Chemical Engineering Journal 307 (2017) 897–913

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Chemical Engineering Journal

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/cej

Review

Membrane bioreactors for wastewater treatment: A review of

mechanical cleaning by scouring agents to control membrane fouling
Muhammad Aslam a, Amine Charfi a, Geoffroy Lesage b, Marc Heran b, Jeonghwan Kim a,⇑
a
Department of Environmental Engineering, Inha University, Namgu Yonghyun dong 253, Incheon, Republic of Korea
b
Institut Européen des Membranes, IEM, UMR-5635, Université de Montpellier, ENSCM, CNRS, Place Eugène Bataillon, 34095 Montpellier cedex 5, France

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

 Cleaning with scouring agent

generates favorable and energy-
efficient MBR.
 Involvement of factors impacting
mechanical cleaning is necessary to
understand.
 Optimum size of scouring agent and
its dosage permit to maximize fouling
control.
 Beneficial effect is counter balanced
due to energy cost and sludge
breaking up.
 Universal model is able to optimize
hydrodynamics of mechanical
cleaning in MBR.

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

Article history: Membrane bioreactor (MBR) is a reliable and promising technology for wastewater treatment and recla-
Received 7 June 2016 mation applications. In spite of more than a decade of significant advances in developing fouling mitiga-
Received in revised form 1 August 2016 tion methods, different physical and cleaning protocols are still necessary to be developed to limit the
Accepted 31 August 2016
membrane fouling. The use of scouring agents in MBR applications has been paid attention as a new
Available online 31 August 2016
approach as an energy-efficient way to control membrane fouling. Recently, mechanical cleaning by
scouring agents is becoming an intense research area considering high efficiency of fouling reduction
Keywords:
while requiring low energy consumption. In this review, fundamental and comprehensive assessments
Membrane fouling
Mechanical cleaning process
of the mechanical cleaning concepts and their applications with porous and nonporous scouring agents
Membrane bioreactor for MBR system are critically reviewed. The existing challenges and future research prospects on the
Scouring agent mechanical cleaning technology associated with scouring agents for the MBR applications are also
Hydrodynamics discussed.
Ó 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Contents

1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 898
2. Fouling control in MBRs coupled with granular media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 900
2.1. Non-adsorbing media as scouring agent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 900

⇑ Corresponding author.
E-mail address: jeonghwankim@inha.ac.kr (J. Kim).

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2016.08.144
1385-8947/Ó 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
898 M. Aslam et al. / Chemical Engineering Journal 307 (2017) 897–913

2.2. Activated carbon particles as scouring agent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 902

3. Hydrodynamics of mechanical cleaning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 903
4. Factors affecting mechanical membrane cleaning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 904
5. Reactor design and membrane configurations for mechanical cleaning process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 907
6. Effect of scouring media on fouling characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 909
7. Conclusions and future works . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 909
Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 910
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 910

1. Introduction obic membrane reactor without biogas sparging [20,26–29]. Fig. 1

Membrane systems as essential separation processes have
added new dimensions to the more traditional processes. Recently,
the novel developments in membranes have made it possible to
achieve many of the design objectives with additional flexibility
and improved efficiencies. Examples of innovations that have led
to outstanding results can be found such as membrane bioreactors,
seawater desalination, batteries, supercapacitors, solar cells and
microbial fuel cells [1–6]. Because of small foot print required
while producing superior effluent quality, membrane bioreactors
(MBR) have become a state-of-the-art technology and employed
as a legitimate alternative to conventional wastewater treatment
processes. However, the inclusion of the membranes into
bioreactor should bring trade-offs between energy consumption
and fouling control [7,8]. The membrane fouling is an inevitable
phenomenon due to the deposit of the contaminants on membrane
surface and/or within membrane pores [9–11]. The use of gas bub-
bles such as aeration or biogas sparging has been widely adopted
to control membrane fouling, however, the gas sparing accounts
for a significant portion in energy consumption for MBR operation
[12–14].
Recently, the addition of scouring agents in MBR system has
been studied as one of the promising techniques to mitigate mem-
brane fouling. Since, filtration always induces the built up of a
dynamical membrane layer on the membrane surface providing
an extra resistance [15]. Unfortunately, turbulent flow regime
can only reduce the thickness of this laminar boundary layer
whereas scouring agents (particles) are able to cross this layer
and break down the dynamical membrane layer. Mechanical clean-
ing with scouring agent has been reported as promising way to
control membrane fouling due to its high efficiency of fouling
reduction at relatively low energy consumption [16–20]. The
importance of mechanical cleaning in MBR operation was raised
previously [10], but critical review on this fouling mitigation tech-
nique was not performed yet. The mechanical cleaning technique
contributes to reduce both energy required for gas sparging and
maintenance cleaning frequency. In the case of aerobic MBR sys-
tem, submerged membrane bioreactors can be combined with
scouring agents which consist of porous or non-porous materials
to improve membrane permeability while reducing gas flow rate
by higher than 50% [21–23]. The movement of the scouring agent
in MBR reactor can enhance not only hydrodynamic shear on
membrane surface but also induce lateral migration of the foulant
materials away from the membrane. As a result, the build-up of the
cake layer (or gel layer) on membrane can be retarded [24,25]. For
the anaerobic membrane bioreactor (AnMBR), significant efforts
have been made by suspending scouring agent along the
membrane surface combined with biogas sparging generated from
bottom of membrane reactor. A new approach was developed to
control membrane fouling by fluidizing scouring agent such as
granular activated carbon (GAC) with anaerobic fluidized mem-
brane bioreactor (AFMBR) [26]. In the AFMBR, the GAC particles
were fluidized by recirculating the bulk suspension through anaer-
compares the energy consumptions in fouling control with respect
to different fouling mitigation methods. As shown in Fig. 1, fluidiz-
ing the scouring agent without gas sparing is most energy-efficient
way in terms of fouling control in comparison to other methods
such as cross-flow velocity or gas sparging. Attentions on reducing
energy required to control membrane fouling are growing rapidly.
In fact, since more than a half of energy is consumed to control
membrane fouling, the mechanical cleaning process (MCP) associ-
ated with scouring agent will be a key point in MBR technology for
the next generation by reducing or even eliminating gas sparing.
Nevertheless, the role of mechanical cleaning technique with
applying scouring agent to reduce membrane fouling has not been
reviewed critically. Hence, this review article provides a thorough
and educative snapshot of the current state of this MCP technology
being developed due to energy concerns to control membrane foul-
ing which is critical issue in MBR system.
This paper deals with understanding of the mechanical cleaning
technique associated with scouring agent applied in the MBR sys-
tem for wastewater treatment applications. In order to provide an
extensive review on mechanical cleaning process (MCP), more than
90 articles have been examined. But to highlight this survey, only
articles which proved the real MCP efficiency (30%) have been
reported (Tables 1 and 2) according to the following constraints:
- Permeate Flux (Jw) > 15 LMH.
- Fouling rate (dTMP/dt) < 1.33 kPa/day (allowing one month of
operation).
Then, this paper covers hydrodynamics associated with
mechanical cleaning and the way to control membrane fouling in
both aerobic and anaerobic MBR systems. Finally, outlooks of exist-
ing challenges and future perspectives to improve the mechanical
cleaning technique are also addressed.
Fig. 1. The energy consumption for different fouling control systems using typical
operating conditions [7,20,26,30–35].
Table 1
Granular media particles as scouring agents.

Scale/ Feed Media Media size Media Media Density/ Media MBR and Membrane Fluids Membrane dTMP/day (kPa/day) Brief result Citation
MBR material (mm) shape specific gravity Dosage membrane material/pore flux (L/
configuration size/area m2 h)
Pilot/A M PP, TPU, 3–5 Lenticular/ 1.02–1.31 na Sub/FS PES, 0.04 lm Solid/ 40 na Granules with maximum densities of [57]
POM, spherical (103 kg/m3) liquid/air less than 1.05 g/cm3 and 3–5 mm
PET diameter form a stable fluidized bed
regardless of MLSS concentration,
viscosity and reactor geometry.
Granulates with densities between
1.05 and 1.2 g/cm3 required a high
flow velocity
Pilot/A S PP 2.5 Oval 1.05 4.0 kg/ Sub/FS PES, 0.04 lm, Solid/ 14–40 0.008–0.017 (WM) MBR with granulate was operated [41]
(103 kg/m3) m3 10 m2 liquid/air more than 600 days in long term
without chemical cleaning of
membrane and achieved more than
20% higher flux than without

