Bioresource Technology 194 (2015) 383–388

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Bioresource Technology
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/biortech

Review

Membrane bioreactor: A mini review on recent R&D works

Liying Huang a, Duu-Jong Lee a,b,c,⇑
a
Department of Chemical Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei 10617, Taiwan
b
Department of Chemical Engineering, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taipei 10607, Taiwan
c
R&D Center for Membrane Technology, Chung Yuan University, Chung-Li 32023, Taiwan

h i g h l i g h t s g r a p h i c a l a b s t r a c t

 Novel MBR systems were developed

effluent
and reviewed in this article. GAC
 Revised MBR architectures and the
draw soluon
use of hybrid systems are listed and sponge
discussed. X water
 Recent development of forward Adsorpon microalgae
osmosis MBR is documented. Fluidized bed
 Challenges and prospects of MBR Feed tank
Moving bed
technologies are highlighted.
EC
air on (aerobic)
air off (anaerobic)

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Membrane bioreactor (MBR) has been widely applied worldwide in full scale. Recent research and devel-
Received 11 June 2015 opment trends of MBR technology has been shifted from process optimization and economic evaluation
Received in revised form 1 July 2015 to installation of new process architecture to enrich functional strains like nitrifiers or providing assisted
Accepted 5 July 2015
field for performance enhancement, to incorporation of affordable adsorbents or scouring agent for mem-
Available online 20 July 2015
brane fouling mitigation, and to applying MBR hybrid systems for achieving simultaneous removals of
nutrients and other pollutants. This mini-review summarized the recent works, principally in 2014–
Keywords:
2015, on the above aspects, and provided a discussion on the osmotic MBR based on forward osmosis
Hybrid MBR
Fouling mitigation
on its use of high-osmotic-pressure draw solution and the pre-treatment needed, and the reverse solute
Osmotic membrane bioreactor leakage that affects the MBR efficiency.
Solute leakage Ó 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Each year numerous studies were reported on all aspects of
membrane bioreactors (MBR). The Web of Science™ database
search using topic of MBR on 2015.06.06 led to a total of 3424
papers, in fields such as biotechnology applied microbiology
(1135), energy fuels (963), electrochemistry (762) and environ-
mental sciences (575), and with authors from United States and
⇑ Corresponding author at: Department of Chemical Engineering, National
Taiwan University, Taipei 10617, Taiwan. Tel.: +886 2 26325632; fax: +886 2
23623040.
E-mail address: djlee@ntu.edu.tw (D.-J. Lee).
China contributing about 60% of these published papers. In all plat-
forms, Bioresource Technology ranked top in number of MBR
papers published (12%). Relevant review articles are available on
recent progress and developments of MBR technologies, including
those for nutrient/pollutant removal and recovery (Kelly and He,
2014), improvement of micro-scale MBR architecture for perfor-
mance improvement (ElMekawy et al., 2014), use of MBR for
abatement of hydrogen sulfide (Pikkar et al., 2015), as a desalina-
tion device (Subramani and Jacangelo, 2015) and as a bio-factory
(Mohan et al., 2014). Besides, the anaerobic submerged MBR were
studied for enhanced methane production (Robles et al., 2014; Gao
et al., 2014a,b; Xie et al., 2014; Ding et al., 2014b). The MBR was
applied to treat trace organic contaminants (TrOCs) representing

