MEMBRANE BIOREACTORS FOR INDUSTRIAL WASTEWATER TREATMENT: THE STATE-OF-THE-ART BASED ON FULL SCALE COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS

摘要

Since installation of the first large, U.S., commercial scale membrane biological reactor (MBR)rnsystem for industrial wastewater treatment at the General Motors plant in Mansfield, Ohio (GMrnMansfield), use of membranes for biomass-effluent separation in biological systems has gainedrnwide appeal both in this country and internationally. Full scale application of the MBRrntechnology in North America has progressed to the furthest extent in the treatment of industrialrnwastewaters, with projects dating back to 1991. A great deal of knowledge has been gained withrnrespect to the technology, particularly by those operating the first generation systems. Despite arnsignificant operating history and increasing application of the MBR configuration, the users ofrnthe technology have had little opportunity to share their experiences with one another. With thisrnin mind, a two day meeting entitled Membrane Bioreactors for Industrial WastewaterrnTreatment: A User’s Forum was organized. The meeting provided the opportunity for end-usersrnof the technology and other involved parties to exchange information concerning theirrnexperiences, in order to foster discussions concerning issues and solutions associated with MBRrnprocess performance, and operation of the various mechanical components associated with therntechnology.rnThe meeting was composed of eight presentation and discussion sessions, and a final panelaudiencernparticipation session during which the outcome of the meeting was summarized andrnMBR technology needs discussed. The eight sessions consisted of 25 presentations. Thernmajority of the presentations were made by end users of the MBR technology or theirrnengineering consultant, although presentations were made by suppliers of MBR systems orrnsystem components. The presentations were relatively brief followed by a lengthy question andrnanswer (Q&A) and discussion period, at the end of each session. The proceedings of the meetingrnin the form of the individual presentations together with an edited transcript of the Q&A andrndiscussions sessions, has been published. The results of the meeting clearly indicated the broadrnapplicability of the MBR technology to industrial wastewaters but that there is still much to bernlearned, and many process and system improvements to be made.