The Effect of Media Fill Ratio on Membrane Fouling in Moving Bed Bioreactors-Membrane Bioreactor

This research investigated theeffect of media fill ratio on membrane fouling in moving bed bioreactors-membrane bioreactor. The results shown the high removal of ammonia and COD, despite the membrane fouling conditions were really different in two bioreactors. The total modified fouling index (MFI) of IFAS 3000 was three times than MFI of IFAS 1500, and the soluble microbial products (SMP) present in the mixed liquor played an important role in the membrane fouling. No more correlation was found between the extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) concentration and fouling, and the average SMP of IFAS 3000 was higher than IFAS 1500. The carbohydrate of SMP occupied high fraction in all reactors. Large molecular weight (MW) components constituted the major fraction of EPS and SMP. The results indicated that higher media fill ratio can decrease membrane fouling effectively.