ASSESSMENT OF FILTRATION PERFORMANCE AND APPLICABILITY OF LOW-COST CERAMIC MEMBRANES TO MEMBRANE BIOREACTOR (MBR) FOR MUNICIPAL WASTEWATER TREATMENT

Ceramic membrane, which characteristically provides high chemical and thermal resistance, has rarely been used in membrane bioreactors (MBRs) treating municipal wastewater. The ceramic membranes are especially used as microfiltration unit in different pore sizes ranging from 0.01 to 5 mu m. In this study, the performance of ceramic membrane filtration was investigated in batch and continuous filtration modes. The individual effect of filtration time and influent pollutant concentration on filtration removal efficiencies was also studied. Furthermore, the characteristics of the membrane such as treatment performance, operating parameters, pressure (TMP) change, and flux reduction were investigated. Ceramic membranes provided a 72% yield based on the initial flow rate with a short term physical cleaning. The average reduction rate for chemical oxygen demand (COD) was approximately 95% for the membrane bioreactor treating municipal wastewater. The obtained results show that the ceramic microfiltration membrane can be efficiently used in a membrane bioreactor process for the treatment of municipal wastewater. In addition, the membranes were characterised by a reduced manufacturing cost since Turkey provides an ample supply for used and recycled raw materials with acceptable properties.