Engineering and Practical

Design of Membrane
Bioreactors (MBRs) for
Small Flows

PERFORMANCE WASTEWATER SOLUTIONS

 Presentation
Flat plate v hollow fiber membranes

Manufacture of flat plate membranes

Design criteria and O&M requirements

Nutrient reduction

Compact membranes

Key design considerations

PERFORMANCE WASTEWATER SOLUTIONS

 Technology Selection Issues
Know the Regulations treatment standards & design requirements
Evaluate flows & loads and peaking factors carefully the
size & cost of the plant will directly relate to flows, loads and peaks

Consider an equalization tank to optimize treatment

membrane is a barrier therefore need to design for the peak flow

Evaluate the whole life cost of each viable option

Consider the complexity of O&M and who will manage
Volume of sludge produced
Footprint, Visual impact, Noise & Odor
Phased construction
PERFORMANCE WASTEWATER SOLUTIONS
 Membrane Bioreactor

PERFORMANCE WASTEWATER SOLUTIONS

Membranes Compared to traditional
Activated Sludge Processes

PERFORMANCE WASTEWATER SOLUTIONS

 MBR Process
High quality effluent
BOD <2 mg/l
SS <1 mg/l
Nitrification to <0.5mg/l ammonia
Total nitrogen removal 10 mg/l
recirculation
Total nitrogen removal to <5 mg/l with
carbon dosed anoxic stages
Micro biological content including
fecal coliform to non-detect levels

PERFORMANCE WASTEWATER SOLUTIONS

 Membrane Pore Sizes
Wastewater treatment in the micro & ultra filtration range
Biofilm increases filtration capacity

PERFORMANCE WASTEWATER SOLUTIONS

 PLATE DESIGN
Polysulphone or ptfe membrane materials
Plastic plate with spacer fabric
Membrane ultrasonically welded to plate

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 Membrane Operation
Outside to in flow
Membrane provides absolute barrier
Reduces affect of flow variation
Allows increased MLSS

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 Cassette
For flows >5,000 gpd

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 Hollow Fiber Membrane
System

PERFORMANCE WASTEWATER SOLUTIONS

 Hollow Fiber Membrane
System

PERFORMANCE WASTEWATER SOLUTIONS

 Hollow Fiber Membrane
System

PERFORMANCE WASTEWATER SOLUTIONS

 Membrane Selection
Plate or Hollow Fibre?
Plate Hollow Fibre
Footprint Very Good Better
Screening 1/8 inch up to 1/32 inch
O&M Relatively simple Complex
Air requirement High High - Medium
Membrane Infrequent Regular
cleaning 6 to 18 months (backpulse / chemicals daily)
Traditional Small flows High flows
Suitability < 1 million gpd > 100,000 gpd

PERFORMANCE WASTEWATER SOLUTIONS

 Air Scour
Cassette design:
Can incorporate or have separate air
distribution system
Provides cross flow to scour membrane
surface & oxygen for biological treatment

PERFORMANCE WASTEWATER SOLUTIONS

 Design Criteria
O Design MLSS 12,000 mg/l
O Design sludge age 20 to 30 days
O Typical design flux:
o
15 gpd/ft2 or 25 l/mh @ 10 C
O Relaxation period 5 mins/hr
O Permeate recycle for low flow periods

O Estimated membrane
replacement period 7 10 years

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 O&M
O Chemical recovery cleaning frequency typically 6 to 18 months
O Sodium hypochlorite + Citric acid in hard water areas (non-
hazardous)
O Chemicals can be disposed through treatment plant
O Foaming can be a problem particularly during commissioning

Clean in place External

PERFORMANCE WASTEWATER SOLUTIONS
MBR Design
Additional aeration
required to meet BOD
loading

PERFORMANCE WASTEWATER SOLUTIONS

 Configuration
Operation under a gravity head or permeate pumps
Sludge holding tank required as sludge is withdrawn every 1 to 4
days to maintain the sludge age
Minimum supply includes tanks, blowers, control panel, membrane
cassettes, pipework, valves & level instrumentation

