Design of quorum quenching microbial vessel to enhance cell viability for biofouling control in membrane bioreactor.
Quorum quenching (QQ) with a microbial vessel has recently been reported as an economically feasible biofouling control platform in a membrane bioreactor (MBR) for wastewater treatment. In this study, a quorum quenching MBR with a ceramic microbial vessel (CMV) was designed to overcome the extremely low F/M ratio inside a microbial vessel. The CMV was prepared with a monolithic ceramic microporous membrane and AHLdegrading QQ bacteria, Pseudomonas sp. 1A1. The "inner flow feeding mode" was introduced, under which fresh feed was supplied to the MBR only through the center lumen in the CMV. The inner flow feeding mode facilitated nutrient transport to QQ bacteria in the CMV and thus enabled relatively long-term maintenance of cell viability. The quorum quenching effect of the CMV on controlling membrane biofouling in the MBR was more pronounced with the inner flow feeding mode, which was identified by the slower increase in the transmembrane pressure as well as by the visual observation of a biocake that formed on the used membrane surface. In the QQ MBR with the CMV, the concentrations of extracellular polymeric substances were substantially decreased in the biocake on the membrane surface compared with those in the conventional MBR. The CMV also showed its potential with effective biofouling control over long-term operation of the QQ MBR.
School of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Seoul National University, Seoul 151-744, Republic of Korea.
Won-Suk
WS
Cheong
Sang-Ryoung
SR
Kim
Hyun-Suk
HS
Oh
Sang H
SH
Lee
Kyung-Min
KM
Yeon
Chung-Hak
CH
Lee
Jung-Kee
JK
Lee
D054742:Acyl-Butyrolactones / Q000378:metabolism*; D057219:Biofouling / Q000517:prevention & control*; D019149:Bioreactors / Q000382:microbiology*; D001709:Biotechnology / Q000379:methods; D008566:Membranes / Q000382:microbiology*; D050296:Microbial Viability; D020560:Proteobacteria / Q000378:metabolism*; D053038:Quorum Sensing; D062065:Wastewater / Q000737:chemistry; D018508:Water Purification / Q000379:methods
D054742:Acyl-Butyrolactones; D062065:Wastewater