M. Aslam et al. / Chemical Engineering Journal 307 (2017) 897–913

granules
Lab/A S HDPE 10 na na 40% v/v Sub/HF 0.047 m2, Solid/ 38 0.86 (WM) The fouling rate due to mechanical [42]
0.04 lm liquid/air cleaning of support media was at
least two times slower than the same
system without media
Pilot/A M PEG. PU 4, 4  4  4 Cylindrical, 1.01, 0.035 5% v/v Sub/FS PVDF, 0.1 lm, Solid/ 16.7–33.3 4.0 (WOM) <1.5 (WM) The aeration was reduced by more [22,39,58]
cube (103 kg/m3) 0.06–6.8 m2 liquid/air than 50% by addition of granules. The
cake/gel layer on the membrane
surface was perfectly removed by
scouring agents. However,
irreversible fouling was increased
due to cake elimination
Lab/A S PET 3 Spherical 1.3 10% v/v Sub/FS PVC, 0.4 lm, Solid/ 14 1.9 (WOM) 0.01 (WM) Addition of granules reduces the [23]
0.04 m2 liquid/air membrane fouling significantly and
fouling rate was much lower with FS
membrane than the HF
Lab/An S PET, 3, 0.18–0.2 Spherical, 1.3, 2.7 10–50% Sub/FS PVC, 0.4 lm, Solid/ 50 na For a given media at a given packing [20]
Silica irregular v/v 0.04 m2 liquid ratio, a lower fluidization energy
requirement (that is smaller
particles) is associated with an
increase in fouling rate
Lab/A S HDPE 20 na na 10% v/v Sub/HF 0.04 lm, Solid/ 38 1.4–2.4 (WOM) 0.7–1.3 The fouling due to mechanical [44]
0.047 m2 liquid/air (WM) cleaning of support medium with
different humic acid and kaoline clay
concentrations was 35–50% lower
than fouling in absence of media
Pilot/A R PP 2.5 Spherical 1.05 (103 kg/ 4.0 kg/ Sub/FS PES, 0.04 lm Solid/ up to 40 na During operation of more than [16]
m3) m3 liquid/air 8 months, the membrane showed no
decrease in permeability without
chemical cleaning with granulates
and average net flux increased by 30%
than without it
Lab/A S PU 10  10  10 Cubic 0.017–0.03 10% v/v Sub/HF PE, 0.1 lm, Solid/ 30 1.9 (WOM) 1.3 (WM) Sponge addition significantly reduced [59]
(103 kg/m3) 0.195 m2 liquid/air membrane fouling by physical
scouring and sustainable flux was 2-
times higher than without sponge
Lab/A S PU 10  10  10 Cubic 0.028 10% v/v Sub/HF PE, 0.1 lm, Solid/ 30 0.5 (WM) The media not only reduced [60]
(103 kg/m3) 0.2 m2 liquid/air membrane fouling by means of
mechanical cleaning but also
enhanced dissolved organic matter
and nutrient removal

899
(continued on next page)
900 M. Aslam et al. / Chemical Engineering Journal 307 (2017) 897–913

(domestic and chicken manure), na: Information not available, NW: Non-woven, PE: Polyethylene, PS: Polysulfone; PEG: Polyethylene glycol, PES: Polyether sulphone, PET: Polyethylene terephthalate, Pilot: Pilot scale membrane
bioreactor, POM: Polyoxymethylene, PP: Polypropylene, PVC: Polyvinyl chloride, PU: Polyester urethane sponge, PVDF: Polyvinylidene chloride, R: Real sewage, S: Synthetic wastewater, SB: Steel beads, Sub: Submerged, SRT: Solids
A: Aerobic, An: Anaerobic, CF: Cross flow, FS: Flat sheet, HDPE: High density polyethylene, GB: Glass beads, HF: Hollow fiber, Lab: Laboratory scale membrane bioreactor, M: Municipal wastewater, Mix: Mixed wastewater
2. Fouling control in MBRs coupled with granular media
Citation

2.1. Non-adsorbing media as scouring agent

[61]

[62]
(1.32  1012 m 1 d 1) due to effective With aerobic MBR system, the aeration along the membrane
abrasion with membranes to prevent

increased diffusion of rejected solutes

from the membrane interface back to
the bulk solution. The light and small
fouling rate of 0.07  1012 m 1 d 1

surface is common way to reduce membrane fouling physically.

(without draft tube) caused lower

Addition of media resulted in an

The MBR with media movement

fouling formation on membrane

However, membrane aeration should account for up to 40% of the

consumption and the risk of

total energy demand for MBR operation [33,36–38]. The aeration

media reduced the energy

rate in MBR system required to control membrane fouling can be
reduced by applying rigid non-porous materials as scouring agents
than without media

membrane damage
[39]. In order to overcome the losses in membrane permeability
associated with membrane fouling, the use of non-adsorbing media
Brief result

has been explored significantly due to their excellent fouling con-

surface

trol efficiency at relatively low energy consumption. In fact, in con-

trast to gas bubbles, the scouring agent can cross the laminar
boundary layer and hit the membrane surface, resulting in the
(WOM)

removal of deposit by sweeping it away from the membrane sur-

(WM)

face. Thus, Kwon et al. [23] demonstrated that the addition of poly-
dTMP/day (kPa/day)

ethylene terephthalate (PET) media reduced the fouling rate by

1

1
d
d

almost two times compared to the absence of these non-

1

1
1.32  1012 m
0.07  1012 m

adsorbing media under the same airflow rate and set-point perme-
ate flux. It was also reported that the fouling rate under the
mechanical cleaning action caused by moving the nonporous media
was much better than that observed in their absence but with air
na

flow rate multiplied by two [22]. Yang et al. [40] demonstrated that
Membrane

scouring media in a state of three-phase fluidity could affect the

flux (L/

38–50

hydrodynamic conditions in three ways: first, shear stress gener-

m2 h)

5–80

ated by media allows scouring the membrane surface and removing

the cake layer on the membrane surface. Second, the deposition of
liquid/air

sludge particles was moderated by the solute back-transport from

Fluids

liquid
Solid/

Solid/

the membrane surface due to the turbulence created by granular

materials. Third, hollow fiber membranes were shaken by the
material/pore

impact of scouring media against them, which enhanced the

Membrane

PS, 10 kDa

removal of sludge particles deposited on the membrane surface

size/area
0.04 lm,
0.93 m2

and improved the filtration performance. However, it cannot be

achieved by aeration only. Siembida et al. [41] applied polypropy-
lene granular agent to minimize the membrane fouling in aerobic
residence time, T: Tubular, TPU: Thermoplastic urethane, WM: With media, WOM: Without media.
configuration

MBR application. Mechanical cleaning by the scouring agent in

membrane
MBR and

the vicinity to the membrane surface allowed a long-term MBR

Sub/HF

operation more than 600 days at a permeate flux up to 40 L/m2 h

CF/T

without any periodic maintenance cleaning of membrane. In addi-

tion, the permeate flux could be achieved by 20% higher than that
50% v/v
Dosage
Media

obtained by aeration only. In other study, the net permeate flux

was increased by 30% due to the mechanical scouring along the
membranes with granulate particles [16]. Basu and Huck et al.
2.9–7.8 (103 kg/
Media Density/
specific gravity

[42] observed that the fouling rate in MBR system combined with
0.96 (103 kg/

polyethylene granular media was about 2 times lower than that

observed under aeration only. Similarly, the movement of the gran-
m3)

m3)

ular media resulted in a 35–50% reduction of membrane fouling

caused by humic acid compounds and kaolin clay particles as feed-
ing solutions [43,44]. In order to increase the contact area between
Spherical

scouring agent and membrane surface, Wei et al. [45] and Huang
Media
shape

et al. [25] applied cylindrical rigid carriers to reduce membrane

na

fouling in aerobic MBR system. The overall benefit of the mechani-

Media size

cal cleaning actions along membrane surface with various granular

0.46–2.0

media was apparent. Table 1 shows a summary of the non-

material (mm)

adsorbing scouring media applied in MBR systems.

13

The use of suspended carriers should have two different aspects

on fouling control. First is the positive effect as mechanical cleaning
GB, SB
Feed Media

agent to remove external fouling layer at membrane surface. The

PE

second is a negative effect which is due to the disintegration of

Table 1 (continued)

Mix

the microbial flocs possibly due to excessive shear force generated

S

by scouring media around the flocs [25]. The break-up of the

microbial-flocs in MBR system can increase the amount of the fine
Scale/

Lab/A

Lab/A
MBR

colloidal materials released such as soluble microbial products

Table 2
Activated carbon particles as suspended media for fouling mitigation.

