• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.161-170
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• 2014

It is essential to decrease energy consumption and excess sludge to economically operate sewage treatment plant. This becomes more important along with a ban on sea dumping and exhaustion of resource. Therefore, many researchers have been study on energy consumption reduction and strategies for minimization of excess sludge production from the activated sludge process. The aeration cost account for a high proportion of maintenance cost because sufficient air is necessary to keep nitrifying bacteria activity of which the oxygen affinity is inferior to that of heterotrophic bacteria. Also, additional costs are incurred to stabilize excess sludge and decrease the volume of sludge. There were anoxic, aerobic, membrane, deairation and concentration zone in this MBR process. Continuous aeration was provided to prevent membrane fouling in membrane zone and intermittent aeration was provided in aerobic zone through ammonia sensor. So, there was the minimum oxygen to remove $NH_4-N$ below limited quantity that could be eliminated in membrane zone. As the result of this control, energy consumption of aeration system declined by between 10.4 % and 19.1 %. Besides, we could maintain high MLSS concentration in concentration zone and this induced the microorganisms to be in starved condition. Consequentially, the amount of excess sludge decrease by about 15 %.

• Proceedings of the Membrane Society of Korea Conference
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• 2002.11a
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• pp.158-161
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• 2002

• Membrane Journal
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.289-297
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• 2004

In this study, membranes were coupled to a sequencing batch reactor for simultaneous removal of organic matter and nitrogen, and the influences of MLSS (mixed liquor suspended solid) concentration and the sludge loading rate on membrane fouling and bioactivity were investigated. The amount of membrane fouling slightly increased with MLSS concentration at both non-aeration and aeration conditions, but effect of MLSS concentration was more significant at aeration condition. Although the effect of MLSS concentration on membrane fouling was found to be insignificant at low concentration level, extremely low sludge loading, which were generated by the maintenance of large amount of biomass in the reactor, caused severe membrane fouling, and air scouring effect decreased significantly in this condition. Specific bioactivity was constantly reduced as sludge loading rate decreased. In spite of high MLSS concentration over 17,000 mg/L, the activity of the reactor decreased at extremely low sludge loading rate presumably due to the lower oxygen transfer and the competition of biomass to deficient substrate.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.31 no.5
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• pp.389-395
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• 2017

In this paper, we investigate the characteristics of membrane fouling caused by water temperature in the Membrane bioreactor(MBR) process and try to derive the membrane fouling control by chemical enhanced backwashing(CEB). The extracellular polymeric substances(EPS) concentration was analyzed according to the water temperature in the MBR, and the membrane fouling characteristics were investigated according to the conditions, with sludge & without sludge, through a lab-scale reactor. As shown in the existing literature the fouling resistance rate was increased within sludge with the water temperature was lowered. However, in the lab-scale test using the synthetic wastewater, the fouling resistance increased with the water temperature. This is because that the protein of the EPS was more easily adsorbed on the membrane surface due to the increase of entropy due to the structural rearrangement of the protein inside the protein as the water temperature increases. In order to control membrane fouling, we tried to derive the cleaning characteristics of CEB by using sodium hypochlorite(NaOCl). We selected the condition with the chemicals and the retention time, and the higher the water temperature and the chemical concentration are the higher the efficiencies. It is considered that the increasing temperature accelerated the chemical reaction such as protein peptide binding and hydrolysis, so that the attached proteinaceous structure was dissolved and the frequency of the reaction collision with the protein with the chemical agent becomes higher. These results suggest that the MBRs operation focus on the fouling control of cake layer on membrane surface in low temperatures. On the other hand, the higher the water temperature is the more the operation strategies of fouling control by soluble EPS adsorption are needed.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.1-23
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• 2012

The coupling of anaerobic biological process and membrane separation could provide excellent suspended solids removal and better biomass retention for wastewater treatment. This coupling improves the biological treatment process while allowing for the recovery of energy through biogas. This review gives a basic description of the anaerobic wastewater treatment process, summarizes the state of the art of anaerobic membrane bioreactors (AnMBRs), and describes the current research trends and needs for the development of AnMBRs. The research interest on AnMBR has grown over the conventional anaerobic processes such as upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB). Studies on AnMBRs have developed different reactor configurations to enhance performances. The AnMBR performances have achieved comparable status to other high rate anaerobic reactors. AnMBR is highly suitable for application with thermophilic anaerobic process to enhance performances. Studies indicate that the applications of AnMBR are not only limited to the high strength industrial wastewater treatment, but also for the municipal wastewater treatment. In recent years, there is a significant progress in the membrane fouling studies, which is a major concern in AnMBR application.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.7-14
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• 2015

In this study transmembrane pressure (TMP) was measured with respect to operational time in order to estimate fouling of the submerged membrane in the membrane bioreactor(MBR). The microfiltration flat sheet module which has $0.02m^2$ of effective area and $0.15{\mu}m$ nominal pore size was submerged in the activated sludge solution of MLSS 5,000 mg/L. The permeate experiments were carried out simultaneously to compare TMP of the run/stop (R/S) with that of the sinusoidal flux continuous operation (SFCO). TMP for SFCO mode was up to 93% lower than that of R/S mode, and the effect of TMP drop reduced as permeate flux increased. Also, TMP of the SCFO mode was maintained below 40% of the limited operating TMP 55 kPa until the permeate operational time extended to longer than 5 times for the case as the coagulant $FeCl_3$ was dosed into the activated sludge solution with 500 mg/L concentration.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.559-566
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• 2003

