Function of dynamic membrane in self-forming dynamic membrane coupled bioreactor.

The Self-Forming Dynamic Membrane Coupled Bioreactor (SFDMBR), which uses coarse pore-sized material to separate solid and liquid in bioreactors, has some advantages compared with MBR using micro-/ultra-filtration membranes, for example, low module cost and high flux. The cake layer and gel layer formed on the surface and in the pores of the material during filtration played an important role, called self-forming dynamic membrane (DM), which mainly consisted of activated sludge. In this study, the function of DM in pollutant removal was investigated. It was found that DM could remove some organic matter (12.6 mg L(-1) on average) and total nitrogen (3.01 mg L(-1) on average) in the supernatant. Colloids and organic nitrogen were partly removed by DM while DOC, ammonia nitrogen and nitrate nitrogen removal by DM varied from negative to positive, which resulted from the combination of various biological activities, e.g. nitrification, biological utilization and so on. DO concentration in DM decreased with the depth and reached zero at about 1.5-2.5 mm depth. The organic degradation activity and nitrification activity of the biomass suspended in the bioreactor were higher than those of the biomass in the cake layer, which might be caused by the low DO concentration and low organic pollutant content in DM.