• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.865-870
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• 2006

The behavior and influence of EPS on membrane fouling by changing of hydraulic retention time was investigated, using lab. scale submerged membrane bio-reactor, which was operated with gravitational filtration and fed supernatant of primary sedimentation in waste water treatment plant as influent. The membrane was adopted micro-filter of polyethylene hollow fiber. EPS was analysed as polysaccharides and protein especially, into soluble and bound EPS separately. The concentration of soluble EPS was increased at short HRT, then membrane fouling was rapidly progressed and flux was depressed. The most of EPS clogged membrane pore were polysaccharides, while protein was important parameter affected on membrane fouling because of it's more accumulating in the more term operating.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.645-652
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• 2016

A membrane module including grid was designed and introduced to MBR (membrane bio-reactor) for the purpose of better control of membrane fouling. It could be anticipated that the grid enhances the shear force of fluid-air mixture into the membrane surface by even-distributing the fluid-air to the membrane module. As MLSS concentration, packing density which is expressed in the ratio of the housing and the cross-sectional area of membrane fibers ($A_m/A_t$) and air-flow rate were changed, membrane foulings were checked by monitoring fouling resistances. The total fouling resistance ($R_c+R_f$) without grid installation (i.e., control) was $2.13{\times}10^{12}m^{-1}$, whereas it was reduced to $1.69{\times}10^{12}m^{-1}$ after the grid was installed. Regardless of the grid installation, the $R_c+R_f$ increased as the packing density increased from 0.09 to 0.28, however, the increment of resistance for the grid installation was less than that of the control. Increase in the air flow rate did not always guarantee the reduction of fouling resistance, indicating that the higher air flow rate can partially de-flocculate the activated sludge flocs, which led to severer membrane fouling. Consequently, installation of grids inside the housing have brought a beneficial effect on membrane fouling and optimum air flow rate is important to keep the membrane lowering fouling.

• Clean Technology
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.31-38
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• 2023

Due to water shortages caused by water pollution and climate change, total organic carbon (TOC) standards have been implemented for wastewater discharged from public sewage treatment facilities. Furthermore, there is a growing interest and body of research pertaining to the reuse of sewage treatment water as a secure alternative water resource. The membrane bio-reactor (MBR) method is commonly used for advanced wastewater treatment because it can remove organic and inorganic ions and it does not require or emit any chemicals. However, the MBR process uses a separation membrane (MF), which requires frequent film cleaning due to fouling caused by a high concentration of mixed liquor suspended solid (MLSS). In this study, process improvement and microbubble cleaning efficiency were evaluated to improve the differential pressure, water flow, and MF fouling, which are the biggest disadvantages of operating the MF. The existing MBR method was improved by installing a precipitation tank between the air tank and the MBR tank in which raw water was introduced. Microbubbles were injected into a separation membrane tank into which the supernatant water from the precipitation tank was introduced. The microbubble generator was operated with a 15 day on, 15 day off cycle for 5 months to collect discharged water samples (4L) and measure TOC. As the supernatant water from the precipitation tank flowed into the separation membrane tank, about 95% of the supernatant water MLSS was removed so the MF fouling from biological contamination was prevented. Due to the application of microbubbles to supernatant water from the precipitation tank, the differential pressure of the separation membrane tank decreased by 1.6 to 2.3 times and the water flow increased by 1.4 times. Applying microbubbles increased the TOC removal rate by more than 58%. This study showed that separately operating the air tank and the separation membrane tank can reduce fouling, and suggested that applying additional microbubbles could improve the differential pressure, water flow, and fouling to provide a more efficient advanced treatment method.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.111-119
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• 2019

