Development of Anaerobic Membrane Bioreactor

(AnMBR) for Municipal Wastewater Treatment

J. Cumin*, Y. Hong*, M. Dagnew*, R. Bayly*, W. Parker**
*GE Water & Process Technologies, ON, Canada
**Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Waterloo, ON, Canada

GE
Water & Process Technologies

Introduction/Abstract Pilot design and integration Results

By integrating membrane to digesters it is
possible to run anaerobic digesters at a relatively
extended SRT and shorter HRT, which minimizes
washout of the slow growing anaerobic bacteria.
The pilot scale AnMBR was built and operated
with commercial piloting method for about 18
months with screened and molasses added
municipal wastewater.
This study has demonstrated that it is feasible to
employ AnMBR for municipal wastewater
treatment at an ambient temperature. During the
8.5 hrs HRT and 80-100 days SRT conditions, the
sustainable membrane TMP was < 30 kPa at a
flux of 17 LMH and average effluent BOD of 14
mg/L were achieved.
Table 2. summarizes the values obtained for BOD5,
1. Cassette COD, and TSS in the feed and permeate streams.
The average BOD removal during municipal and
molasses added municipal WW operation were 87
and 96% respectively.
Figure 5 presents the instantaneous flux and
corresponding TMP during the bioreactor’s transient
and steady state condition. During the municipal
wastewater test period, the TMP was less than 5
kPa, and membrane fouling was not observed.
Upon addition of molasses to the municipal WW the
sustainable TMP increased to 30 kPa (Figure 6).
Table 2. Summary of key AnMBR process performance.
Molasses +
Municipal WW
Value Municipal WW Unit
Feed Permeate Feed Permeate

BOD5 93 14 200 8 mg/L

Methodologies COD 224 47 580 67 mg/L

The pilot scale AnMBR was designed, constructed Figure 2. AnMBR cassette picture: Cassette is attached to
pressure vessel cap; Prototype modules (2 x 29 ft2) TSS 130 0 181 0 mg/L
and fed with 3 mm screened sewage from the
Skyway WWTP, Burlington, Ontario. The
TKN 26 27 28 19 mg/L
operating tank volume was 630 L. This volume
included an anaerobic bioreactor of 550L and a 2. Membrane tank TP 2.8 2.5 5 2.1 mg/L
separate membrane tank of 80 L through which
the bioreactor contents were re-circulated (Figure Figure 5. Instantaneous operating flux (LMH) and TMP (kPa)
1). A summary of the pilot scale steady state profile during molasses added wastewater treatment
AnMBR operating parameters are shown in Table
1. During steady state the HRT were 8.5 and 17
hrs. and the OLR were 0.6 and 0.9 g COD/l/day
for screened and molasses dosed municipal
wastewater operation, respectively. The SRT were
80-100 days.

Figure 1. Schematic of AnMBR system

Figure 6. Instantaneous operating flux (LMH) and TMP (kPa)

Figure 3. Membrane tank diagram: reactor working volume 80 L; profile during molasses added municipal wastewater treatment
module design 500d; Membrane reactor is operated in a side
loop attached to Anaerobic Digester

3. Anaerobic digester (CSTR)

Table 1. Summary of AnMBR operation Parameters.

8.7 HRT, 2 module, 17 HRT, 1 module ,

17 HRT
Molasses
Screened 1 g COD/L/day
1 module 1 gCOD/L/day
added
Parameters Municipal Unit
Municipal 0.6
WW
WW
Tank volume 630 630 L
Instantaneous flux 10 (17) 10 (17) gfd (LMH) Conclusions
Surface area 5.4 5.4 m2 • Achieved sustainable flux of 17 lmh.
• Effluent quality achieved BOD < 15 mg/L, TSS~
HRT 8.5 17 Hours 0 mg/L.
• 12 months of stable operation for municipal
SRT 80 - 100 80 - 100 Days wastewater application.
• Membrane cleaning required after 3 months of
OLR 0.6 0.9 g COD/L/d
operation for molasses dosed operation at 17
Figure 4. Anaerobic digester : Operation volume 540L; lmh
Biogas sparging Sequential Sequential 10/10
Insulated and heating capability; Configured for testing with • New lower energy opportunities for wastewater
Temperature 22 ± 1 22 ± 1 °C municipal low strength and molasses added wastewater treatment exist and AnMBR will play a central
role in alternative WWTP flowsheets in the
future.