Affiliations: Ministry of Water Resources of PRC, Beijing 100053,
China | UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education, PO Box 3015,
2601 DA Delft, The Netherlands | BIOMATH, Ghent University, Coupure Links 653, B-9000
Gent, Belgium
Abstract: Membrane bioreactors (MBRs) are attracting global interest but the
mathematical modeling of the biological performance of MBRs remains very
limited. This study focuses on the modelling of a side-stream MBR system using
Activated Sludge Model No.1 (ASM1), and comparing the results with the
modelling of traditional activated sludge processes. ASM1 parameters relevant
for the long-term biological behaviour in MBR systems were calibrated (i.e.
Y_H=0.72gCOD/gCOD, Y_A=0.25gCOD/gN,
b_H=0.25 d^{-1},
b_A=0.080 d^{-1} and
f_P=0.06), and generally agreed with the parameters in
traditional activated sludge processes, with the exception that a higher
autotrophic biomass decay rate was observed in the MBR. A sensitivity analysis
for steady state operation and DO dynamics suggested that the biological
performance of the MBR system (the sludge concentration, effluent quality and
the DO dynamics) are very sensitive to the parameters (i.e.
Y_H, Y_A, b_H,
b_A, μ_{maxH} and
μ_{maxA}), and influent wastewater components
(X_I, S_s, X_s,
S_{NH}).
