1. MEMBRANE BIO-REACTOR
AN EXCELLENT OPTION FOR WASTE WATER TREATMENT
UNDER GUIDANCE OF– Dr. S. M. Chavan
By Pratiksha A. Patil
Roll No. 500904

2. Introduction
Urban wastewater is usually treated by Conventional Activated
Sludge Process. MBR is improvement of CASP.
Membrane bioreactor (MBR) technology, which combines
biological-activated sludge process and membrane filtration has
became more popular, abundant, and accepted in recent years for the
treatment of many types of wastewaters
It is the combination of a membrane process like microfiltration or
ultrafiltration with a suspended growth bioreactor, and is now widely
used for municipal and industrial wastewater treatment with plant
sizes up to 80’000 population equivalents.

3. Why MBR?
The Highest, Consistent Effluent Quality
 BOD < 5 mg/L
 TSS < 2 mg/L
 Turbidity < 0.5 NTU
 Significant nutrient removal capability
 Complete virus removal
 Reduction of pharmaceutical byproducts

4. MBR membrane configurations
MBR Configuration:-
(a) multi-tube (MT), (b) hollow fiber (HF) and (c) flat sheet (FS).

5. Process configuration
Two main process configuration of biomass rejection MBRs are
1) Submerge or immersed MBR 2) External or Side-stream MBR

6. Treatment Process and Basic Design Principles

7. Parameters affecting the membrane
characteristics in MBR
1) Physical parameter
• Pore size and distribution.
• Porosity/roughness.
• Membrane configuration.
2) Chemical parameters
• Hydrophobicity.
• Materials.

8. Case Study
• Objective :- To monitor chemical oxygen demand (COD), biological oxygen
demand (BOD5), suspended solids (SS), and antibiotic concentrations of
wastewater released from an antibiotic manufacturing factory.
• Material and Method
1. Raw Material:-This factory primarily produces Tienam, which contains
carbapenems. Tienam is the antibiotic containing a mixture of imipenem and
cilastatin at a 1:1 ratio w/w.
2.Membrane Bio-reactor/ Filtration Method

9. Imipenem wastewater Cilastain wastewater
PH 6.8-7.3 PH 6.8-7.3
Content Avg value Std deviation
mgL-1 mgL-1 mgL-1
Content Avg value Std deviation
mgL-1 mgL-1 mgL-1
SS in
between 23. 7 ---
16-32
SS in
Between --- ---
4-21
COD in
Between 3929 866
2682-5428
COD in
Between 4245 1484
2262-4607
BOD5 in
Between 2383 776
1282-3482
BOD5 in
Between 1760 750
617-3246
Avg BOD5/COD value is 0.6 Avg BOD5/COD value is 0.41
Result

10. Cleaning Procedure & Reuse potential of MBR
 Cleaning Procedure of MBR:-
 Every six to twelve months
Requires chemical(s) cleaning
 Remove module(s)
 Reuse potential of MBR:-
Completely acceptable water.
After softening treatment use for industrial purpose.
Thus, large quantity of water can saved.

11. Advantages & Disadvantage
 The major ADVANTAGE of MBR:-
High quality effluent.
High loading rate capacity.
Reducing tertiary filtration and secondary clarifiers.
Reducing plant budget.
Easy operation
Easy modulation
 The major DISADVANTAGE of MBR:-
Increase capital cost (Membrane cost)
Relatively expensive to install and operate.
Membrane may be sensitive some chemical.
Require pre-treatment.
Frequent membrane monitoring and maintenance.
 Membrane fouling.

12. Current Status & Conclusion
 Current status of MBR:-
About 250 currently working in various part of globe.
Japan use most MBR system are use for water recycling in building.
In India MBR use in hotel industries, residential township, and
housing complexes, gardening, flushing and other cleaning purpose.
 Conclusion:-
MBR is an attractive and feasible technology for on-site
treatment applications.
 Consistent nutrient removal is possible with MBR
system…..Water reuse
MBR is more effective in treating wastewaters that are
challenging for conventional biological treatment systems.

13. References
 Membrane Bioreactor Published on SSWM Compiled by:--Beat Stauffer (seecon
international gmbh) , Dorothee Spuhler (seecon international gmbh)
 Authors: Thomas C. Schwartz and Brent R. Herring , Woodard and Curran
Incorporated Ricardo Bernal and Janet Persechino , GE.
 Chettiyappan visvanathan Environmental Engineer and Management program ,
school of environment, research and development.
 Michael Moreau J&R Sales and Service Coalition for Buzards Bay’s 2011
Decision Makers Workshop Series March 24, 2011
 Membrane Bio-reactor for wastewater treatment 1st edition 2013 Dr. Jixiang Yang
and bookboon.com
 Simon Judd Centre for Water Science, Cranfield University, Cranfield ,
Bedfordshire, MK43 0AL, UK
 Chia-Yuan Changa*, Jing-Song Changa, Saravanamuthu Vigneswaranb, Jaya
Kandasamyb a Department of Environmental Engineering and Science, Chia Nan
University of Pharmacy and Science, Tainan 717, Taiwan
 Shu-Fen Cheng a, Yi-Chao Lee b, Chih-Yang Kuo b, Ting-Nien Wu b, *a
Department of Environmental Engineering and Management, Chaoyang
University of Technology, 168 Jifeng E. Rd., Wufeng District, Taichung
41349,Taiwan, ROC b Department of Environmental Engineering, Kun Shan
University, 195 Kunda Rd., Yong-Kang District, Tainan 71070, Taiwan, ROC