title: Hybrid biofilm-membrane bioreactor (Bf-MBR) for minimization of bulk liquid-phase organic substances and its positive effect on membrane permeability.
abstract: Four biofilm membrane bioreactors (Bf-MBRs) with various fixed carrier volumes (C:M) were operated in parallel to investigate the effect of attached-growth mode biomass involvement to the change of liquid-phase organics characteristics and membrane permeability, by comparing with conventional MBR. The experiments displayed that C:M and co-existence of biofilm with suspended solids in Bf-MBRs resulted in slight difference in pollutants removal effectiveness, and in rather distinct biomass properties and bacterial activities. The membrane permeability and specific resistance of bulk suspension of Bf-MBRs related closely with the liquid-phase organic substance, including soluble microbial products (SMP) and biopolymer cluster (BPC). Compared with conventional MBR, Bf-MBR with proper C:M had a low total biomass content and food-chain, where biofilm formation and its dominance affected liquid-phase organics, especially through reducing their content and minimizing strongly and weakly hydrophobic components with small molecular weight, and thus to mitigate membrane fouling significantly.
authors.affiliation: Harbin Institute of Technology Shenzhen Graduate School, Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Water Resource Utilization and Environmental Pollution Control, Shenzhen 518055, China. Electronic address: sunfeiyun1982@gmail.com.
authors.forename: F Y
authors.initials: FY
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: Harbin Institute of Technology Shenzhen Graduate School, Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Water Resource Utilization and Environmental Pollution Control, Shenzhen 518055, China.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Harbin Institute of Technology Shenzhen Graduate School, Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Water Resource Utilization and Environmental Pollution Control, Shenzhen 518055, China.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Harbin Institute of Technology Shenzhen Graduate School, Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Water Resource Utilization and Environmental Pollution Control, Shenzhen 518055, China.
authors.forename: H J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Harbin Institute of Technology Shenzhen Graduate School, Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Water Resource Utilization and Environmental Pollution Control, Shenzhen 518055, China.
authors.forename: Q M
authors.initials: QM
authors.lastname: Ou
authors.affiliation: Harbin Institute of Technology Shenzhen Graduate School, Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Water Resource Utilization and Environmental Pollution Control, Shenzhen 518055, China.
authors.forename: T T
authors.initials: TT
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: Harbin Institute of Technology Shenzhen Graduate School, Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Water Resource Utilization and Environmental Pollution Control, Shenzhen 518055, China.
authors.forename: Z J
authors.initials: ZJ
authors.lastname: Dong
mesh_terms: D018441:Biofilms; D057219:Biofouling; D018533:Biomass; D001704:Biopolymers; D019149:Bioreactors; D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D008970:Molecular Weight; D010539:Permeability; D018508:Water Purification / Q000295:instrumentation*
chemical_list: D001704:Biopolymers; D008567:Membranes, Artificial
keywords: Biofilm-MBR; Biological wastewater treatment; Biopolymer cluster (BPC); Membrane permeability; Soluble microbial products (SMP)