The
major
limitation,
which
hinders
the
wider
application
of
membrane
technology
and
increases
the
operating
costs
of
membranes
involved
in
wastewater
treatment
plants,
is
membrane
fouling
induced
by
organic
matter.
Extracellular
polymeric
products
(EPS)
and
soluble
microbial
products
(SMP)
are
the
two
most
mentioned
major
foulants
in
publications,
for
which
the
debate
on
precise
definitions
seems
to
be
endless.
Therefore,
a
concept
of
sludge
water,
which
conceptually
covers
both
EPS
and
SMP,
has
been
developed
in
this
research.
A
standard
procedure
of
sludge
water
separation,
which
is
centrifugation
at
4000g
for
15
min
followed
by
1.2μm
glass
fiber
filter
filtration,
was
established
based
on
separation
experiments
with
membrane
tank
sludge
from
the
KAUST
MBR
wastewater
treatment
plant.
Afterwards,
sludge
waters
from
the
KAUST
MBR
WWTP
anoxic
tank,
aerobic
tank
and
membrane
tank
as
well
as
sludge
waters
from
the
Jeddah
WWTP
anoxic
tank,
aerobic
tank
and
secondary
effluent
were
produced
through
the
previously
developed
standard
procedure. The
obtained
sludge
water
samples
were
thereafter
characterized
with
TOC/COD,
LC--OCD
and
F--EEM,
which
showed
that
KAUST
anoxic/
aerobic
/membrane
tank
sludge
waters
had
similar
characteristics
for
all
investigated
parameters,
yet
the
influent
naturally
had
a
higher
DOC
and
biopolymer
concentration.
Moreover,
lower
TOC/COD,
negligible
biopolymers
and
low
levels
of
humics
were
found
in
KAUST
effluent.
Compared
with
the
KAUST
MBR
WWTP,
the
Jeddah
WWTP’s
sludge
waters
generally
had
higher
DOC
and
biopolymer
concentrations.
To
investigate
sludge
water
fouling
potential,
the
KAUST
membrane
tank
sludge
water
as
well
as
the
Jeddah
secondary
effluent
were
filtrated
through
a
membrane
array
consisting
of
an
ultrafiltration
(UF)
Millipore
RC10kDa
at
the
first
step
followed
by
a
nanofiltration
(NF)
KOCH
Acid/Base
stable
NF200
at
the
second
step.
It
was
found
that
cake
layer
and
standard
blocking
occurred
simultaneously
during
both
of
these
filtration
processes.
For
the
KAUST
MBR
membrane
tank
sludge
water
and
the
Jeddah
WWTP
effluent,
the
fouling
potential
of
humic/building
blocks
was
much
higher
than
that
of
biopolymers.
Compared
with
the
KAUST
MBR
membrane
tank
sludge
water,
the
Jeddah
WWTP
effluent
had
comparable
biopolymer
fouling
potential
and
higher
humic/building
blocks
fouling
potential.
| Date of Award | Jul 2011 |
|---|
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|
| Awarding Institution | - Biological, Environmental Sciences and Engineering
|
|---|
| Supervisor | Gary Amy (Supervisor) |
|---|