Scale/ Feed Activated Size (mm) Density/specific Dosage MBR and Membrane Membrane Fluids Membrane flux dTMP/dt (kPa/day) Brief result Citation
MBR carbon gravity configuration material/pore (L/m2 h)
size/area
Pilot/A M PAC 0.015 na 0.5 kg/ Sub/FS PVDF, 0.1 lm, Solid/ 50 150 (WOM) 1.0 PAC enhanced scouring of the [68]
m3 0.1 m2 liquid/air (WP) membrane surface, adsorption of
foulants and subsequent
biodegradation and strength of the
sludge flocs
Lab/An S GAC 1–2 2.3 10–70% Sub/FS PVC, 0.4 lm, Solid/ 50 na GAC can reduce fouling both by [20]
v/v 0.04 m2 liquid adsorption and by scouring actions.
After adsorption capacity is
diminished, larger GAC particles
reduced fouling best but energy cost
increased with size. The higher
packing ratio up to 50%, greater the
reduction in fouling

M. Aslam et al. / Chemical Engineering Journal 307 (2017) 897–913

Lab/A S GAC 0.15–1.2 na 0.5–2 kg/ Sub/FS PVDF, 0.14 lm, Solid/ 5–30 na The GAC scoured the foulants [63,103]
m3 0.2 m2 liquid/air deposited on the membrane surface
by extra shearing stress and
prevented a sudden rise of TMP. As a
result, 26.7–58.9% fouling was
reduced
Lab/An S PAC <0.15 0.425 (103 kg/m3) 1.7 kg/ Sub/FS PE, 0.4 lm, 0.1 m2 Solid/ 10–20 20 LMH:1.67 AnMBR w/o PAC experienced more [104]
m3 liquid/gas (WOM) 0.67 (WP) severe fouling than AnMBR with it.
The larger compounds which were
adsorbed by PAC were responsible for
membrane fouling. As a result,
internal membrane fouling was
significantly reduced
Lab/A S PAC <0.11 na 5 kg/m3 Sub/HF PA Solid/ 21 2.4 (WOM) 0.8 PAC minimized the irreversible [78]
liquid/air (WP) fouling and maximized the
sustainable flux. However, without
replenishment of aged PAC,
Performance of MBR with PAC was
worse than MBR without it
Lab/An S GAC, PAC 0.25–1, <0.15 0.310, 0.425, 1.7 kg/ Sub/FS PE, 0.4 lm, 0.1 m2 Solid/ 10–20 1.8 (WOM) 1.3 PAC provided better membrane flux [99]
(103 kg/m3) m3 liquid/gas (WG) 0.67 (WP) and reduced TMP more than did
either GAC or the control without
either
Lab/An C GAC 8  30 mesh 2.3 328.6 kg/ Sub/HF PVDF, 0.02 lm, Solid/ 6.67–32 Less than 30 kPa Fluidized GAC was a key factor to [3]
m3 0.021 m2 liquid for 100 days maintain low TMP by removing
deposits from the surface of
membranes via abrasion and also
played a minor role in direct
contribution to electricity generation
Lab/A S PAC na na 0– Sub/HF PE, 0.1 lm, Solid/ 16.6–50 na Irreversible membrane fouling was [84]
150 kg/ 0.06 m2 liquid/air significantly reduced with increasing
m3 dosage of PAC and 50 gL 1 PAC was
the optimal dosage for stable and
extended operation
Lab/An D GAC 10  30 mesh na 154 kg/ Sub/HF PVDF, 0.1 lm, Solid/ 16 0.1 (WG) The system was operated at high flux [100]
m3 0.004 m2 liquid over 50 days without the need of any
membrane cleaning or backwashing.
Total electrical energy required for
system operation was 0.0186 kWh/
m3 only

901
(continued on next page)
902 M. Aslam et al. / Chemical Engineering Journal 307 (2017) 897–913

(SMP) and extra cellular polymeric substances (EPS) which can

A: Aerobic, AB: Anaerobic digester broth, An: Anaerobic, C: Cheese wastewater, CF: Cross flow D: Domestic wastewater, FS: Flat sheet, GAC: Granular activated carbon, HF: Hollow fiber, Lab: Lab scale membrane bioreactor, M:
Municipal wastewater, na: information not available, PA: Poly acrylonitrile, PE: Polyethylene, PAC: Powdered activated carbon, PE: Polyethylene, Pilot: Pilot scale membrane bioreactor, PVC: Polyvinyl chloride, PVDF:
accelerate membrane fouling [46–49]. However, other studies also
Citation

[101]

[105]
indicated that the introduction of the suspended carriers into MBR

PAC particles provided scouring effect [77]

system has resulted in broader particle size distributions ranging

pronounced with ceramic membrane

was required except scouring of GAC

for removing cake while sorbing and

cross flow velocity without reducing

from 1 to 500 lm in comparison to those found without the carriers
No other membrane fouling control

allowed for significant reduction in

contribute to increase in biosolids
producing better floc aggregation [50–52]. The change of the prop-

cleanings and resulted in energy

The mechanical scouring of GAC
along membrane surface during

coagulating large flocs and also,

Mechanical cleaning was more

back transport. More than 30%

demand of 0.05–0.13 kWh/m3.

improvement in flux was also

membrane run-time between

erties of microbial flocs in the mixed liquor suspension should be
related to the cake structure formed on the membrane surface
directly [53]. For example, the movement of the scouring agent
300 days of operation

enhanced the formation of porous cake layer on the membrane

and this could result in lower specific cake resistance [50]. In con-
trast, the movement of the scouring agent along the membrane sur-
Membrane flux dTMP/dt (kPa/day) Brief result

observed

face reduces the filterability of the cake layer because fine colloidal
materials can make very dense cake layer [40]. The contradictory
results reported by Jin et al. [50] and Yang et al. [40] might be
related to the fact that in the former, a ceramic flat sheet membrane
was employed in the MBR, whereas the latter used hollow fiber
membranes. Mechanical scouring effect is expected to be dominant
on ceramic flat sheet membrane than hollow fiber membrane due
0.08–0.1

Polyvinylidene chloride, Sub: Submerged, S: Synthetic wastewater, SRT: Solids residence time, T: Tubular, WG: With GAC, WOM: Without media, WP: With PAC.
to more contact of scouring media on membrane surface while it
na

na

can be limited in the bundle of fibers. Also, hollow fiber membrane

tends to be more hydrophobic in nature than ceramic membrane
consisting of metal oxide. Thus, there is higher potential that fine
colloidal hydrophobic biopolymers such as proteins form a fouling
(L/m2 h)

4.25–30

layer on hydrophobic membrane surface than on hydrophilic mem-

na

na

brane surface. Moreover, this different phenomenon observed are

also attributed to different scouring media characteristics (such as
density, size and hydrophobicity) used in both studies. Obviously,
Fluids

liquid

liquid

liquid
Solid/

Solid/

Solid/

the scouring agent determines the cake structure and fouling resis-
tance against water flow through the membrane.
0.1 lm, 0.017 m2

The mechanical cleaning efficiency is strongly dependent upon

0.018/0.05 lm,
Ceramic/PVDF,

0.059/0.05 m2
PVDF, 0.1 lm,
material/pore

the various types of the foulant materials filtered. For example, the
Membrane

small colloidal materials such as protein or humic substances may

size/area

0.04 m2

not be removed easily from the membrane by scouring agents on

membrane surface [39]. Although these small colloidal materials
devote irreversible fouling resistance due to pore blockage or pore
MBR and Membrane

adsorption as a result of the cake elimination at membrane surface,

this total resistance remains lower than the resistance that the
configuration

fouled membrane displayed before media scouring action, which

makes scouring effective for fouling mitigation [54]. The irre-
Sub/HF

Sub/na

versible fouling is the fouling which is resulted from the formation

CF/T

of fouling layer consisting of solutes/colloids during long-term

continuous filtration which cannot be controlled by physical clean-
50% v/v

50% v/v
0–5 kg/
Dosage

ing with scouring agent. Nevertheless, this irreversible fouling

m3

defined as irremovable by scouring effect could be due to (i) gel

layer formed on the membrane surface, (ii) internal fouling occur-
0.85 (103 kg/m3)

ring inside membrane pores or (iii) biofilm developed on the per-

Density/specific

meate side of the membrane [55]. This has, especially been

observed for long term operation at low flux, and has been proven
gravity

by Van den Brink et al. [55]. To conclude, cake layer formation

120  200 mesh na

na

(deposition of biosolids) is generally regarded as the major portion

of the membrane fouling causing reversible fouling [56]. However,
10  30 mesh

mechanical cleaning by scouring media almost entirely controlled

Size (mm)

the reversible fouling and also reduces the intensity and frequency
0.6–1.7

of chemical cleaning which is most frequently required for other

submerged MBR systems for fouling control [18,39].
Feed Activated

2.2. Activated carbon particles as scouring agent

carbon

GAC

GAC
PAC

Activated carbon particles such as granular activated carbon

(GAC) or powdered activated carbon (PAC) have been widely
Table 2 (continued)

AB
M

applied as scouring media to reduce membrane fouling in MBR

systems. The activated carbon particles are well known as adsor-
Lab/An

Lab/An

An/Lab

bent effective to remove organic foulants from wastewater.

