title: Experimental study of the anaerobic urban wastewater treatment in a submerged hollow-fibre membrane bioreactor at pilot scale.
abstract: The aim of this study was to assess the effect of several operational variables on both biological and separation process performance in a submerged anaerobic membrane bioreactor pilot plant that treats urban wastewater. The pilot plant is equipped with two industrial hollow-fibre ultrafiltration membrane modules (PURON® Koch Membrane Systems, 30 m² of filtration surface each). It was operated under mesophilic conditions (at 33 °C), 70 days of SRT, and variable HRT ranging from 20 to 6h. The effects of the influent COD/SO₄-S ratio (ranging from 2 to 12) and the MLTS concentration (ranging from 6 to 22 g L⁻¹) were also analysed. The main performance results were about 87% of COD removal, effluent VFA below 20 mg L⁻¹ and biogas methane concentrations over 55% v/v. Methane yield was strongly affected by the influent COD/SO₄-S ratio. No irreversible fouling problems were detected, even for MLTS concentrations above 22 g L⁻¹.
authors.affiliation: Departament d'Enginyeria Química, Escola Tècnica Superior d'Enginyeria, Universitat de València, Doctor Moliner 50, València, 46100 Burjassot, Spain.
authors.forename: J B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Giménez
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Robles
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Carretero
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Durán
authors.forename: M V
authors.initials: MV
authors.lastname: Ruano
authors.forename: M N
authors.initials: MN
authors.lastname: Gatti
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ribes
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ferrer
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Seco
mesh_terms: D000693:Anaerobiosis; D057919:Biological Oxygen Demand Analysis; D019149:Bioreactors; D002947:Cities; D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D010865:Pilot Projects; D014462:Ultrafiltration / Q000379:methods; D014865:Waste Disposal, Fluid / Q000379:methods*; D018508:Water Purification / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D008567:Membranes, Artificial