This study explored effects of a sludge-based biochar addition on nitrogen removal of membrane bioreactor (MBR) for wastewater treatment. The membrane fouling reduction by the biochar addition was also investigated. A dose of 3 g/L of the biochar was applied to an MBR (i.e., BC-MBR) and treatment efficiencies of organic matter and nutrient were analyzed. The MBRs with powdered activated carbon (i.e., AC-MBR) and without any additives were also operated in parallel. The average removals of COD and TN were improved with the biochar addition compared to those with the control MBR. Interestingly, operational duration was also increased with biochar addition. The CLSM analysis revealed that biomass amounts of BC-MBR and AC-MBR were reduced by more than 40%, and thickness of the biofilm attached to the membrane surface also was decreased. The physical properties of biochar surfaces were compared with a commercial powdered activated carbon. The specific surface area with 38 m2/g and pore volume with 0.13 cm3/g of the biochar were much smaller than those of the powdered activated carbon, which were 1100 m2/g and 0.67 cm3/g, respectively. Manufacturing conditions for the biochar production needs to be further investigated for enhancing physical properties for adsorption and biological improvement.

Membrane bioreactor (MBR) provides the benefits on high effluent quality and construction cost without the secondary clarification. Despite of these advantages, fouling, which clogs the pore in membrane modules, affects the membrane life span and effluent quality. Studies on the laboratory scale MBR were focused on the control of particulate fouling, organic fouling and inorganic fouling. However, less studies were focused on the control of biofouling and microbial aspect of membrane. In the full scale operation, most MBR produces high effluent quality to meet the national permit of discharge regulation. In this study, the performance and microbial community analysis were investigated in two MBRs. As the results, the performance of organic removal, nitrogen removal, and phosphorus removal was similar both MBRs. Microbial community analysis, however, showed that Azonexus sp. and Propionivibrio sp. contributed to indirect fouling to cause the chemical cleaning in the DX MBR.

역세척이 가능한 평막형 분리막 모듈을 분리막 생물반응기(MBR)에 침지시켜 운전 시간에 따른 흡입 압력을 측 정하였다. MLSS 8,000 mg/L 활성 슬러지 수용액에 공칭 세공크기가 0.2 μm, 유효막면적이 128 cm2인 분리막 모듈을 침지 시킨 후 투과 유속, quorum qeunching (QQ) 비드를 변화하며 흡입 압력을 확인하였다. Vacant bead (VB), BH4와 DKY-1의 실험군에서 FR과 SFCO 운전방식에 따른 효과를 비교, 분석하였다. 투과 유속 40 L/m2⋅h 이고 DKY-1 QQ 비드를 주입할 경우 흡입 압력 감소는 가장 효과적이었다. 또한 역세척에 의한 흡입 압력 감소 효과는 DKY-1 QQ 비드의 경우보다 2배 이 상 높게 나타났다.

본 연구에서는 stainless steel로 재질로 된 금속평막모듈을 이용하여 고플럭스가 유지되면서 처리수의 안정화 방 안을 모색하였다. 이 모듈은 기공사이즈가 13 μm 단위여서 플럭스가 60 LMH에서 100 LMH까지 고플럭스로 운전이 가능하 다 그러나 SS가 초기 운전 시 30~50 ppm 정도 유출되지만 SS가 응집핵으로 작용하므로 응집이 가능하게 된다. 기존 고분자 막 여과수는 응집핵이 없어서 coagulation은 되지만 floculation이 안되므로 추가적으로 응집보조제인 clay나 벤토나이트를 투 여하게 되는데 본 연구에서는 이런 응집보조제 필요 없이 SS 누출만으로 floculation이 되므로 총인처리와 처리수질이 안정성 을 도모하고자 하였다. 최종적으로 안정적인 처리수에 고플럭스가 가능한 Metal필터 운전이 MBR 시스템에서 적용가능한지 타당성을 연구하고자 하였다.

Application of the membrane process to wastewater treatment and reuse has been increasing due to water shortage, water pollution and an increase in water demand. Membrane fouling including biofouling should be controlled to extend its application. In this study, modulation of diffusible signal factor (DSF) system, the quorum sensing (QS) system that regulates EPS formation by microorganisms, was considered as a promising option to manage biofouling. Among many DSF compounds, cis -2-Decenoic acids (CDA) was selected. The experimental results showed that, as the CDA concentration increased, the density and number of stained cells decreased. The lowest density was observed when the CDA concentration of 300 nM was applied. The EPS on membrane surface decreased with increasing concentration of CDA. The CDA dosing also affected the EPS composition. At the 300 nM CDA dose, the total EPS reduced by up to 57% and the protein fraction by 35%. This study revealed the biofilm reduction effect of CDA under various conditions for MBR sludge. The application of CDA can be adapted to control biofouling in the MBR process.