Scale/
MBR

Adsorption functionality of the activated carbon particles can

improve not only organic removal in membrane permeate but also
 M. Aslam et al. / Chemical Engineering Journal 307 (2017) 897–913
reduce membrane fouling by their scouring actions on membrane.
Furthermore, it was reported that the activated carbon particles
added in MBR system could remove SMP (free EPS) effectively
[63]. Interestingly, the use of activated carbon particles in MBR sys-
tem reduces the protein content in the fouling layer, thus resulting
in the formation of less compact cake structure on membrane [63–
65]. After long-term MBR operation, however, the intrinsic proper-
ties of activated carbon particles, e.g., adsorptive capability, should
be exhausted. Therefore, the fouling mitigation should be domi-
nated eventually by the physical scouring action on membrane
surface [20,63,66]. Moreover, in the prolonged operation, when
adsorption capacity of activated carbon such as powdered acti-
vated carbon (PAC) is exhausted, it may accelerate membrane foul-
ing. In this context, it may be worth working at shorter SRTs when
PAC is added compared to conventional MBRs. It may facilitate
timely replenishment of saturated PAC and thus avoid the adverse
effect of inactive PAC on membrane fouling [67–69]. Ng et al. [67]
reported that relatively fine PAC operated at short SRTs has better
fouling control than without it. However, regular replenishment of
saturated PAC also puts additional constraints to its use [67,70].
Many efforts have been made with the powdered activated car-
bon (PAC) particles as scouring media alternative to the GAC to
reduce membrane fouling. Possible mechanisms are reported to
explain the fouling mitigations by PAC in MBR system; (1) physical
scouring at membrane surface, (2) high adsorption capability for
subsequent biodegradation, (3) maintaining low MLSS concentra-
tion due to biofilm growth effective on PAC and (4) aggregating
microbial flocs [68,70–76]. To authors’ knowledge, the influence
of PAC as scouring media to reduce membrane fouling was firstly
reported in 1999 for aerobic MBR system [77]. By this way, energy
requirement for aeration was reduced up to 20% at the same per-
meate flux. The movement of the PAC driven by air bubbling can
disrupt both concentration polarization layer and cake layer on
membrane. Thus, it increased the critical flux by up to 30% with
lower specific cake resistance than that observed by the aeration
alone without any media [77]. Nevertheless, Ng et al. [78] sug-
gested that the fouling control should be more dominated by the
adsorption rather than physical scouring actions by movement of
PAC particles in MBR system. Vyrides and Stuckey et al. [79] also
reported that the PAC addition remarkably reduced the fraction
of fine particles deposited on the membrane surface. Fouling
reduction was caused by scouring of membrane as well as adsorp-
tion of the high molecular weight compound such as SMP. Further-
more, by adsorbing colloidal material (such as proteins) and
soluble microbial products, PAC allows decreasing the fine materi-
als amount in the mixed liquor suspension. Moreover, the smallest
PAC particles containing adsorbed colloidal material and SMP are
able to attract small biological flocs helping their aggregation to
form larger biological flocs [68,80,81].
Nevertheless, excessive dose of PAC should have somewhat
negative aspect in terms of fouling control because the PACs them-
selves can become potential foulant. An overdose of PAC particles
results in their deposit on the membrane surface. Therefore, both
pore blocking and cake formation can be accelerated [82,83]. Once
the adsorption capacity of the PAC is exhausted, the use of the PAC
as scouring media may not be very effective probably due to its
very small size [67,68,84]. The removal of saturated PAC inevitably
leads to active biomass loss, therefore sludge concentration can be
reduced, which is critical in MBR operation where biomass loss
must be prevented [85]. Lee et al. [86] investigated that it was
unavoidable for PAC in the bulk phase to be deposited on the mem-
brane surface. Thus, the PAC concentration in the reactor decreased
with time, whereas deposition of PAC were influenced by operating
parameters such as permeate flux, hydraulic retention time (HRT),
SRT and mixing intensity in the system. They found that the higher
HRT, mixing intensity and lower permeate flux hinders deposition
903
of PAC on the membrane surface [86]. Recently, Oligny et al. [87]
reported that fine PAC particles were more prone to be deposited
on the polymeric membranes than ceramic membranes and char-
acteristics of the membrane fouling caused by fine PAC signifi-
cantly varied depending on the type of membranes used. To
conclude, PAC is known to (1) reduce the colloidal foulant fraction,
(2) decrease the specific cake resistance, (3) aggregate the sludge
flocs and reduce the fraction of fine particles while the effect of
PAC scouring on fouling control still remains uncertain.
The MBR system was combined with GAC particles as scouring
agent at reduced gas flow rate by 50% to achieve the same mem-
brane permeate flux (25 L/m2 h) under the aeration only [63].
Study was also reported with AnMBR system combined with GAC
particles as scouring agent. Kim et al. [26] developed low-energy
fouling control by combining anaerobic fluidized bed bioreactor
with submerged membrane filtration. The fouling control is to flu-
idize the GAC particles by recirculating the bulk suspension alone
through the membrane reactor without biogas sparging. By this
approach, the energy requirement to control membrane fouling
was found to be much lower than that achieved by the gas sparging
alone [3,20,88–90]. Under GAC fluidization, cake layer resistance
formed on membrane surface was also found to be lower than that
without it (0.45  1012 m 1 vs. 0.96  1012 m 1) at the same per-
meate flux of 14 L/m2 h [91]. In addition, the GAC fluidization
increased critical flux from 5 to13 L/m2 h [92,93] and restricted
the overgrowth of cake layer on membrane surface due to its very
effective mechanical scouring actions [94–96]. Recently, Chaipra-
pat et al. [97] found that minimal substitution of liquid with gas
(0.6 v/v) in recirculation to fluidize the GAC particles in the mem-
brane reactor was effective to reduce the fouling rate by 55% and
90% compared to GAC fluidizing with bulk recirculation and only
gas sparging without GAC particles, respectively. In another recent
study, Li et al. [98] reported that fouling alleviation by GAC bene-
fited from several factors, including that the GAC surface attracted
biofilm formation, thereby reducing biofouling attachment to the
membrane surface, physical scouring of membrane surface by flu-
idized GAC removed the foulants, and the alerted hydrodynamics
condition might enhance shear rate for foulant removal. However,
it was observed that the sludge flocs or large colloidal aggregates
could be broken due to physical contacts of GAC particles. The
break-up of the sludge flocs could increase the amount of micro-
and even nano-scaled colloidal materials, which may affect mem-
brane performance adversely [91].
Hu and Stuckey et al. [99] compared GAC and PAC as scouring
agents in AnMBR system integrated with gas sparging. Under the
same operational conditions, the use of the PAC resulted in lower
TMP value than that achieved by either GAC particles or biogas
sparging alone under same permeate flux. The more fundamental
and detailed studies are needed to fully understand which scouring
agent between PAC and GAC can play a better role in fouling con-
trol. In fact, the hydraulic turbulence generated by fluidized GAC
particles could be counterbalanced by the break-up of microbial
flocs and the release of small activated carbon particles. It is neces-
sary to steadily replenish the aged PAC; otherwise aged PAC can
deteriorate membrane filtration performance rather than fouling
mitigation, and this requires additional chemical costs for PAC con-
sidered [67,70]. It was reported that the GAC particles could con-
trol membrane fouling by their scouring effect on membrane
surface during long-term operation without replacement and need
of additional GAC [3,100–102].
3. Hydrodynamics of mechanical cleaning
Mechanical cleaning aims to increase the shear rate in the vicin-
ity of the membrane surface thus creating a physical scouring to
904 M. Aslam et al. / Chemical Engineering Journal 307 (2017) 897–913
detach the foulants deposited on the membrane surface. To date,
few models have been developed to describe the mechanical clean-
ing on fouling mitigation. The numerical model has not been devel-
oped yet, however, some key indicators exist. For the fluidized bed
system, the turbulence index can be calculated using the shear
rate: c caused by particles in fluidized system. Zamani et al. [31]
calculated the hydraulic power requirement for liquid circulation,
PHydraulic (Eq. (1)), by multiplying the flow (Q) by the pressure drop
across the fluidized bed DPFluidize. The pressure drop is equal to the
fluidized weight expressed by Eq. (2) in case of spherical particle
shape and it can be measured instead of being calculated if particle
shape is not spherical. The shear rate expression comes from San-
chez et al. [106]. This model considers the effect of media size,
dosage and density on shear rate. The media size and dosage are
included in the fluidized bed porosity (e).
2
p :dcol
PHydraulic ¼ Q DP Fluidize ¼ U l DP Fluidize
4 (s 1).
DPFluidize ¼ ð1 eÞðqp qÞg DZ
12
1 PHydraulic

c¼
l V
12
U l ð1 eÞðqp qÞg

c¼
l resistance, Wu et al. [109] considered the expression of the shear
!12
e3 d2GAC ðqp qÞ
c/
ð1 eÞ
where the DZ is the expanded bed height, dcol is the diameter of flu-
idizing column, V is the fluid volume, Ul is the superficial liquid
velocity, qp is particle density, q is water density, g is gravitational
acceleration and l is liquid viscosity. As e is bed porosity, the value

