Pierre R. Bérubé

Measurement of reduced sulphur compounds contained in aqueous matrices by direct injection into a gas chromatograph with a flame photometric detector

Abstract An analytical method was developed to measure the concentration of hydrogen sulphide, methyl mercaptan, dimethyl sulphide and dimethyl disulphide contained in aqueous matrices (distilled water, tap water, kraft mill condensates and membrane bioreactor mixed liquor) by direct injection of aqueous samples into a gas chromatograph with a flame photometric detector. The analytical method requires a small sample volume (2 ml), sample preparation and analysis can be completed within 20 min and no complex sampling apparatus is needed. Consistent results and good recoveries were observed in all matrices investigated over the range of concentrations examined. The relationship between the normalized peak area obtained from GC–flame photometric detection and the concentration of the reduced sulphur compounds (RSCs) examined did not follow the theoretical power law exponent of two. The power law exponent appeared to decrease with the organic fraction associated with each RSC. The observed power law exponents for hydrogen sulphide, methyl mercaptan, dimethyl sulphide and dimethyl disulphide were 1.92, 1.90, 1.66 and 1.72, respectively.

The importance of fluid dynamics for MBR fouling mitigation

The importance of the multiphase fluid dynamics for fouling mitigation in MBR systems has been widely acknowledged with air sparging having been applied commercially for about 20 years. However, the effects of air scouring are still not fully understood since the transient orthogonal and parallel flows as well as turbulent eddies created by bubbling generate complex hydrodynamic flow fields in the vicinity of a membrane. There is no generally valid model that describes the relationship between fouling rate and fluid dynamics. So, a reliable and universally applicable model to optimize membrane module and tank geometries, air scouring and filtration cycles is still pending. In addition to providing a discussion on the importance of multiphase fluid dynamics for fouling control, this review aims at developing guidelines to choose appropriate experimental and numerical methods for fluid dynamics investigations in MBR systems.

Evaluating substrates in the biological treatment of acid mine drainage

Acid mine drainage (AMD) contains high concentrations of sulphates and metals at low pH. Biological treatment of AMD via the sulphate reduction pathway seems promising. To make this treatment method economical, the availability of a suitable low cost organic substrate in the vicinity of the mine site is essential. The objectives of this study were: (1) to try and predict the degradability of three organic materials using the Forage Fibre Analysis (FFA) technique, BOD/COD ratio, protein and carbohydrate contents and C/N ratio, and (2) to evaluate the suitability of these organic materials to provide substrate for the sulphate reducing bacteria (SRB) in the anaerobic treatment of AMD. All four tests indicated that activated sludge would be the most suitable material. However, the results of the tests for predicting the biodegradability of the other two materials, were inconsistent. The FFA method and the BOD/COD ratio indicated rabbit pellets as the second most suitable material followed by digested sludge....

Assessing the effects of sodium hypochlorite exposure on the characteristics of PVDF based membranes.

Sodium hypochlorite is commonly used as a cleaning agent to remove adsorbed foulants from PVDF based micro/ultra filtration membranes in water and wastewater treatment applications. Although effective for fouling control, extended sodium hypochlorite exposure can affect the physical/chemical characteristics and hinder the treatment performance of these membranes. To assess these effects, PVDF based membranes were exposed to sodium hypochlorite at different concentrations for varying periods of time, and the physical/chemical characteristics of the virgin and sodium hypochlorite exposed membranes were compared. The membranes were characterized based on chemical composition (FTIR and NMR), mechanical strength (yield strength), surface hydrophilicity (contact angle), pore size and porosity (scanning electron microscopy and challenge test), and membrane resistance (clean water permeation test). The results indicated that exposure dose and concentration of the sodium hypochlorite used have significant influence on the membrane characteristics. The impact of sodium hypochlorite exposure on the parameters investigated could be most accurately and consistently correlated to an exposure dose relationship of the form C(n)t (where, C = concentration and t = exposure time) rather than the Ct relationship commonly used to define the extent of exposure to cleaning agents. For all the parameters investigated, the power coefficient n was less than 1 indicating that time had a greater impact on the changes than did the concentration of the sodium hypochlorite. The results suggest that the use of sodium hypochlorite for chemical cleaning, at concentrations that are higher than those typically used for chemical cleaning would have less of an effect on the characteristics of the membrane materials. Changes in the characteristics were attributed to the oxidation of the hydrophilic additives (HA) present in blended PVDF membranes.

Relationship between types of surface shear stress profiles and membrane fouling.

Shear stress has been recognized as an important parameter in controlling particle back-transport from membrane surfaces. However, little is known of the relationship between transient shear conditions induced by air sparging and fouling control near membrane surfaces. In this paper, the different types of surface shear stress profiles that had beneficial effects on minimizing reversible surface fouling were examined. The relationship between different statistical shear parameters (e.g. time-averaged shear, standard deviation of shear and amplitude of shear) and fouling control that have been used by others were examined as well. It was found that the fouling rate for membranes subjected to transient shear conditions was lower than for membranes subjected to constant shear conditions. The magnitude, duration and frequency of the shear conditions were found to have an impact on the fouling rate of membranes. It was also found that although some statistical shear parameters could generally be used to relate shear and fouling, they were inadequate to relate surface shear stress to fouling, for all transient shear conditions examined.

