This study determines the basic parameters of Monod kinetics for microbial growth within a membrane bioreactor using the Zenon ZeeWeed 10 MBR system. The influent nitrate concentration was kept at 70 ± 2 mg L-1 NO3ˉ. During the experiments a constant concentration of activated sludge was maintained at approximately 0.76 g L-1 under anoxic conditions. Sucrose was added to the activated sludge as a carbon source. The Monod kinetic parameters were calculated by numerical interpolation, by considering experimental data. The maximum specific growth rate of the biomass was determined to be 0.31 h-1, half-saturation constant 5.4 mg L-1, and yield coefficient 0.35 mg biomass mg-1 COD. Afterwards, a dynamic simulation was performed within the calculated parameters. The dynamic concentration profiles for substrate and biomass were determined at different dilution rates within the range of 0.8 to 5 d-1.
In this study, a Taguchi experimental design methodology was used to determine the importance of process parameters influencing the ultrafiltration (UF) of oil-in-water emulsions. Four parameters including pH (5–11), oil concentration (φ) (0.5–3% (v/v)), temperature (T) (25–45°C) and trans-membrane pressure (TMP) (1–5 bar) were studied at three levels. The highest flux was used as optimization criterion. In order to reduce the number of experiments, a Taguchi method was applied. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to determine the most significant parameters affecting the optimization criterion. Filtration experiments were performed in a cross-flow operation at a total recycle condition in a laboratory-scale plant. The ceramic UF membrane with a pore size of 50 nm was employed in a tubular module with an active area of 0,418 m2. We used water-soluble cutting oil mixed with water as a model oil-in-water emulsion. During the experiment, the drop size and zeta potential distributions were evaluated. The optimum conditions for UF providing the highest flux were found at TMP = 5 bar, pH = 7, and φ = 0.5 v/v%. The pH of emulsion had the highest impact on COD retention. The results of this study could be used as a guideline for operating UF systems with ceramic membranes at optimal conditions.
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