N pd3 
(1 e) is equal to NGACVV GAC ¼ GACV6 GAC . According to Ergun equation
e3 d2GAC
in laminar condition and in fluidized condition, U l / ð1
links the particle volume to its density. When liquid velocity is
too high i.e. laminar condition not reached, the fluidization Number
(Nf) can be used: N f ¼ UUl ; Umf is the minimum fluidizing velocity.
mf
Similarly, Wu et al. [107] considered the scouring mechanism based
on the momentum transferred from the GAC particles to the fou-
lants particles: Ptr. By this way, the Ptr was assumed to be propor-
tional to the product of the area (A) scoured by each GAC particle,
the total number of GAC particles (NGAC) and the velocity of the
GAC particle (uc,GAC) along the surface as described in Eq. (6):
Ptr / ANGAC uc;GAC
The scoured A is expressed as the product of GAC particle diam-
eter (dGAC) and local GAC velocity uc,GAC (Eq. (7)). As uc,GAC is
assumed to be proportional to dGAC, Ptr would be proportional to
3 scouring according to (3) Membrane design.
the total volume of all GAC (dGAC
N GAC ) (Eq. (8)).
A ¼ tdGAC uc;GAC
3
Ptr / dGAC NGAC u2C;GAC t / dGAC NGAC t
In order to quantify both effects, particle velocity and particle
concentration, Wang et al. [108] introduced the particle momen-
tum (p) per m2.
pd3GAC
p ¼ mGAC uGAC ¼ NGAC qGAC uGAC
6 there is no beneficial effect of higher energy on fouling reduction.
The indicators presented above highlight the effect of the flu-
idized particles mass on membrane scouring. For example, Eq.
(9) shows that the impact of GAC diameter is negligible if experi-
ments are conducted at the same GAC concentration (i.e. only
the total volume of GAC is important). On the other hand, Eq. (4)
relates GAC volume to its density.
Nevertheless many other characteristics have been shown to be
highly influential such as biological floc size which needs to be
considered in modeling. In order to counter balance the positive
effect of mechanical scouring by the negative effect due to sludge
flocs breaking up, Huang et al. [25] plotted the critical diameter
(dc) vs the particle size distributions curve. The dc was calculated
according to the lateral inertial lift model (Eq. (10)):
1=3
lJ

dc ¼ c 2=3
ð10Þ
0:0045q
where J is the permeate flux (m s 1), l is the bulk viscosity
(kg m 1 s 1), q is the bulk density (kg m 3) and c the shear rate
ð1Þ
But instead of calculating c using Eq. (5), they assume that c
ð2Þ increases linearly with the carrier dose (VGAC/V), i.e. (1 e). Thus,
this model is close to Wu et al. [107] model as only the carrier vol-
ume is considered. It is then necessary to develop models consid-
ð3Þ ering influential parameters such as media dosage, media size
and biological floc size to better understand the mechanical clean-
ing in MBRs.
ð4Þ Although the GAC particles as scouring agent decreased fouling
rate caused by particles in fluidized system (Eq. (1)) developed as
described above [31,109]. Eq. (4) is obtained by combining the
ð5Þ expression of the power requirement for fluidization, Pfluidize (Eq.
(1)), the expression pressure drop across the fluidized bed DP
(Eq. (2)), and the shear rate expression [106]. This model considers
the effect of media dosage (1 e) and density on shear rate, but
their size effect was neglected.
The models presented, highlight mainly the effect of the flu-
idized particles mass on membrane scouring. Nevertheless many
other particles characteristics have been shown to be highly influ-
ent such as particles size and shape which need to be considered in
eÞ2
, Eq. (5)
modeling. Other parameters concerning the membrane design and
the reactor geometry greatly impacts the multiphase fluids dynam-
ics in the vicinity of membrane surface and thus the scouring effect
(Fig. 2). It is then necessary to develop models considering those
parameters to better understand the mechanical cleaning in MBRs.
4. Factors affecting mechanical membrane cleaning
A number of factors contribute to mechanical membrane clean-
ing effectiveness, and their interrelationships are complex (Fig. 3).
ð6Þ The key process design aspects are related to (1) Hydrodynamics
conditions (set out by shear stress number Eq. (5)) which impact
(2) scouring media movement (set out by particle momentum
Eq. (9), or VH) resulting in (4) Bulk modification and (5) Cake layer
The optimization of mechanical cleaning operation in reducing
ð7Þ both membrane fouling and energy consumption is strongly asso-
ciated with competing traits of the characteristics of the scouring
ð8Þ agents applied in MBR systems. Two important competing criteria
for the evaluation of scouring agent are fouling control and energy
consumption for it. Based upon the results observed in previous
studies, the permeability as a function of the energy applied for
the fouling control is shown in Fig. 4. Results indicate clearly that
the membrane permeability increases with increasing the energy
applied for the fouling control until a critical value above which
ð9Þ
On Fig. 4, two models have been fitted to the experimental data, (i)
the first model is based on linear relation between permeability
 M. Aslam et al. / Chemical Engineering Journal 307 (2017) 897–913 905

4. bulk
Foulants 3. Membrane
1. Hydrodynamics concentration - pores size
Permeate flux
- turbulence - Suspended solids - material
-Soluble products - configuration
Bulk recirculation
- cross-flow velocity

5. Fouling and cake layers

Gas sparging
- Bubbles flowrate
Cake Pore Internal
- Bubbles size
formation blocking fouling
- Bubbles distribution

2. Scouring media
- size Relaxation Backwash
Chemical cleaning
- Shape -Duration - Duration
- Duration
- dosage - Frequency - Frequency
- acidic or/and basic
- density -Flowrate
concentration
-Cleaning solution

Fig. 2. Flow chart of fouling model in mechanical scouring enhanced-MBRs.

(Perm) and energy spent for fouling control (E) as shown in Eq.
(11).

Perm ¼ ðEÞ1=2 ð11Þ

This model is based on the expression of the shear rate (Eq. (3))
proposed by Sanchez et al. [106], which is relating shear stress
parameter (c), assumed as proportional to the membrane perme-
ability, to the hydraulic pressure (PHydraulic), assumed as propor-
tional to the energy consumed for fouling control. This
assumption is based on the fact that the Phydraulic is equivalent to
the power necessary to fluidize solid media; this power is assumed
behind the movement of media necessary for scouring and fouling
control. (ii) The second model fitted to the experimental data is a
polynomial equation (Eq. (12)).

