title: Integrated approach to characterize fouling on a flat sheet membrane gravity driven submerged membrane bioreactor.
abstract: Fouling in membrane bioreactors (MBR) is acknowledged to be complex and unclear. An integrated characterization methodology was employed in this study to understand the fouling on a gravity-driven submerged MBR (GD-SMBR). It involved the use of different analytical tools, including optical coherence tomography (OCT), liquid chromatography with organic carbon detection (LC-OCD), total organic carbon (TOC), flow cytometer (FCM), adenosine triphosphate analysis (ATP) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The three-dimensional (3D) biomass morphology was acquired in a real-time through non-destructive and in situ OCT scanning of 75% of the total membrane surface directly in the tank. Results showed that the biomass layer was homogeneously distributed on the membrane surface. The amount of biomass was selectively linked with final destructive autopsy techniques. The LC-OCD analysis indicated the abundance of low molecular weight (LMW) organics in the fouling composition. Three different SEM techniques were applied to investigate the detailed fouling morphology on the membrane.
authors.affiliation: Water Desalination and Reuse Center (WDRC), Biological and Environmental Science & Engineering (BESE), King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Luca
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Fortunato
authors.affiliation: Water Desalination and Reuse Center (WDRC), Biological and Environmental Science & Engineering (BESE), King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Sanghyun
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jeong
authors.affiliation: Water Desalination and Reuse Center (WDRC), Biological and Environmental Science & Engineering (BESE), King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Yiran
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Advanced Nanofabrication Imaging and Characterization Laboratory, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), 23955-6900 Thuwal, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Ali R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Behzad
authors.affiliation: Water Desalination and Reuse Center (WDRC), Biological and Environmental Science & Engineering (BESE), King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia,. Electronic address: Torove.Leiknes@kaust.edu.sa.
authors.forename: TorOve
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Leiknes
mesh_terms: D018441:Biofilms; D057219:Biofouling; D018533:Biomass; D019149:Bioreactors; D001709:Biotechnology / Q000379:methods*; D006112:Gravitation; D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D041623:Tomography, Optical Coherence
chemical_list: D008567:Membranes, Artificial
keywords: Biomass; Fouling; Gravity driven submerged membrane bioreactor; Optical coherence tomography; Scanning electron microscopy