FO-RO hybrid in the industry, further work is required regarding up-scaling to apprehend full-scale challenges in term of mass transfer limitation, pressure drop, fouling and cleaning strategies on a module scale. In addition, refined economics assessment is expected to integrate fouling and other maintenance costs/savings of the FO/PAO-RO hybrid systems, as well as cost savings from any treatment step avoided in the water recycling.

Seasonal variations in fate and removal of trace organic chemical contaminants while operating a full-scale membrane bioreactor.

Trace organic chemical (TrOC) contaminants are of concern for finished water from water recycling schemes because of their potential adverse environmental and public health effects. Understanding the impacts of seasonal variations on fate and removal of TrOCs is important for proper operation, risk assessment and management of treatment systems for water recycling such as membrane bioreactors (MBRs). Accordingly, this study investigated the fate and removal of a wide range of TrOCs through a full-scale MBR plant during summer and winter seasons. TrOCs included 12 steroidal hormones, 3 xeno-estrogens, 2 pesticides and 23 pharmaceuticals and personal care products. Seasonal differences in the mechanisms responsible for removing some of the TrOCs were evident. In particular the contribution of biotransformation and biomass adsorption to the overall removal of estrone, bisphenol A, 17β-estradiol and triclosan were consistently different between the two seasons. Substantially higher percentage removal via biotransformation was observed during the summer sampling period, which compensated for a reduction in removal attributed to biomass adsorption. The opposite was observed during winter, where the contribution of biotransformation to the overall removal of these TrOCs had decreased, which was offset by an improvement in biomass adsorption. The exact mechanisms responsible for this shift are unknown, however are likely to be temperature related as warmer temperatures can lower sorption efficiency, yet enhance biotransformation of these TrOCs.

Validation of a full-scale membrane bioreactor and the impact of membrane cleaning on the removal of microbial indicators

The removal of microbial indicators through a full-scale membrane bioreactor (MBR) was characterised. The overall log reduction of Escherichia coli and total coliforms were in the range of 5.0-5.9log10 units, while the reduction of clostridia was marginally less at 4.9log10 units. Removal of bacteriophage was in excess of 4.6log10 units. The impact of membrane cleaning on the elimination of microbial indicators was also assessed since this had been identified by pilot-scale studies as a potential hazardous event. Membrane cleaning temporarily reduced the log removal values of E. coli and total coliforms each by 1log10 unit, but did not affect the removal of bacteriophage or clostridia. Very little research has previously examined the consequences of hazardous events on the performance of full-scale MBRs, and thus the findings presented here will facilitate improvements for the risk assessment and management of MBRs used in water recycling schemes.