Perm ¼ 10436E2 þ 3853:6E þ 113:51 ð12Þ

Fig. 3. Relevant parameters that influence MCP effectiveness.
Fig. 4. Permeability as a function of energy for fouling control in MBRs combined
with mechanical cleaning process (Perm.: Permeability, E: Energy)
[3,17,20,26,92,98,100,105,110–112].
Obvious discrepancy shown between the model simulation and
experimental data makes it necessary to improve such model by
considering the limited effect of consumed energy on increasing
permeability. Better fitting was shown between the experimental
data and polynomial equation (R2 = 0.96) which could be used to
propose efficient empirical models.
The information on the effect of scouring media on membrane
fouling is very limited. It has been generally found that increasing
the media size can lead to better scouring efficiency to alleviate
membrane fouling [20,91,103,108–110,113]. As shown in Fig. 5,
however, fouling mitigation is limited as the media size is bigger
than about 3 mm. Small media is unable to prevent deposition of
the foulants on membrane effectively. In addition, the use of small
scouring media may be able to increase fouling resistance due to
their high tendency of deposit on membrane, causing fouling resis-
tance increase [68,82,109]. In Fig. 5, two models have been fitted to
the experimental data, (i) the first model is based on linear relation
between permeability and media size (dmedia) (Eq. (13))
Perm ¼ constant ðdmedia Þ ð13Þ
This model is based the model of Zamani et al. [31] displayed in
Eq. (5) showing the linear relation between the shear rate c and the
media size (dmedia) for constant fluidized bed voidage (e) and con-
stant media density (q). Since the permeability is assumed propor-
tional to the shear rate, we assumed the linearity of Permeability
vs dmedia. (ii) The second model fitted to the experimental data is
a polynomial equation (Eq. (14))
906 M. Aslam et al. / Chemical Engineering Journal 307 (2017) 897–913
Fig. 5. Permeability as a function of media particle size (Perm.: Permeability, dmedia:
media size) [3,16,20,41,63–65,91,100,103,107–110].
2
Perm ¼ 39:76dmedia þ 218:9dmedia þ 101:69 ð14Þ
The first model (Eq. (13)), does not consider the limited effect of
increasing media size on permeability improving, which explains
the difference observed between simulation and experimental
data. The simulation of polynomial equation, displayed on Fig. 5,
shows better fitting with experimental data (R2 = 0.958). Based
on this polynomial equation, empirical models could be developed.
Dosage of scouring agent in MBR systems can play an important
role in reducing membrane fouling. In order to determine the rela-
tionship between membrane fouling and amount of scouring agent
such as GAC particles, Kim et al. [26] applied three different GAC
masses of 225, 300 and 450 g to observe the fouling rate in their
anaerobic fluidized membrane bioreactor. The higher GAC dosage
resulted in better fouling control. Lee et al. [114] also found that
increasing the amount of polyurethane scouring media lowered
the fouling rate in aerobic MBR system. Similar results were also
observed with scouring agent with other types of MBR systems
[54,65] as shown in Fig. 6. Recently, Aslam et al. [20] reported that
increasing dosage of GAC particles up to 50% v/v, allowed greater
fouling reduction, but the energy requirement increased for flu-
Fig. 6. Permeability as a function of dosage of media particles (Perm.: Permeability,
Vmedia: media dosage) [3,17,20,25,26,44,54,59,65,92,100,111,112,114,117].
idizing the media with fluidized membrane bioreactors. Increasing
GAC amount in the membrane reactor to 70% v/v did not provide
any beneficial effect on fouling reduction since collisions between
media could increase which hinder their movement. There should
be a trade-off between better fouling reduction at higher dosages
but lower energy costs at lower dosages of scouring media
[20,115]. Such tradeoffs have cost implications that deserve further
evaluation for optimization of mechanical cleaning technology.
Lower efficiency in fouling reduction with lower dosage of
scouring media may be improved by optimizing membrane mod-
ule design. Alresheedi et al. [44] compared fouling rate under 10,
20 and 30% v/v concentration of polyethylene (PE) media in aerobic
MBR system. Interestingly, lowest dosage of the PE media showed
highest efficiency on reducing membrane fouling. This difference
was explained by membrane module design and system geometry.
Based on visual inspections, the scouring media having 20 and 30%
v/v dosage were entrapped easily into the reactor column and bun-
dle of hollow-fiber membrane, which could limit their physical
scouring efficiency. However, the scouring agent with 10% packing
ratio was circulated smoothly inside the membrane reactor,
thereby enhancing membrane scouring efficiency [44]. With PAC
as scouring agent, the optimum dosage of the scouring agent
existed above which no further increase in permeate flux was
observed [84,116]. In Fig. 6, two models have been fitted to the
experimental data, (i) the first model is based on linear relation
between permeability (Perm) and the media dosage Vmedia shown
in Eq. (15).
Perm ¼ constant ðV media Þ ð15Þ
This model is based on the expression of the transferred
momentum (Ptr) (Eq. (8)) proposed by Wu et al. [107] expressing
a linear relation between (1) the momentum transferred from
the scouring media to the foulant particles (Ptr), assumed here as
proportional to the membrane permeability, and (2) the number
of scouring media (Nmedia), assumed here as proportional to the
media dosage. Those assumptions are based on the fact that (1)
higher momentum transferred from scouring media to the foulant
particle, would reduce membrane fouling and increase permeabil-
ity; and (2) that the media dosage is equal to total media volume/
fluidized bed volume, so by increasing the number of media, the
total media volume and also the media dosage would increase.
Thus, this model expresses a linear relation between the mem-
brane permeability and the media dosage. (ii) The second model
fitted to the experimental data is a polynomial equation (Eq. (16))
Perm ¼ 0:0729V 2media þ 7:3368V media þ 32:538 ð16Þ
Experimental results showed a limited effect of increasing
media dosage on improving fouling mitigation after a critical
amount, which explains the difference between model simulation
and experimental data. A polynomial equation simulation pre-
sented on Fig. 6 shows better fitting with experimental data
(R2 = 0.86). As for the previous studied parameters, this polynomial
equation could be useful to develop empirical model which is able
to express more accurately the relation between media dosage and
membrane permeability.
Based on the polynomial equations describing the trend of the
permeability variation as a function of media size (Fig. 5) and
media dosage (Fig. 6), as well as the assumption that both factors
impacts equally on the membrane permeability, a 3D simulation
was generated as shown in Fig. 7 to describe the effect of media
dosage and size on membrane permeability. Interestingly, regard-
less of aerobic or anaerobic MBR systems, the Fig. 7 shows that for
all considered media dosages, increasing the scouring media size,
leads to membrane permeability increase until reaching a constant
value at a media size of around 3 mm. It is also shown that for all
 M. Aslam et al. / Chemical Engineering Journal 307 (2017) 897–913 907

and SMP already proven as main foulants [119], increase for tem-
peratures higher than 35 °C and also for temperatures lower than
25 °C which could affect the fouling intensity and consequently
400
might affect the scouring media efficiency [64]. Furthermore, high
Permeability(L.m-2.h-1.bar-1)

temperature, beyond 40 °C, could affect the membrane characteris-

300
tics and damage it especially for polymeric membrane [10], hence,
when choosing bulk temperature, a tradeoff has to be made to
200 optimize scouring media movement and protect the membrane
used. Nevertheless using ceramic membranes which are more
100 stable and resistant could avoid temperature damage risk.