PERFORMANCE WASTEWATER SOLUTIONS

Pre-engineered Package Plants
- can be up to 100,000 as a package plant
- multiple package plants or concrete tanks for applications greater than
100,000 GPD

Capacity Approximate Reactor tank size

Modules
GPD
Height x Width x Length
1 x 25 plate 7,000 12 x 5 x 4
1 x 50 plate 14,000 12 x 9 x 5
2 x 50 plate 28,000 12 x 9 x 106
3 x 50 plate 42,000 12 x 9 x 15
4 x 50 plate 56,000 12 x 9 x 20
5 x 50 plate 70,000 12 x 9 x 25
6 x 50 plate 84,000 12 x 9 x 306

PERFORMANCE WASTEWATER SOLUTIONS

 Design Considerations
Inlet / outlet pumping stations
Equalization tank
Inlet screens
Sludge holding tanks
Covers & odor control
Chemical dosing for Phosphorus reduction, Alkalinity
correction, Carbon addition
Call-out alarm or remote monitoring facility
Stand-by generator
Standby equipment philosophy - blowers
Walkways & lifting equipment
Seed sludge to accelerate commissioning

PERFORMANCE WASTEWATER SOLUTIONS

 Nutrient Reduction
Nitrogen reduction
Will nitrify due to long sludge age
Temperature low affects biological activity, high requires a
greater oxygen input
Alkalinity required to nitrify (recirculation will recover half
alkalinity lost)
Sufficient carbon & Anoxic tank of sufficient size to reduce DO
to 0.5 mg/l

Phosphorus reduction
Biological or chemical precipitation
Good P reduction

PERFORMANCE WASTEWATER SOLUTIONS

 Denitrification by recirculation
Design for TN removal < 10 mg/l
Permeate

MBR
Anoxic
Zone
1/8
Inlet Screens
Mixed Liquor
Recycle
Waste Sludge
Storage

PERFORMANCE WASTEWATER SOLUTIONS

 Denitrification by
recirculation

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 MEMBRANE INSTALLATION
Coill Dubh MBR 335,000 GPD

PERFORMANCE WASTEWATER SOLUTIONS

 Compact Membrane
Membrane for flows Integral or separate equalization
from 500 to 5000 gpd tank arrangements

PERFORMANCE WASTEWATER SOLUTIONS

 Design Considerations
General Arrangement
Trash tank with effluent filter
Equalization tank
Compatible with standard on-site tanks
Reuse systems will require permeate storage
Membrane cassettes to be light and easy to remove & handle

Design
reduced head of water in standard on-site tanks, requires
permeate pump to maintain flux
anoxic tank required for denitrification
phosphorus can be added via chemical precipitation

PERFORMANCE WASTEWATER SOLUTIONS

 Summary

PERFORMANCE WASTEWATER SOLUTIONS

 Technology Comparison
Smaller Footprint

Sand filter

Peat Biofilter

Activated
sludge
Fixed film /
moving bed

Membranes

Better Environmental Protection (BOD/SS/N/P)

PERFORMANCE WASTEWATER SOLUTIONS

 Membrane - Benefits
High quality effluent
Water reuse
Small footprint
Reduced sludge production
Reduced cost of disinfection
Cost effective for community
size systems particularly where
ammonia or total nitrogen
standards are required range
from $5 to $30 per gpd
Uprating existing systems

PERFORMANCE WASTEWATER SOLUTIONS

 Engineering & Practical
Design Considerations
For small flows look for reduced complexity & reduced
operational input
Flat plate generally better than hollow fiber
No back pulsing or chemicals
Gravity design for community systems or permeate pumps for residential
Long periods between chemical cleans

Design
Always consider peak flows
Flux rate compare at the same temperature
Screening requirements
Ultra or micro filtration - pathogen removal
Operation cost - power
Life of membrane material

PERFORMANCE WASTEWATER SOLUTIONS