CFD Modeling of Biofouling in Membrane Bioreactor (MBR) with COMSOL Multiphysics software

Abstract Today, membrane bioreactors have been used extensively in the water and wastewater treatment industry due to their proper function. Thus, the study on them seems to be necessary. In this research, a brief description of the membrane bioreactor and its application is first given, and then the various types of fouling in the membrane bioreactor (MBR) are investigated. Membrane bioreactors have been used to make tubular membranes. Tubular membranes are susceptible to fouling due to their shape. The most important membrane fouling agents in the membrane bioreactor are biological materials. Biological materials are consist of Extracellular Polymeric Substances (EPS) and Soluble Microbial Products (SMP). The fouling of Biological materials is called Biofouling. The fouling process mechanism for EPS is different from SMP. These various mechanisms cause different results in laboratory research and modeling. In the following these results are compared with each other and the main cause of biological fouling in the membrane bioreactor is introduced. The most important parameter to compare fouling from EPS and SMP is the amount of flux reduction across the membrane. In this research, COMSOL Multiphysics software is used to simulate processes.

[Full Text: PDF]