Development and performance of a dynamic membrane for anaerobic wastewater treatment - an analysis with different mesh pore sizes and configurations

Recent studies have focused on proposing materials with larger pores and lower cost to replace conventional membranes. This study aims to investigate the performance of an anaerobic dynamic membrane bioreactor (AnDMBR) at pilot scale, acting as a post-treatment for an UASB reactor treating sewage, for the removal of complementary organic matter, focusing on the module design, dynamic layer formation and process performance. The configurations tested on this study were: UASB followed by stone filter and three AnDMBRs in series with polyester pore sizes of 100 mu m, 50 mu m, and 5 mu m; UASB followed by disc filter and the three AnDMBRs in series; UASB followed by the three AnDMBRs in series; UASB reactor with only one AnDMBR module. Regarding the studied configurations, high removals of total suspended solids, COD, and turbidity were achieved in all experimental setups. The use of stone and disc filters did not bring clear benefits to the system concerning the direct application of filtration with dynamic membranes, therefore, their removal in the system was favorable. The dynamic membrane formation was faster in the 50 mu m mesh, and only a few hours were necessary to obtain a permeate quality with a TSS concentration and a turbidity lower than 15 mg center dot L-1 and 30 NTU, respectively. Thus, the dynamic membrane technology proved to be a potential solution in the post-treatment of UASB reactor effluents.