Full Length Research Paper

Current research and development of controlling membrane fouling of MBR

Da-Wen Gao¹*, Yuan Fu¹, Yu Tao¹, Wei-Min Wu², Rui An¹ and Xin-Xin Li¹

¹State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150090, P. R. China.

²Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305-4020, USA.

*Corresponding author. E-mail: gaodw@hit.edu.cn. Tel: 86-451-86282110.

Fax: 86-451-86282104.

Accepted 8 January, 2009

   Abstract

Fouling is a major problem influencing the operational performance, stability and cost of a membrane bioreactor (MBR). The composition of wastewater and biomass grown in the MBR are directly related to fouling. Many factors including operational parameters can affect the fouling process. The extent of fouling can be controlled by employing proper operational strategy, improving membrane materials and proper designing membrane module and reactor configuration. This paper describes major factors related to membrane fouling as well as further research needs.

Key words: Membrane bioreactor, membrane fouling, trans-membrane pressure, flux.