From this research, the performances of a sludge reduction in the sewage sludge aerobic digestion was experimented by using a sludge pretreatment and membrane bioreactor. The submerged plate membrane was used as the solid-liquid separation membrane. After drawing small amounts of sludge in a bioreactor and then doing the alkaline treatment and ozone treatment, the sludge was sent to back to the reactor. The HRT in the reactor was set as 5 days and the operation in the reactor was carried out at the DO of 1mg/L on average. After 100 days of operation in the reactor, it was shown that the reduction efficiency of total solids was more than 83%. Most of volatile solids were removed through mineralization, and the considerable portion of the non-volatile solids was dissolved and then flowed out with the effluent. Only about 16.3% of total solids in the sludge was accmulated in the reactor even without the loss of volatile fraction. Also, by deriving nitrification and denitrification in one reactor simultaneously, more than 90% of nitrogen removal effect was realized and the experiment was run smoothly without fouling of membrane, even in the high concentration of MLSS. Based on this experiment, sludge can be reduced considerably at a low HRT by these two newly suggested approach.

• Journal of the Korea Organic Resources Recycling Association
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.5-16
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• 2021

In this study, the applicability of the MBR(Membrane Bio Reactor) process of oxygen dissolve was evaluated through comparison and evaluation of the efficiency of oxygen dissolve device and conventional aeration device in the explosive tank within the MBR process. The organic matter and ammonia oxidation by oxygen dissolve device were evaluated, and the efficiency of persaturation was evaluated by applying real waste water (anaerobic digester effluent treatement from food waste). SCOD and ammonia removal rates for oxygen dissolve device and conventional aeration device methods were similar. However, it was determined that the excess sludge treatment cost could be reduced as the yield of microorganisms by oxygen dissolve device is about 0.03 g MLSS-produced/g SCOD-removed lower than that of microorganisms by conventional aeration device. The removal rates of high concentrations of organic matter (4,000 mg/L) and ammonia (1,400 mg/L) in anaerobic digester effluent treatment from food waste were compared to the conventional aeration device and the oxygen dissolve device organic matter removal rate was approximately 13% higher than that of the conventional aeration device. In addition, for MLSS, the conventional aeration device was 0.3 times higher than for oxygen dissolve device. This is believed to be due to the high progress of sludge autooxidation because the dissolved oxygen is sufficiently maintained and supplied in the explosive tank for oxygen dissolve device. Therefore, it was determined that the use of oxygen dissolve device will be more economical than conventional aeration device as a way to treat wastewater containing high concentrations of organic matter.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.38 no.9
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• pp.469-475
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• 2016

The study is the result of an practical operation analysis for the full scale fishery product wastewater treatment plant with immersed MBR (iMBR) process. Since fishery product industries show a wide range of wastewater generation by the season, design and operation of the equalization basin are very important factor. The aeration system for the equalization basin mixing can save the chemical consumption for followed system through the restriction of acid fermentation. The concentrations of wastewater primary DAF process treated were BOD 2,291 mg/L, $COD_{Mn}$ 530 mg/L, SS 256.8 mg/L, T-N 38 mg/L, T-P 13.5 mg/L respectively. It was considered that iMBR is the most efficient biological process for high salinity content wastewater since It is irrelevant to the capability of the sludge precipitation. SADp and SADm were 0.31, $26.5m^3/hr{\cdot}m^3$ respectively. In iMBR process, the critical F/M ratio was derived at 0.08~0.10 gBOD/gMLSS by analysing the correlations between MLSS, normalized TMP and temperature. The effluent concentrations were BOD 1.8 mg/L, $COD_{Mn}$ 12.4 mg/L, SS 1.0 mg/L, T-N 7.85 mg/L, T-P 0.1 mg/L and removal efficiencies were 99.9%, 97.6%, 96.3%, 95.7%, 97.8% respectively.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.8 no.5
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• pp.395-409
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• 2017

Membrane bioreactor (MBR) is a compact and efficient wastewater treatment and reclamation technology; but, it is limited by membrane fouling. The control of membrane fouling significantly increases operational and maintenance costs. Bacteria and their byproducts - extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) - are major contributors to membrane fouling in MBRs. A recent attempt at fouling mitigation is the development of aerobic granular sludge membrane bioreactor (AGMBR) through the integration of a novel biotechnology - aerobic granulation - and MBR. This paper provides an overview on the development of AGMBR to mitigate membrane fouling caused by bacteria and EPS. In AGMBR, EPS are used up in granule formation; and, the rigid structure of granules provides a surface for bacteria to attach to rather than the membrane surface. Preliminary research on AGMBR using synthetic wastewater show remarkable membrane fouling reduction compared to conventional MBR, thus improved membrane filtration. Enhanced performance in AGMBR using actual municipal wastewater at pilot-scale has also been reported. Therefore, further research is needed to determine AGMBR optimal operational conditions to enhance granule stability in long-term operations and in full-scale applications.