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2015.07.013
0960-8524/Ó 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
384 L. Huang, D.-J. Lee / Bioresource Technology 194 (2015) 383–388
pharmaceuticals, steroid hormones, phytoestrogens, UV-filters and
pesticides in the aqueous and solid phases (Wijekoon et al., 2013)
or to recover phosphorus from wastewaters (Zuthi et al., 2013).
To reach various goals on wastewater treatments, novel MBR
systems were developed. This mini-review lists a few recent stud-
ies on MBRs, from which the current R&D trends on MBR systems
can be demonstrated.
2. Revised process architecture
The original architecture of an MBR consists of an aerated
sludge reactor with an external membrane filtration unit (external
MBR) or with a submerged membrane with suction (submerged
MBR). Revised MBR architecture was proposed to enhance the
removal performances in wastewater treatment. Sun et al. (2014)
proposed an adsorption-MBR which put down an adsorption tank
between an activated sludge tank and an MBR to receiving raw
wastewater so the nitrifiers can be enriched. These authors noted
enrichment of nitrifiers and improvement of sludge filterability
by adoption of the adsorption-MBR system.
Shin et al. (2014) demonstrated the supreme process perfor-
mance of a pilot-scale staged anaerobic fluidized membrane biore-
actor when treating primary-settled domestic wastewater. Over
wide temperature variation, the proposed system produced >90%
biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) and chemical oxygen demand
(COD) removal at low energy consumption. Gao et al. (2014a) stud-
ied the microbial community shifts in the operation of an anoxic–
oxic-MBR. Incorporation of anoxic and oxic zones altered microbial
community structure and enhanced nitrogen removal capability of
an MBR.
Zhang et al. (2014) realized the completely autotrophic nitrogen
removal over nitrite (CANON) process in MBR. The increased
ammonia concentration and reducing hydraulic retention time
strategy for rapid startup of the reactor was discussed.
Li et al. (2014) proposed a fluidized bed membrane bioelectro-
chemical reactor with added granular activated carbon for electric-
ity generation and contaminant removal. These authors proposed
that the studied system can reach energy neutral, at least
theoretically.
Xu et al. (2014) tested an algae-based MBR with Chlorella emer-
sonii as the seed. After 150 day operation, the algae concentration
was increased from 385 to 4840 mg/L and removed 66% of the total
P. Bilad et al. (2014a,b) proposed a membrane photobioreactor for
cultivation and pre-harvesting the Chlorella vulgaris. The mem-
brane completely retained the biomass, which then was partly
recycled into the bioreactor to maintain a high biomass concentra-
tion, to operate at both high dilution and high growth rates.
Ylitervo et al. (2014) applied submerged MBR to enrich density
of Saccharomyces cerevisiae for fermenting toxic lignocellulosic
hydrolyzate to ethanol. The MBR demonstrated rapid and produc-
tive ethanol production from wood hydrolyzate.
3. External additives
To mitigate membrane fouling, studies added external additives
in the MBR to accelerate membrane scouring or to adsorb soluble
foulants in suspension. Deng et al. (2014) noted that the added
sponge can prevent cake formation and pore blockage in a sub-
merged MBR that are mainly contributed by soluble microbial
products in activated sludge. Zuthi et al. (2015) developed a math-
ematical model for a sponge submerged membrane bioreactor con-
sidering the biomass viability and extra-cellular polymeric
substances redundancy. The model was validated by experimental
data and was used for making process performance prediction.
Rezaei and Mehrnia (2014) added clinoptilolite (a nature zeo-
lite) to increase the concentration of mixed liquor suspended
solids, reducing the quantity of soluble microbial products in sus-
pension and to reduce the transmembrane pressure drop. The pres-
ence of zeolite was proposed to enhance wastewater treatment
performance and to ease the reactor operations.
Nguyen et al. (2013a) evaluated the performance of a pilot scale
reactor consisting of a granular activated carbon (GAC)-sponge flu-
idized bed bioreactor and a submerge MBR. These authors noted
that the tested pilot system could remove 90% dissolved organic
carbon (DOC), 95% NH+4-N, and about 70% of PO4 -P. The transmem-
brane pressure for the studied system remained low over the
experimental period. Nguyen et al. (2013b) removed 22 trace
organic contaminants by GAC and powdered activated carbon
(PAC)+MBR. The application of MBR + GAC (two stages) and the
MBR-GAC (one stage) processes enhanced removal of seven hydro-
philic and biologically persistent compounds. Hu et al. (2014)
investigated the performance of a pilot-scale MBR system with
PAC addition for enhancing micropollutant removal from surface
waters. Ding et al. (2014a) mitigate membrane fouling by adding
