Characteristic sludge ecosystems arising in anaerobic membrane bioreactors of three pilot-scale plants treating low-strength (less than 1 g of biological oxygen demand per liter) sewage or soybean-processing wastewater were examined by analysis of the colony-forming-curves (CFC) obtained by counting colonies at suitable intervals. The wastewaters, containing high amounts of suspended solids (SS...

The membrane biofilm reactor (MBfR) a novel bioreactor that provides gaseous substrates directly to a biofilm growing on the membrane surface, avoiding the need for sparging. MBfRs are not membrane bioreactors (MBRs), where membranes separate suspended solids from the effluent water, substituting for a clarifier. In MBfRs, a gaseous substrate moves across the membrane. Since the MBfR membranes ...

Biofouling impedes the performance of anaerobic membrane bioreactors (AnMBR). Two reactors, one as an up-flow attachment-growth AnMBR (UA-AnMBR) configuration, and other, a continuously stirred (CS-AnMBR) were evaluated for differences in fouling rate. TMP increment UA-AnMBR was slower than CS-AnMBR, although both reactors had similar COD removal efficiency (ca. > 96%). Slower rate related to l...