Electro-coagulation process has been gained an attention recently because it could overcome the membrane fouling problems in MBR(Membrane bio-reactor). Effect of the key operational parameters in electro-coagulation, current density(${\rho}_i$) and contact time(t) on membrane fouling reduction was investigated in this study. A kinetic model for ${\rho}_i$ and t required to reduce the membrane fouling was suggested under different MLSS(mixed liquor suspended solids) concentration. Total 48 batch type experiments of electro-coagulations under different sets of current densities(2.5, 6, 12 and $24A/m^2$), contact times(0, 2, 6 and 12 hr) and MLSS concentration(4500, 6500 and 8500mg/L) were carried out. After each electro-coagulation under different conditions, a series of membrane filtration was performed to get information on how much of membrane fouling was reduced. The membrane fouling decreased as the ${\rho}_i$ and t increased but as MLSS decreased. Total fouling resistances, Rt (=Rc+Rf) were calculated and compared to those of the controls (Ro), which were obtained from the experiments without electro-coagulation. A kinetic approach for the fouling reduction rate (Rt/Ro) was carried out and three equations under different MLSS concentration were suggested: i) ${\rho}_i^{0.39}t=3.5$ (MLSS=4500 mg/L), ii) ${\rho}_i^{0.46}t=7.0$ (MLSS=6500 mg/L), iii) ${\rho}_i^{0.74}t=10.5$ (MLSS=8500 mg/L). These equations state that the product of ${\rho}_i$ and t needed to reduce the fouling in certain amounts (in this study, 10% of fouling reduction) is always constant.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.257-264
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• 2006

In this study, the treatment of domestic wastewater in a field-scale membrane submerged intermittently aerated activated sludge process($210m^3/day$) was investigated under difference aeration methods. Operating temperature was 5.4 to 25.0 and membrane used in this study is a polyethylene hollow fiber membrane(pore size $0.4{\mu}m$). The range of operating flux was $9.7{\sim}24.4l/m^2-h$ and membrane permeates periodically operated for 7min followed idle for 3 min. The results showed that MIA(modified intermittent aeration) was more efficient in nitrogen and phosphorus removal. The removal efficiencies of T-N and T-P were 73.0% and 69.6% for CIA(conventional intermittent aeration) and 57.5%, 58.6% for MIA (modified intermittent aeration). With application of modified intermittent aeration, DO reached nearly Omg/l within 10 minutes after air off. Organics of influent could be entirely consumed to the denitrification and the P-release without the influence by remained DO in intermittent aeration reactor. Therefore, newly developed KSMBR(Kowaco-KMS-Ssangyoung Membrane Bio-Reactor) process with modified intermittent aeration can be one of the useful process for stable nitrogen and phosphorus removal.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.25 no.5
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• pp.681-689
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• 2011

Submerged membrane bio-reactor (SMBR) has several advantages such as high MLSS, long SRT, and low F/M ratio at wastewater treatment. So, this has widely applied over the world and many studies have been conducted. However, membrane fouling remains an inevitable problem. This study was investigated using bench-scale SMBR with three poeration modes. Raw waters were prepared by addition of starch, acetic and fibric acid to recovery water of zeolite. The efficiency of nitrification and COD were very stable as about 95% and 80%, respectively. And critical flux was 128.8L/$m^{2}$/hr. The result of biodegradability test was following values at the each mode : Ss+Xs/$C_{T}$=81.7%, 35.1% and 45.3%, $X_{I}+S_{I}/C_{T}=18.3%$, 64.9% and 54.7%. When particulate matters such as $X_{I}$ and $X_{S}$ in influent are increased, membrane fouling will take place more and more. A relative ratio of filtration resistance to the fouling occurred by the cake layer was increased when increased the portion of $X_{I}$ and polysaccharide. It was thought that the formation of cake layer was promoted due to bond between $X_{I}$ and vicid material s generated from the polysaccharide.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Environmental Technology
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• v.19 no.6
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• pp.550-555
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• 2018