GAC to a membrane-coupled expanded granular sludge bed reac-
tor. Since the activated carbon can adsorb various extracellular
substances, its presence alleviated membrane fouling efficiently.
Zhou et al. (2014) studied the effects of titanium dioxide
nanoparticles on the cake layer formation in a submerged MBR.
The nanoparticles had accelerated membrane pore blocking but
postponed cake layer fouling, which was attributable to their inhi-
bition of interactions between the inorganic and the organic com-
pounds so SiO2 were prevented from depositing onto the
membrane surface.
Lin et al. (2014) studied the osmotic pressure build-up by accu-
mulated counter-ions in cake layer in an MBR, which contributed
to the high cake resistance during filtration. Hence, the removal
of cake layer and/or incorporate foreign particles inside the fouling
layer should be able to reduce cake resistance with filtrate flows.
The detailed study on this mechanism remains lacking.
4. Hybrid processes
Guadie et al. (2013) and Gao et al. (2014b) studied a fluidized
bed reactor (FBR)-MBR system for simultaneous phosphorus and
nitrogen removal from sewage. These authors revealed that the
tested system could have enhanced nitrogen and chemical oxygen
demand (COD) removal to above 98.7% as phosphorus was
removed in the FBR stage. Guadie et al. (2014) investigated the
effect of intermittent aeration cycle on nutrient removal and
microbial community structure in FBR–MBR system. The FBR alone
process removed >85% PO4 -P, <40% NH+4-N and <35% COD. The
combo system almost completely removed COD and NH+4-N with
Proteobacteria, Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes being the dominant
bacterial group in all samples.
Nguyen et al. (2014a) evaluated a pilot scale system consisting
of rotating hanging media bioreactor (RHMBR), submerged mem-
brane bioreactor (MBR) along with electrocoagulation (EC). The
tested system had almost complete removal of nitrogen and phos-
phorus from waters. Nguyen et al. (2014b) applied a pilot-scale
system with equalizing reactor, rotating hanging media bioreactor
and submerged flat sheet membrane bioreactor with internal recy-
cles. With four times of feed flow rate as recycle, the removals of
biological oxygen demand (BOD), COD, NH+4-N, total nitrogen
(TN), total phosphorus (TP) and total suspended solids (TSS) were
99.88%, 95.01%, 100%, 90.42%, 73.44%, and 99.93%, respectively.
With chemically cleaned-in-place, the membrane could continu-
ously maintain a constant permeate flux at low power
consumption.
 L. Huang, D.-J. Lee / Bioresource Technology 194 (2015) 383–388
Di Trapani et al. (2014) applied moving bed-MBR for enriching
nitrifying bacteria in the reactor so the nitrification activity of the
MBR can be maintained at increasing salinity. The role of detached
biomass from the carriers on the membrane fouling propensity
was discussed. Luo et al. (2015a) tested a hybrid moving bed bio-
film reactor–membrane bioreactor system and revealed that the
hybrid system could effectively remove most of the selected pollu-
tants and also mitigate membrane fouling.
Marbelia et al. (2014) tested a combined system consisting of an
MBR and a microalgae membrane photo-bioreactor (MPBR), with
the former converting organic carbon to CO2 and nutrients are fur-
ther removed via the latter.
5. Osmotic MBR
A new research development is on the application of forward
osmosis rather than the positive pressure gradient yielded by
external pressure or by suction. The first osmotic membrane biore-
actor (OMBR) based on forward osmosis (FO) was proposed by
Cornelissen et al. (2008). The water is drawn by osmotic pressure
by concentrated salt solution (as draw solution) in OMBR instead
of applied pressure drop in external MBR or vacuum pressure in
submerged MBR. The OMBR is considered a new generation of
device that may be having the following advantages: minimum
cleaning and scouring needed for membrane; high retention of sol-
uble ions/molecules in suspended liquor; low energy consumption
(if the so-yielded draw solution can be presented as the end prod-
ucts). Available review articles on the FO and OMBR are listed
(Table 1). Relevant research articles are listed in Table 2.
5.1. Membrane factors
Cornelissen et al. (2008) investigated both membrane fouling
and draw solution leakage in OMBR by laboratory scale experi-
ments. Their OMBR peaked the flux at 6.2 L/m2 h at 20 ± 2 °C with
0.5 M NaCl draw solution, corresponding to osmotic pressure of 24
bars. In a follow-up study, these authors commented that the
FO-type membrane has higher flux than the thin film composite
(TFC)-type membranes.
Table 1
Review articles for forward osmosis and osmotic membrane bioreactors.
Author/year Highlights
Shaffer et al. (2015) Reviewed the current state of forward osmosis (FO)
and compared the energy efficiency of FO and relevant
applications. Commented on the fouling reversibility
of FO and relevant benefits and applications
