Permeability theory for polydispersed colloidal cakes and analysis of membrane bioreactor (MBR) models

Abstract

Models can serve as valuable tools for understanding, designing, and optimizing membrane filtration systems, which are commonly used for the treatment of water and wastewater. Two areas in the modeling of membrane technology that are lacking in development include the characterization of polydispersed colloidal fouling and the modeling of membrane bioreactor (MBR) systems. In this study, new analytical expressions are introduced for calculating the permeability of polydispersed cakes composed of spherical particles with log-normal and normal particle size distributions (PSD). Comparison of the permeabilities show that normal PSDs consistently exhibit lower permeability than log-normal cases due to the larger number of smaller particles in normal PSDs. Additionally, a review and assessment of current modeling efforts on MBRs for municipal wastewater treatment were conducted. The review confirmed that MBR model development is still in its early stages, and much research is needed in the area