0
80 5. Reactor design and membrane configurations for mechanical
60 3 cleaning process
40 2
20 1 Regarding the configurations of membranes combined with
Media dosage(%v/v)
0 0 Media particle size(mm) mechanical cleaning process, the majority of the available studies
use flat sheet (FS) membranes or hollow fiber (HF) membranes.
Fig. 7. Effect of media size and dosage on membrane permeability. However, a few examples of membranes in nonwoven and tubular
configuration can also be found in mechanical cleaning applica-
tions [62,105,120,121]. Noordman et al. [62] tested tubular poly-
considered media sizes, increasing media dosage leads to mem-
sulfone membranes and reported that scouring media were able
brane permeability increase until reaching a maximum corre-
to clean the membrane by enhancing turbulence on membrane
sponding to a dosage of 50%, after which, permeability start
surface. In recent study, Seib et al. [105] evaluated the impact of
decreasing for higher dosages. The figure displays the optimal con-
GAC as scouring media in AnMBR using external cross flow tubular
ditions ensuring higher permeability with a media size of 3 mm
PVDF and ceramic membranes. They found that using GAC allowed
and media dosage of 50%. However, these observations from previ-
significant reduction in cross flow velocity without reducing mem-
ous studies are indeed to find trends or patterns. It has been tried
brane run-time between cleanings and resulted in energy demand
to give as much as facts on the effect of scouring media character-
of 0.05–0.13 kWh/m3. A brief summary of different membrane
istics on membrane fouling available in literature. Although, effect
configurations combined with various types of scouring media as
of each factor (membrane density and integrity, shape of the scour-
a mechanical cleaning agent are listed in Tables 1 and 2. Shoener
ing media, air flow rate, reactor design etc. as given Fig. 3) and their
et al. [32] compared the 150 different anaerobic MBR systems
interactions are complicated, which need to understand in deeper
and reported that submerged hollow fiber and flat sheet mem-
in future works.
brane configurations with scouring media required lowest cost as
Ngo et al. [59] evaluated polyester-urethane sponge media with
compared to the submerged ones associated with gas sparging or
different densities (0.028–0.03 g/cm3 and 0.016–0.018 g/cm3)
cross flow systems as shown in Fig. 8. They found that the elimina-
under their same packing ratio of 10% v/v. The results showed that
tion of gas sparging through the use of scouring media for fouling
sustainable permeate flux was increased by two times with the
mitigation reduced electrical consumption significantly compared
scouring agent having higher density. Rosenberger et al. [57] found
to conventional MBRs where gas bubbles are applied. However,
that the addition of granulates having densities between 1.05 g/
the scouring agent for mechanical cleaning on membrane can
cm3 and 1.2 g/cm3 formed a stable fluidized bed along membrane
affect membrane integrity. Thus, it is critical to achieve membrane
surface to clean it mechanically. However, higher density required
cleaning effectively without potential decrease in membrane life.
higher upflow velocity, thereby increasing energy expenditure.
The beneficial effect of the mechanical cleaning process on foul-
Noordman et al. [62] suggested that the use of scouring agent hav-
ing mitigation can vary depending upon membrane module design.
ing relatively small size and solid density would minimize not only
Yang et al. [40] reported that a gel layer formation was observed on
the energy consumption but also the risk of membrane damage.
Beside the effect of media characteristics on mechanical clean-
ing efficiency, particle momentum which is the product obtained
by multiplying the particle velocity and their mass was defined,
as most influent parameter on fouling mitigation [107]. The effect
of the superficial liquid velocity on the media scouring efficiency
was investigated in a solid–liquid fluidized bed, as well as the
scouring efficiency in different axial position of the considered flat
sheet membrane [108]. They showed that increasing the superficial
liquid velocity increased fouling mitigation, and observed a
decrease in scouring efficiency for higher membrane axial posi-
tions. Nevertheless, those results have been obtained with short
length of flat sheet membrane (194 mm). As a result, they have
to be confirmed with longer membrane to better simulate the
industrial scale, especially that fluidization conditions and scour-
ing efficiency would be different with axial length position because
media distribution impact can be more pronounced [118].
Even if the effect of temperature on scouring efficiency is not
widely studied, the temperature could impact the bulk viscosity.
In fact, higher temperature allows bulk viscosity decrease, which
Fig. 8. Comparison of cost (net present value, $ Million) to net energy consumption
could improve the scouring media movement and their scouring (kWh m 3) for 150 configurations. Configurations below the bolded line are energy
efficiency [35,111]. Moreover, in MBRs, the concentrations of EPS positive. Reproduced from Ref. [32]. Copyright 2016 Royal Society of Chemistry.
908 M. Aslam et al. / Chemical Engineering Journal 307 (2017) 897–913
the surface of hollow fiber membranes when polyurethane scour-
ing media were applied in submerged MBR. In contrast, no accu-
mulation of cake or gel layer was observed on the flat sheet
membrane surface when using the polyethylene glycol as scouring
media [39]. With a bundle of hollow fiber membranes, the accessi-
bility of the scouring media to membrane surface was very limited
[40]. However, with flat-sheet membrane, the movement of the
scouring media was better within the flow channels between the
membranes rather than hollow-fiber membranes [39]. Kwon
et al. [23] also reported that for the submerged MBR combined
with the spherical PET materials, the flat sheet membrane showed
lower fouling rate than the hollow fiber membranes at fixed aera-
tion rate and permeate flux. Therefore, lowering packing density of
hollow-fiber membranes into membrane module can be a possible
way to improve scouring efficiency. The higher packing density of
the membrane can significantly restrict the movement and contact
of the scouring media (particularly to the inside of fiber bundles).
For the flat sheet configurations, however, many geometrical and
operational design parameters still need to be optimized, for exam-
ple, membrane spacing. When using submerged hollow fiber mem-
brane, fiber length could impact the mechanical cleaning
efficiency. Using longer fiber improved fouling reduction efficiency
compared to the shorter one as the spherical PET materials was
introduced as scouring agent in MBR [23]. It might be possible that
longer fibers held loosely in the module enhanced the fiber move-
ment; and this is likely because the media with the sparged gas
allows the movement of hollow-fiber membranes more freely. As
a result, synergistic effect on the scouring media as mechanical
cleaning should be provided by specific module design required.
The fact that either scouring media could control membrane
fouling effectively may be related to the reactor design in which
membrane module and media are submerged. The design of the
reactor (i-e distribution of modules, scouring media particles and
system tank) also significantly affects the hydrodynamic condi-
tions of mechanical cleaning mechanism by scouring media. The
strong secondary flow and wakes generated during the movement
of scouring media as well as hydrodynamic forces acting on the
particles would be linked to reactor design and membrane config-
uration used [122]. Kurita et al. [22] reported that when baffle is
installed in the membrane tank, it creates circulation flows which
force the scouring media to move vigorously and enhance the effi-
ciency of mechanical cleaning process. In recent study, Liu et al.
[123] investigated that inclusion of baffles around the membrane
module promoted turbulence and increased shear in the upper sec-
tion of the membrane module by approximately 30%. The spacing
of the modules significantly affects the distribution of shear along
the membranes [124]. A more homogeneous distribution of clean-
ing action throughout the system could be achieved by widening
the gap between the modules, which enables more bubbles,
entrained liquid and scouring media, to move between the
modules.
Moreover, the reactor design seems important because cylindri-
cal reactor appears to allow better mixing conditions than paral-
lelepiped rectangle reactor design widely used in industrial scale
[125]. In fact, cylindrical shape reactor design ensures media distri-
bution homogeneity allowing a better scouring distribution on the
membrane surface; however, the media can be trapped in the cor-
ners and dead zones in a parallelepiped rectangle reactor. Better
understanding the roles of scouring media on foulant particles
behavior, foulant particles interactions with media and membrane,
and media-bubble induce behavior is critical to improve reactor
design and operation of scouring media-based MBR system. Rosen-
berger et al. [57] reported that flow regime in the membrane tank
is comparable to loop reactor and mechanical cleaning process
using scouring media takes advantage of this general flow field.
Hence, they found that the addition of scouring media into mem-
brane tanks results in a circulating fluidized bed flow regime to
alleviate membrane fouling and choice of optimum media depends
on the number of parameters especially on module and reactor
design. Recently, Shin et al. [35] demonstrated that energy require-
ment for the fluidized membrane reactor can be easily reduced
with better design. For example, by increasing the diameter of
the recycle line from 10 to 20 cm, the energy consumption
(0.107 kWh/m3) for bulk recirculation could be reduced by an esti-
mated 0.094 kWh/m3. They found that total energy consumption
of the system was reduced by approximately 40% with simple
modification in reactor design [29,35]. Notably, dynamics of the
scouring media particles is closely related to reactor design and
membrane configuration parameter in effecting the mechanical
cleaning efficiency to mitigate fouling, which need to be explored.
Since diffuser/distributor in the reactor design ensures uniform
distribution; it must be carefully considered with the MBR system
especially combined with mechanical cleaning process, where
scouring media have to be suspended. The nozzle diameter and
configuration of diffuser may influence the bubble-induced behav-
ior and upflow velocity directly related to the movement of scour-
ing agent in the reactor where both gas and solid phase are applied
together along the membrane. The position of the distributor
should also affect the shear and bulk liquid velocity in a submerged
MBR system. For the GAC particles as scouring agent in fluidized
membrane reactor, inverted-V configuration of distributer and
spread evenly along a central pipe traversing the bottom of the
reactor has been practiced to keep all the GAC particles fluidized
well along membranes [20,35,108,110]. Rotating the nozzle aper-
ture of the diffuser to the face of bottom of the membrane tank
enhanced the homogeneity of shear stress on the lower half of
the module and increased shear on the upper half of the membrane
surface [123]. The nozzle diameter controls the upflow velocity of
the scouring agents. Small nozzle diameter may result in breaking
of friable GAC particles and membrane deterioration due to high
upflow velocity driven. Prieske et al. [126] found that a 30–50%
increase in circulation velocity was achieved at the same gas flow
rate by a simple modification of the diffuser and the entry zone to
the riser section. Therefore, diffuser in reactor design needs to be
carefully optimized in order to achieve optimal performance of
mechanical cleaning process. Further research on the reactor
aspect in mechanical cleaning process for MBR application is
necessary.
During mechanical cleaning by scouring agent to reduce mem-
brane fouling, there is a potential risk of losing membrane integrity
due to direct contact of the scouring agents with membrane mate-
rials. Membrane damage could be observed by scanning electron
microscopy (SEM) imagery, as well as through the membrane per-
meability increase or rejection decrease [72,127]. Kurita et al.
[22,39] applied cylindrical shape of PEG materials having size of
4 mm for mechanical cleaning of PVDF flat sheet membrane at dif-
ferent air flow-rates (1, 4 and 9 m3/h) as indicated in Table 1. While