Rate and extent NOM removal during oxidation and biofiltration.

The presence of natural organic matter (NOM) in drinking water treatment presents many challenges. Integrated treatment processes combining oxidation and biofiltration have been demonstrated to be very effective at reducing NOM, specifically biodegradable organics. Laboratory bench-scale experiments were carried out to investigate the effect of oxidation by ozonation or UV/H2O2 on NOM. Specifically the rate of biodegradation was studied by performing bench-scale biodegradation experiments using acclimatized biological activated carbon (BAC). For the source water investigated, oxidation did not preferentially react with the biodegradable or non-biodegradable NOM. In addition, the type or dose of oxidation applied did not affect the observed rate of biodegradation. The rate kinetics for biodegradation were constant for all oxidation conditions investigated. Oxidation prior to biofiltration increased the overall removal of organic matter, but did not affect the rate of biodegradation of NOM.

Effects of elevated operating temperatures on methanol removal kinetics from synthetic kraft pulp mill condensate using a membrane bioreactor

Abstract The feasibility of biologically removing methanol from kraft pulp mill evaporator condensate was investigated, using a high temperature membrane bioreactor (MBR). Over the range of temperatures investigated (55–70°C), a mixed culture of methanol-utilizing microorganisms could be successfully developed, using synthetic condensate as a feedstock. A maximum specific methanol utilization coefficient of approximately 0.81 day−1 occurred at an operating temperature of 60°C. Over 99% of the methanol was removed from the condensate at operating temperatures of 55 and 60°C. Above 60°C, the specific methanol utilization coefficient declined sharply, indicating that at high operating temperatures, the inactivating effect of temperature on the mixed culture of microorganisms must be considered. A relatively simple model was proposed and used to estimate the effect of high temperatures on methanol removal kinetics in an MBR over the range of temperatures investigated. The operating temperature also had a significant effect on the observed growth yield. At increasing operating temperatures, a larger fraction of the methanol consumed was converted to energy, reducing the observed growth yield.

Power induced by bubbles of different sizes and frequencies on to hollow fibers in submerged membrane systems.

To shed light onto the relationship between sparging conditions and fouling control in submerged hollow fiber membranes, the effects of bubble size and frequency on the hydrodynamic conditions induced in membrane system were studied. Two general classes of bubbles were considered: coarse (0.75-2.5 mL) and pulse (100-500 mL). The power transferred (P(trans)) onto membranes could be used to characterise the multiple effects induced under different sparging conditions. P(trans) is proportional to root mean square of shear stress (τ(rms)), the area of zone of influence (i.e. the fraction in the system where high velocity and high vorticity (turbulence) are induced by the bubble) and their rise velocity. At a given sparging rate, the power transferred onto membranes was less with coarse bubble sparging than pulse bubble sparging and increased with the size of pulse bubbles. For all cases, the power transfer efficiency was consistently higher for pulse bubble sparging than for coarse bubble sparging. The power transfer efficiency to the system was greatest for the small pulse bubbles considered when a small amount of power is required for fouling control. However, when fouling is extensive, large pulse bubbles may be required to generate the required amount of power for fouling control.

Investigation of the Effect of Viscosity on Slug Flow in Airlift Tubular Membranes in Search of a Sludge Surrogate

The behaviour of three different liquid-gas slug flows (water, carboxymethyl cellulose and activated sludge) in a vertical tube was studied using a high speed camera (HSC). Experiments were performed using different flow rates and two tube diameters (6.3 and 9.9 mm). The observed difference in behaviour of the ascending gas slugs can be explained by the difference in viscosity of the fluids (Newtonian and non-Newtonian). Moreover, it was observed that the degree of coalescence of gas slugs is lower for non-Newtonian liquids and they behave like a succession of slugs without actually coalescing into a single larger gas slug. Finally, gas slug rising velocities were also extracted, but no subsequent difference in the rising velocities of the different fluids was found.

Optimizing the sparging condition and membrane module spacing for a ZW500 submerged hollow fiber membrane system

Abstract The present study characterized the surface shear forces induced by sparging for different sparging conditions (i.e. continuous, alternating and pulse) and the membrane module configurations (i.e. spacing). The root mean square (RMS) of surface shear forces induced by gas sparging, which has been reported to be related to the extent of fouling control in membrane systems, were relatively similar for continuous, alternating and pulse sparging. Considering that pulse sparging uses approximately half of the volume of sparged gas than continuous or alternating sparging, the results suggest that pulse sparging is the best sparging approach. The RMS of surface shear forces were substantially higher for the wide module spacing than for the standard (i.e., narrow) module spacing, indicating that fouling control can likely be significantly improved by simply increasing the distance between the membrane modules.Because of the heterogeneous distribution of surface shear forces and sparged bubbles, it is ess...