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Review
. 2023 Feb 2;13(2):181.
doi: 10.3390/membranes13020181.

The Advancement in Membrane Bioreactor (MBR) Technology toward Sustainable Industrial Wastewater Management

Tanzim Ur Rahman  1 , Hridoy Roy  1 , Md Reazul Islam  1   2 , Mohammed Tahmid  1 , Athkia Fariha  1 , Antara Mazumder  1   3 , Nishat Tasnim  1 , Md Nahid Pervez  4 , Yingjie Cai  5 , Vincenzo Naddeo  4 , Md Shahinoor Islam  1   6
Affiliations
Review

The Advancement in Membrane Bioreactor (MBR) Technology toward Sustainable Industrial Wastewater Management

Tanzim Ur Rahman et al. Membranes (Basel). .

Abstract

The advancement in water treatment technology has revolutionized the progress of membrane bioreactor (MBR) technology in the modern era. The large space requirement, low efficiency, and high cost of the traditional activated sludge process have given the necessary space for the MBR system to come into action. The conventional activated sludge (CAS) process and tertiary filtration can be replaced by immersed and side-stream MBR. This article outlines the historical advancement of the MBR process in the treatment of industrial and municipal wastewaters. The structural features and design parameters of MBR, e.g., membrane surface properties, permeate flux, retention time, pH, alkalinity, temperature, cleaning frequency, etc., highly influence the efficiency of the MBR process. The submerged MBR can handle lower permeate flux (requires less power), whereas the side-stream MBR can handle higher permeate flux (requires more power). However, MBR has some operational issues with conventional water treatment technologies. The quality of sludge, equipment requirements, and fouling are major drawbacks of the MBR process. This review paper also deals with the approach to address these constraints. However, given the energy limitations, climatic changes, and resource depletion, conventional wastewater treatment systems face significant obstacles. When compared with CAS, MBR has better permeate quality, simpler operational management, and a reduced footprint requirement. Thus, for sustainable water treatment, MBR can be an efficient tool.

Keywords: membrane bioreactor (MBR); operational constraints; selection criteria; structural features; sustainable water treatment.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Advancement of wastewater treatment throughout the 19th century [27]. AS—activated sludge; CW—constructed wetlands; RBC—rotating biological reactors; UASB—upward-flow anaerobic sludge blanket; MBRs—membrane biological reactors; SBR—sequencing batch reactors; MBBR—moving bed biofilm reactors (adapted and modified with permission from reference [27]. Copyright 2010 Elsevier).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Different levels of wastewater treatment.
Figure 3
Figure 3
(a) Conventional activated sludge process + tertiary filtration, (b) immersed MBR, (c) side-stream MBR.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Key design parameters for MBR operation.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Schematic of pore blockage for membranes with different pore sizes [16] (adapted and modified from reference [16] under the open access policy, MDPI, 2016).
Figure 6
Figure 6
Basic principle of membrane filtration.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Impact of HRT on the removal of COD in an SMBR for treatment of wastewater from petroleum refinery [51] (adapted and modified with permission from reference [51]. Copyright 2008 Elsevier).
Figure 8
Figure 8
Criterion-based classification of membrane fouling.
Figure 9
Figure 9
Schematic representations of fouling formation and removal in MBR.
Figure 10
Figure 10
Factors affecting membrane fouling.
Figure 11
Figure 11
Components of energy consumption in the operation of an MBR [135].
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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