no membrane damage was detected for low aeration, damage
marks on the membrane surface were observed for an airflow rate
of 9 m3/h. Moreover, Johir et al. [103] using similar PVDF flat-sheet
membrane and relatively high air flow rate of 7.5 m3/h observed no
membrane damage on the membrane surface without significant
alteration of membrane performance. Even for long term experi-
ments, when using low airflow rate, Basu and Huck [42] and Siem-
bida et al. [41] observed brush marks on the membrane surface.
Shin et al. [118] using only bulk recirculation (with upflow velocity
of 75 m/h) for fluidizing scouring agent through membrane reactor
observed some damage on the used PVDF hollow fiber membrane
after 2 years of operation with anaerobic fluidized bed membrane
bioreactor. In another recent study, Shin et al. [127] developed a
procedure to evaluate the long-term integrity of membranes for
selecting membranes and reactor operating conditions to better
 M. Aslam et al. / Chemical Engineering Journal 307 (2017) 897–913
ensure long-term operating performance of the systems when
scouring media is used for fouling control. Even if the effect of
operational conditions and reactor design on membrane integrity
requires more attentions, membrane integrity could be preserved
if the parameters controlling the contact between scouring agent
and the membrane surface are optimized, such as (i) forces respon-
sible of media drag to the membrane surface (permeate flux) and
(ii) forces responsible of the movement of scouring agent, i.e., gas
flow rate, recirculation flow rate and size of agent and dosage etc.
6. Effect of scouring media on fouling characteristics
The physio-chemical characteristics of bulk suspension and
mechanical scouring on membrane surfaces are two primarily
effects on the membrane fouling rate in mechanical cleaning pro-
cess [25,50,128]. In order to fundamentally understand this, Huang
et al. [25] demonstrated that the effective media doses were about
4.4%, 7.3% and 9.5% v/v, when mixed liquor suspended solids
(MLSS) concentration were 5 g/L, 8 g/L and 11 g/L, which indicate
that mechanical cleaning should be dependent upon bulk charac-
teristics. They also found that the scouring media can increase
the amount of colloidal materials and supernatant total organic
carbon by breaking up sludge flocs and thus accelerated membrane
fouling [129]. However, another study showed that polyethylene
media enhanced the formation of larger flocs with dosage of 2%
(v/v) and density of 0.65 g/cm3, but when media of high density
(0.98 g/cm3) was used, particle size distribution was decreased
[52]. In literature, it has been reported that colloids could easily
block/adsorb into membrane pores and eventually deteriorate
the membrane permeability [15,130,131]. These small colloidal
materials in the bulk suspension could also easily promote pore
blocking even in the presence of media, which can almost entirely
control reversible fouling by mechanical cleaning actions on mem-
brane surface [28,39,132]. In recent study, Kurita et al. [58]
reported that filterability of mixed liquor suspension is also depen-
dent on the type of media used in submerged MBR. They found that
granular PEG media and polyurethane sponge media with attached
biofilm, perfectly removed cake layer/gel layer on the membrane
surface by mechanical cleaning. However, granular PEG media
deteriorate the filterability of mixed liquor significantly, fostering
physically irreversible fouling, whereas such deterioration was
insignificant with polyurethane media. Also, the characteristics of
SMP significantly varied depending on the type of media used,
which could influence the development of irreversible fouling
and the filterability of mixed liquor suspensions [58].
The media reduced the concentration of bulk suspension in the
MBR, which potentially reduced fouling rates [133]. Also, scouring
media could reduce fouling rate not only by creating collisions
with membrane surface, but also by serving as support for attached
growth of specific biomass leading to lower MLVSS concentration
in mixed liquor, which would hinder biofouling defined as the
deposit of micro-organisms and EPS on the membrane surface
leading to a biofilm development responsible of membrane resis-
tance increase [25,40,114,134,135]. Biofouling is used to describe
all instances of fouling where biologically active organisms such
as microorganisms, fungi, viruses and excreted extracellular
biopolymers are involved. Hence, additions of media in MBR also
provide the microbiological immobilization and therefore could
be greatly benefit to mitigate bacterial deposition on the mem-
brane, which can combine the advantage of biofilm microenviron-
ment and MBR processes in addition to the mechanical scouring
along the membrane surface [58,136]. Zhang et al. [136] found that
amount of bacteria on the membrane surface in conventional MBR
(37% of the total biomass) were substantially higher than that in
MBR with media (Only 11% of total biomass) due to the dual effect
of mechanical scouring along membrane surface and microbiolog-
909
ical immobilization. In another study, Nguyen et al. [137] used
polyethylene balls as media at a dosage of 40% v/v in a novel osmo-
tic MBR. They reported that hydrodynamic shear force, due to free
moving media, not only effectively removed fouling layers from
the membrane surface but also reduced the EPS contents
(105 mg/g MLVSS) in fouling layer compared to biofilm layer on
the media (152 mg/g MLVSS) and also enhanced nutrients and
organic removal [137]. The reason is that simultaneous nitrifica-
tion/denitrification (SND) takes place in deeper layer of the biofilm
formed on media where anoxic/anaerobic conditions occurred.
Porous media such as Polyester Urethane media provide good
SND condition as explained by Ivanovic and Leiknes [133] and Kur-
ita et al. [58]. Moreover, it has been found in the literature that bio-
film could enhance slowly biodegradable dissolved organic matter
removal in long term experiment.
Recently, Lee et al. [138] developed free moving beads from
alginate containing quorum quenching (QQ) bacteria, which were
called QQ beads. They characterized the mechanical scouring of
beads and biological effects of quorum quenching by comparing
pilot plants of conventional MBR, MBR with empty beads without
QQ bacteria and MBR with QQ beads under same operation condi-
tions. It was found that QQ beads reduced biofouling not only by
biological effect of quorum quenching but also by mechanical
scouring due to collision between the beads and the membrane
surface. The time to reach TMP of 70 kPa was ten times longer with
beads than conventional MBR. Furthermore, QQ MBR reduced
energy consumption approximately 60% by decrease in aeration
which was only 0.2 kWh/m3 compared to 0.46 kWh/m3 for con-
ventional MBR [18,138–141]. In another recent study, Lee et al.
[142] compared the mechanical scouring and inhibition of quorum
sensing (QS) effects of QQ beads with a novel design of QQ hollow
cylinder (QQ-HC). QQ-HCs enhanced mechanical scouring effect
because of their larger impact area against the membrane surface
and also showed greater QQ activity than QQ beads due to higher
surface area. These findings suggested that the QQ MBR, with com-
bined effect of quorum quenching and mechanical scouring along
membrane surface, is approaching closer to practical application.
Hu et al. [54] reported that the mechanical cleaning effect was
negligible with respect to fouling reduction whereas physio-
chemical effects of media on biomass characteristics were the main
contributor to fouling control. However, this finding is contra-
dicted with the study by Fu et al. [143] and Lee et al. [114] who
reported that mechanical scouring by media was more dominant
in controlling membrane fouling than physio-chemical effects on
mixed liquor suspension. These results have to be confirmed since
different membrane configurations have been used, hollow fibers
are considered [54] for which scouring efficiency is lower than that
obtained when flat sheet membranes are used [143]. Moreover, the
scouring media offer considerable surface for biofilm development
which would enhance the physio-chemical effect on mixed liquor
[54]. It was also found that MBR with media suffered from more
severe fouling primarily due to the proliferation of filamentous
bacteria [144], however, Khan et al. [135] reported contrarily that
more porous cake structure formed with media due to absence of
filamentous bacteria in bulk suspension. However, this aspect is
not quite clear yet in the mechanical cleaning process and need
to be explored further in more systematic way.
7. Conclusions and future works
This review paper gives a critical analysis of the different
researches studying mechanical cleaning process with scouring
agent and identifies a range of research and development needs
for this emerging technique for fouling control in MBRs. The inte-
gration of mechanical cleaning with membrane bioreactors has
opened new insights in the development of MBRs allowing higher
910 M. Aslam et al. / Chemical Engineering Journal 307 (2017) 897–913
fluxes while minimizing chemicals cleaning frequency and energy.
The mechanical cleaning also generates favorable and energy-
efficient MBR operation. The main action of suspended media to
reduce membrane fouling is the mechanical scouring mechanism
on the membrane surface. The main benefit of mechanical cleaning
process is that media can hit the membrane surface whereas nei-
ther hydrodynamic turbulences nor air bubbles can reach the
membrane surface which is protected by the laminar boundary
layer. In addition, the use of adsorbent such as GAC as mechanical
scouring agent provides additional benefit of sorption compared to
other inert granular materials. Contrarily, PAC can improve fouling
control and membrane flux but steady replacement of aged PAC is
important, otherwise, fouling could be worse than that of without
PAC system. Consequently, it is very difficult to draw the right con-
clusion since many parameters below are involved in the mechan-
ical cleaning success.
1. Hydrodynamics (Bubble size, air flow rate, liquid velocity,
design).
2. Scouring media (Size, shape, density, concentration).
3. Membrane (Design, integrity).
4. Bulk composition (Sludge concentration, particle size,
viscosity).
5. Cake layer (Thickness, porosity, composition).
Therefore, the involvement of numerous factors impacting
mechanical cleaning in various MBRs makes it necessary to well
understand the effect of each factor and their interactions. Never-
theless, a common methodology needs to be established by the use
of standard parameters: shear rate (c), fluidization number (Nf),
momentum transferred (Ptr), media volume (1-e). Fouling control
would be better under larger media size and higher dosage where
a linear trend is observed (Eqs. (5) and (8)). However, energy cost
increases as particle size and dosage increases and their beneficial
effects could also be counter balanced due to sludge flocs breaking
up (releasing small particles and organic supernatant) which are
currently deficient in models. Thus, there is a trade off in better
fouling reduction with an increase in the shear stress and media
size and dosage. Similarly, a better fundamental understanding of
how media scrape the membrane surface is needed by determining
the media velocity (VH) if this motion makes sense in a fluidized
bed reactor. Hence, to improve the effectiveness of multiphase flow
strategies in mechanical cleaning process for better membrane
performance, research should move in the direction of better fun-
damental understanding of the underlying mechanisms and hydro-
dynamics of the different mechanical cleaning parameters where
media characteristics, membrane module, MBR system geometry,
multiphase flow hydrodynamics must be incorporated in a solid/-
gas/liquid hydrodynamic model. Hence, a universal model able to
optimize the hydrodynamics of mechanical cleaning process along
with other parameters in MBRs is still pending. In actual fact, since
energy efficiency is a major issue in wastewater treatment, the
mechanical cleaning process is the key point of MBR for the next
generation.
Acknowledgements
This research was supported by the International Research &
Development Program of the National Research Foundation (NRF)
funded by the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning (NRF-
2015K1A3A1A21000282). This research was supported by Korea
Research Fellowship program funded by the Ministry of Science,
ICT and Future Planning through the National Research Foundation
of Korea (NRF-2015H1D3A1059895).
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