Yang et al. (2015) Provided an overview on fundamental principles,
advantages and challenges of forward osmosis (FO)
membrane processes. Also commented on innovative
FO membrane materials like electrospun nanofibers
and thin FO membranes
Luo et al. (2014a,b) Reviewed the recovery methods of draw solutes and
commented on future directions for the effective and
energy-efficient recovery of draw solutes
Valladares Linares Reviewed the hybrid FO systems state-of-the-art
et al. (2014) applications in water industry. Also provided a novel
classification for FO processes in water industry
Luo et al. (2014a,b) Commented on key differences between conventional
MBRs and HR-MBRs. Provided examples of trace
organic compounds rejections by high retention
membrane processes
Lutchmiah et al. Listed examples of membrane treated wastewaters for
(2014) reuse. Commented on membrane types used in FO
applications and comparisons between their
membrane characteristics
Coday et al. (2014) Proposed water quality parameters and experimental
conditions for evaluating OMBR
385
Lay et al. (2011) operated a dual-track OMBR for 73 d and noted
high retention property of the FO membrane and salt transmission
from the draw solution to the mixed liquor. These authors also
found that salt concentration factor (CF) experimentally obtained
was significantly lower than expected. Lay et al. (2012) then
derived the flux efficiency factor (Jw,ob/Jw,re), where Jw,ob and Jw,re
are experimentally measured water flux and reference water flux,
respectively, to interpret the inevitable trade-off between flux and
recovery (/) (defined as for an FO system. These authors concluded
that the developed Jw,ob/Jw,re factor properly interpreted the high
water permeability, low salt-to-water permeability ratio, and large
mass transfer coefficient of the FO system. They compared a TFC
membrane and a cellulose triacetate (CTA) membrane, and showed
that the former has more favorable intrinsic transport parameters.
5.2. Draw solutions
Cornelissen et al. (2008) proposed that the internal concentra-
tion polarization (ICP) built up in the porous supporting layer
decreased the FO performance. As a result, although the flux of
FO were non-linearly dependent to the concentration of the draw
solution, since monovalent ions have much higher diffusion coeffi-
cients in water than the divalent ions, the salts with the former are
preferred than the latter as a draw solution.
Draw solutions need recovery after use (Luo et al., 2014a).
Bowden et al. (2012) examined the feasibility of using organic ionic
salt solutions as draw solution since the organic matters, after
leaking to the suspended liquor, can be adopted as carbon source
for the growth of microorganisms. These authors proposed that
the draw solution can be selected based on its reverse salt flux
per unit water flux, biodegradation potential, and replenishment
cost, and revealed that magnesium acetate and sodium propionate
can be used to replaced commonly used NaCl and MgCl2 as draw
solutes.
5.3. Salinity accumulation in OMBR
The driving force of high salt concentration to the suspended
liquor leads to salinity accumulation in the OMBR. Qiu and Ting
(2013) claimed that due to the elevation of salinity, the deteriora-
tion of nitrification activity yielded accumulation of organic matter
and NH+4-N in the bioreactor. Qiu and Ting (2014b) noted that
although neither the mixed liquor suspended solids concentration
nor osmotic pressure affected water flux; conversely, the elevated
salinity could alter sludge surface hydrophobicity and increase in
quantity of extracellular polymeric substances, hence producing
severe membrane fouling to reduce water flux across the mem-
brane. Luo et al. (2015b) also noted that increasing the concentra-
tion of draw solution increases the initial water flux; however,
when the flux reached a critical point, severe membrane fouling
occurred. Additionally, the accumulated salinity can reduce the
effective osmotic pressure drop available for driving the water flux
through FO membrane (Xiao et al., 2011; Kim, 2014).
The accumulated salinity may be applied for resource recovery.
Qiu and Ting (2014a) enriched the concentrations of PO34 , Ca2+,
Mg2+ and NH+4 by the FO membrane and then adjust solution pH
to 8.0–9.5 for predominantly amorphous calcium phosphate for-
mation. This proposal can recover ACP with phosphorus content
>11%. Qiu et al. (2015) proposed a hybrid microfiltration-forward
osmosis membrane bioreactor for direct phosphorus removal to
prove that with continuous withdrawal of the supernatant through
the microfiltration membrane, the salts rejected by the FO mem-
brane and transported from the draw solution can be effectively
removed, obviously reducing the salinity in the bioreactor.
Although the FO water flux still decreased due to the declined
transmembrane osmotic pressure, the actual amount of water
386 L. Huang, D.-J. Lee / Bioresource Technology 194 (2015) 383–388