International Maritime Organization (IMO) is one of the most effective organizations in evolving international law for the protection and conservation of the marine environment. The IMO, MARPOL(Marine Pollution) 73/78 contains six Annexes that provide an overarching framework for the objectives of the international marine pollution. Annex IV was regulated by 64 th resolution in 2012 to control sea pollution from sewage. In 2014 large-scale wastewater treatment and nutrient removal device was developed with a grant from the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries. A combined new process of Sequence Batch Reactor (SBR) and Membrane Bioreactor(MBR) was developed to overcome the pollution caused by shipboard sewage. In the present study, shipboard sewage wastewater was treated by mixing and aeration cycle in the newly developed SBR process. Furthermore, during analysis by NGS technique(Macrogen Co., Ltd.), dominant species of bacteria were found in the aeration tank of the Bench-scale wastewater treatment facility. Bacteroidetes and Gammaproteobacteria accounted for 27.1 % of the aerobicbacteria and 16.8 % of the anaerobicbacteria, respectively. Microorganisms play a vital role in shipboard wastewater treatment. A further detailed study is required to understand the precise role of the microorganisms in the wastewater treatment.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.127-134
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• 2010

This study is conducted about the system that reduces organism after fermenting food waste from a food waste disposal equipment, divides gas made when food waste is fermented into gas and water, and then sends gas to a reactor again, condenses water, and apply it to the MBR system with submerged MF hollow fiber membranes. A submerged MF hollow fiber membrane module was installed to a food waste disposal equipment and a water treatment system made by Bio Hitech Co,. Ltd. to process food waste generated from a staff cafeteria in a H institute for 90 days. For initial seeding of a food waste disposal equipment, 305 kg of rice bran, chaff, and sawdust as well as 1,648 kg of food were input during the operation, and 1,600 L of condensed wastewater occurred. Fermented by-product after finishing running a food waste disposal equipment was 386 kg and its reduction was shown to be 80%. The organism was processed by applying submerged MF hollow fiber membrane module to the MBR system of condensed wastewater, and the result shows reduction rates were BOD 99.9%, COD 97.5%, SS 98.6%, T-N 54.6% and T-P 34.7% and the total colon bacillus was perfectly eliminated.

• Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.91-98
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• 2006

There is a possibility of the production of the air bubbles in membrane pores due to the reduction in pressure during membrane filtration. The effect of fine air bubbles from dissolved gases on microfiltration was investigated in the submerged membrane bio-reactor (SMBR). The $R_{air}$ (air bubble resistance) was defined as the filtration resistance due to the air bubbles formed from the gasification of dissolved gases. From the results of filtration tests using pure water with changes in the dissolved oxygen concentration, the air bubbles from dissolved gases were confirmed to act as a foulant and; thus, increase the filtration resistance. The standard pore blocking and cake filtration models, SPBM and CFM, respectively, were applied to investigate the mechanism of air bubble fouling on a hollow fiber membrane. However, the application of the SPBM and CFM were limited in explaining the mechanism due to the properties of air bubble. With a simple comparison of the different filtration resistances, the $R_{air}$ portion was below 1% of the total filtration resistance during sludge filtration. Therefore, the air bubbles from dissolved gases would only be a minor foulant in the SMBR. However, under the conditions of a high gasification rate from dissolved gases, the effect of air bubble fouling should be considered in microfiltration.

• Advances in environmental research
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 2013

There is a significant demand to make various dissolved gases in water. However, the conventional aeration method shows low gas mass transfer rate and gas utilization efficiency. In this study, a novel rotating wheel entraining gas method was developed for making high dissolved $O_2$ and $O_3$ in water. It produced higher concentration and higher transfer rate of dissolved $O_2$ and $O_3$ than conventional bubble aeration method, especially almost 100% of gas transfer efficiency was achieved for $O_3$ in enclosed reactor. For application of rotating wheel entraining gas method, aerobic bio-reactor and membrane bio-reactor (MBR) were successfully used for treatment of domestic and pharmaceutical wastewater, respectively; and vacuum ultraviolet $(VUV)/UV+O_3/O_2$ reactors were well used for sterilization in air/water, removal of dust particles and toxic gases in air, and degradation of pesticide residue and sterilization on fruits and vegetables.