In general, trans-membrane pressure (TMP), flux, filtration resistance are used as indicators to evaluate the degree of fouling in MBR. However, they have limitations in determining the level of EPS generation, which is known as an important factor of fouling. Therefore, a new evaluation method is required to monitor the amount of EPS generation. In this study, the applicability of capillary suction time (CST), which is used to measure the dewaterability of sludge, was evaluated as an indirect fouling evaluation index. Statistical analysis was performed to evaluate the effect of EPS on CST, and to determine whether EPS has high similarity with representative fouling evaluation indicators and CST, and quantitatively compared them. As a result, the correlation coefficient between CST and bEPS was 0.7988, which was higher than the correlation coefficient between filtration resistance and bEPS. Since bEPS is a major factor inducing fouling by affecting the formation of the cake layer, it was evaluated that CST, which has a high correlation with bEPS, is suitable to represent EPS. In addition, it was evaluated that the correlation coefficient between filtration resistance and CST was high as 0.7187, which could be used as a fouling evaluation index.

In MBR, extracellular polymeric substance (EPS) is known as an important factor of fouling; soluble EPS (sEPS) affects internal contamination of membrane, and bound EPS (bEPS) affects the formation of the cake layer. The production of EPS changes according to the composition of influent, which affects fouling characteristics. Therefore, in this study, the effects of the F/M ratio on the sEPS concentration, bEPS content, and fouling were evaluated. The effects of F/M ratio on the amount and composition of EPS were confirmed by setting conditions that were very low or higher than the general F/M ratio of MBR, and the fouling occurrence characteristics were evaluated by filtration resistance distribution. As a result, it was found that the sEPS increased significantly with the increase of the F/M ratio. When the substrate was depleted, bEPS content decreased because bEPS was hydrolyzed into BAP and seemed to be used as a substrate. In contrast, when the substrate is sufficient, UAP (utilization-associated products) was rapidly generated in proportion with the consumption of the substrate. UAP has a relatively higher Protein/Carbohydrate ratio (P/C ratio) than BAP, and this means, it has a higher adhesive force to the membrane surface. As a result, UAP seems like causing fouling rather than BAP (biomass-associated products). Therefore, Rf (Resistance of internal contamination) increased rapidly with the increase of UAP, and Rc (Resistance of cake layer) increased with the accumulation of bEPS in proportion, and as a result, the fouling interval was shortened. According to this study, a high F/M ratio leads to an increment in UAP generation and accumulation of bEPS, and by these UAP and bEPS, membrane fouling is promoted.

본 연구에서는 역세척이 가능한 평막과 MBR 하부에서 공급되는 공기 및 자연적으로 순환되는 구형 입자를 이용하여 투과 실험하였다. 활성슬러지 수용액은 MLSS 8,000 mg/L로 유지하였으며 여과/이완(FR), 이완시 역세척(FR/BW), 사인파형 연속투과 운전(SFCO) 및 사인파형 연속투과 운전 시 역세척(SFCO/BW) 방식에 따른 막간차압(TMP)을 측정하였다. 역세척 유량을 47에서 14 L/m2⋅hr로 감소시키면, TMP가 증가하였으며 SFCO보다는 FR 방식의 TMP가 크게 증가하였다. 또한 역세척 방식이 구형입자를 이용한 세척방식보다 TMP를 더 감소시켰으며, 구형입자와 역세척 방식을 동시에 사용하면 각각의 방법보다 더 효과적임을 확인할 수 있었다.

Electro-coagulation process has been gained an attention recently because it could overcome the membrane fouling problems in MBR(Membrane bio-reactor). Effect of the key operational parameters in electro-coagulation, current density(ρ i) and contact time(t) on membrane fouling reduction was investigated in this study. A kinetic model for ρi and t required to reduce the membrane fouling was suggested under different MLSS(mixed liquor suspended solids) concentration. Total 48 batch type experiments of electro-coagulations under different sets of current densities(2.5, 6, 12 and 24 A/m2), contact times(0, 2, 6 and 12 hr) and MLSS concentration(4500, 6500 and 8500mg/L) were carried out. After each electro-coagulation under different conditions, a series of membrane filtration was performed to get information on how much of membrane fouling was reduced. The membrane fouling decreased as the ρi and t increased but as MLSS decreased. Total fouling resistances, Rt (=Rc+Rf) were calculated and compared to those of the controls (Ro), which were obtained from the experiments without electro-coagulation. A kinetic approach for the fouling reduction rate (Rt/Ro) was carried out and three equations under different MLSS concentration were suggested: i) pi0.39t = 3.5 (MLSS=4500 mg/L), ii) pi0.46t = 7.0 (MLSS=6500 mg/L), iii) pi0.74t = 10.5 (MLSS=8500 mg/L). These equations state that the product of ρi and t needed to reduce the fouling in certain amounts (in this study, 10% of fouling reduction) is always constant.

분리막을 이용한 생물학적 처리 공정(MBR)은 과다한 에너지 사용, 제품의 높은 단가 등이 단점으로 지목되었으나, 제품 및 시스템 개선이 이루어지고 있는 추세이다. 그럼에도 불구하고 MBR 공정의 운영시 발생되는 대부분의 막 오염은 슬러지 특성에 따른 유기물 오염이라고 할 수 있다. 일반적으로 슬러지 여과능과 TMP 증가 기울기는 연관성이 높은 것으로 알려져 있으며 MBR 공정에서 분리막의 막오염 제어를 위해 슬러지 여과능은 중요한 관리 지표가 될 수 있다. 본 연구에서는 슬러지 여과능에 대해 colloid 물질, 특히 EPS 와 SMP 유분이 미치는 영향을 확인하고자 하였다.