Table 2
Relevant research articles for forward osmosis and osmotic membrane bioreactors.

References Reactor Membrane Removala (%) Remark

Organic C Phosphate NH+4-N
Luo et al. (2015a) Submerged (compared CTA 98 96 100 ? 75 Fouling of FO membrane was less than MF under
to submerge MBR) similar conditions. Salinity build-up in OMBR
reduced the water flux and affected the biomass
properties
Chen et al. (2014) Submerged AnMBR CTA 96 100 62 An increase in the salinity enhanced the
accumulation of soluble microbial products, but the
influence of conductivity on EPS cannot be directly
correlated
Ding et al. (2014b) AnMBR + aerobic CTA 60.6/87.6 88.8/93.6 98.4/98.6 The external and internal foulants in the FOMBR
OMBR (35 °C/25 °C) were identified
Dong et al. (2014) FO is used for post- CTA NA 96.6 76.9 Compared AL-DS mode and AL-FS mode
treatment of MBR
Tang and Ng (2014) AnMBR + AnOMBR CTA 90 NA NA Compared NaCl and Na2SO4 as DS. Chloride DS
(submerged) impacted biological growth (lower MLVSS) and
gave lower flux
Qiu and Ting (2014a) Submerged CTA 98 95 80–90 Direct phosphorus recovery (efficiency = 50%) from
municipal wastewater
Qiu and Ting (2014b) Submerged CTA NA NA NA Membrane fouling was affected by elevation of
salinity and Hydrophobic proteins
Nawaz et al. (2013) External CTA NA NA NA Microbial toxicity effects of reverse transported
draw solute
Nguyen et al. (2013c) Submerged rolled flat CTA 99 98 96 High sludge dewatering by FO and nutrients
sheet removal.
Qiu and Ting (2013) Submerged CTA-ES 98 NA 95 Salt accumulation affected bacterial community
Zhu and Li (2013) MBR + external FO CTA NA NA NA Bisphenol A removal by FO and conventional MBR
Alturki et al. (2012) External TFC 87 NA NA Removal of 50 trace organic compounds was
evaluated. High MW compounds (>266 g/mol) were
well removed
Bowden et al. (2012) External CTA NA NA NA Organic ionic salt solutions were as draw solutions.
Determining diffusion coefficient of ionic salt
solutions
Lay et al. (2012) Hollow fiber TFC & flat TFC & CTA NA NA NA Flux efficiency factor as a new method for assessing
sheet CTA performance of FO system
Zhang et al. (2012a) External FO-type NA NA NA Reasons (RH, EPS, MLSS, MPS) result in flux decline
Zhang et al. (2012b) Submerged hollow TFC FO hollow fiber NA NA NA The coupled influences of biofilm formation and
fiber FO (AL-DS&AL-FS) inorganic scaling. AL-FS is favorable for OMBR
Zhu et al. (2012) External CTA NA NA NA Applied forward osmosis to simultaneous
thickening, digestion, and dewatering of waste
activated sludge
Lay et al. (2011) Submerged CTA NA NA NA Increasing mixed liquor salinity until a stable state
was reached
Xiao et al. (2011) Submerged CTA NA NA NA Salt accumulation is proportional to SRT/HRT, and is
contributed by both influent solute and reverse
diffusion
Qin et al. (2010) External CTA NA NA NA Low membrane fouling tendency with continuous
air scouring operation over 190 h was observed
Achilli et al. (2009) Submerged CTA 99.8 NA 97.7 FOMBR as a novel OMBR
Qin et al. (2009) External NA NA NA AL-DS has higher flux than AL-FS
Cornelissen et al. (2008) U tube TFC-NF/TFC-RO/FO NA NA NA Optimizing FOMBR operation
a
Those with numbers are from OMBR studies.

recovered via FO increased by 24% through increasing MF flow rate.

Similar studies were reported (Wang et al., 2014; Holloway et al., effluent
2014; Park et al., 2015). GAC
draw soluon
sponge
X water
6. Challenges and prospects Adsorpon microalgae
Fluidized bed
Feed tank
Full-scale MBRs have been installed and operated to treat vari- Moving bed
EC
ous kinds of wastewaters for decades. Membranes are designed to
air on (aerobic)
foul. Past efforts were devoted to mitigate membrane fouling dur-
air off (anaerobic)
ing MBR operation (Lin et al., 2010). The existing technologies
work well at acceptable costs. According to the literature studies Fig. 1. Schematic of the recent R&D works conducted for MBR processes.
listed above, the current trends on MBR studies include (1) devel-
opment of new MBR architecture for specific purpose, such as removals of nutrients and other pollutants at enhanced efficiency.
enriching functional strains like nitrifiers for improved nitrification The development of OMBR can be categorized to a development of
capacity or providing assisted field like electrical for accelerated new MBR architecture which deserves further attention owing to
pollutant removal; (2) incorporating affordable adsorbents or its potential use in numerous applications at, hopefully, reduced
scouring agent like sponge to mitigate membrane fouling; (3) costs. A schematic of the MBR under development is shown in
applying MBR + X hybrid systems for achieving simultaneous Fig. 1.
 L. Huang, D.-J. Lee / Bioresource Technology 194 (2015) 383–388
In general, the fouling layer on membrane surface for an FO sys-
tem is easier to be scoured off compared with that for a reverse
osmosis (RO) system, likely owing to the very different force fields
exerted onto the foulants at the proximity of membrane. Restated,
one of the key advantages for OMBR is its low fouling propensity
on membrane surface. Conversely, since the draw solution is gen-
erally higher in salt concentration than the feed, to recover pure
water from the used draw solution acquires higher external pres-
sure than to recover water directly from the feed if an RO unit is
applied. (Note: Surely since the draw solution is much ‘‘cleaner’’
than the feed, the fouling on the so-applied RO unit for recovery
will have low potential to foul, hence leading to low
trans-membrane pressure in operation, as claimed by a few stud-
ies). The applications with the used draw solutions as end prod-
ucts, such as fertilizer, or simply abandoned as a waste, such as
the used brine after FO unit, were discussed to avoid the high
recovery costs. However, water desalination for mass production
of potable water or for water reuse cannot be achieved by the
so-designed FO systems.
The high retention characteristics of membrane make the MBR
a potential platform for high density cultivation of microalgae
(Bilad et al., 2014b; Luo et al., 2014b). Apparently all drawbacks
shared by the state-of-art algae-photoreactors such as low quan-
tum efficiency, high installation and operation costs and the
expensive post treatments (Chen et al., 2011) will also be brought
to the algae-MBR techniques. The high retention characteristics of
FO membrane also make the MBR a proposed device to enrich
nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus) for recovery or toxic/refractory/-
carcinogenic pollutants at trace concentrations for removal. Lu
et al. (2014) measured the forward fluxes and reverse fluxes for
certain cations (NH+4 and Na+) and anions (HCO3 and Cl ) over both
CTA and TFC membranes. These authors concluded that the
Donnan dialysis mechanisms principally contribute to the noted
ion fluxes in the FO applications. Such a finding warrants further
studies since the capability of retaining target solutes for efficient
recovery/removal.
7. Conclusions
There have been substantial improvement and technological
advancement in the membrane bioreactor processes. New devel-
opments on MBR applications, including the developments of
new MBR architecture for specific purpose, the incorporation of
affordable adsorbents or scouring agent in the suspended liquor,
and application of MBR + X hybrid systems, were summarized in
this mini review. In particular, the recent development of OMBR
that can be categorized to a development of new MBR architecture
was discussed in certain details.
Acknowledgements
Financial supports from Ministry of Science & Technology
(MOST) (101-2221-E-011-096-MY3), State Key Laboratory of
Urban Water Resource and Environment of HIT (2015DX04) and
from National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos.
51176037 and 51308147) are highly appreciated.
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