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Membrane Bioreactors for Wastewater Treatment
Journal of Membrane Science 194 (2001) 145–146
Book review
Membrane Bioreactors for Wastewater Treatment Tom Stephenson, Simon Judd, Bruce Jefferson and Keith Brindle (Eds.); IWA Publishing, London, UK, ISBN 1 900222 07 8 Membrane technology can be applied for all types of separation problems ranging from a small to a large industrial scale. In this respect it is mainly used for concentration, fractionation or purification. However, membrane processes may be coupled to a chemical or biochemical reaction in a so-called membrane reactor or membrane bioreactor. The membrane may have different functionalities such as retaining the catalyst (or active sludge), removing a specific end-product or side-product or it may add a reactant such as a gas like oxygen or carbon dioxide. Despite the research efforts membrane reactors, hardly reached the stage of commercialization except for a few ‘niche markets’ such as condensation reactions. This is different for membrane bioreactors and the combination of membrane technology and biological reactors for wastewater treatment has been emerged rapidly over the past 10 years. Especially, the aerobic treatment of municipal sewage is applied on a large scale. In this concept, the sedimentation tank is replaced by a membrane unit. This has many advantages such as a higher biomass concentration in the reactor, a reduced reactor volume and an improved product quality. Membrane bioreactors can be considered as a breakthrough in wastewater treatment. Recently many papers have been published showing interest in the subject. It was time then for a book and here it is membrane bioreactors for wastewater treatment. Chapter 1 gives an introduction in types of membrane reactors and some characteristics of membrane
bioreactors in wastewater treatment. Some basic fundamentals on membrane processes and biological processes are treated in chapters 2 and 3. These chapters have been included for those who lacks knowledge on either membrane technology or biological processes. Chapter 4 includes the biomass separation of membrane bioreactors and this chapter is about one-third of the book. Two other types of reactors are described in chapter 5, the membrane aeration bioreactor (MABR) and the extractive membrane bioreactor (EMBR). Finally, chapters 6 and 7 describe various major commercial MBR concepts such as Kubota, Zenon, Orelis, Wehrle Werke, US Filter and Degremont. It is not clear why the Mitsubishi concept is not treated in this chapter. Some case studies can be found in chapter 7. The book gives a comprehensive overview on research, development, application and commercialization of MBRs for wastewater treatment. It contains many data, tables, figures on various applications. It is clearly an information book, not a handbook. The book is quite descriptive, the authors refer rather than they use their own interpretation or their own approach. There are two major aspects which has a large impact on the performance of a MBR; membrane fouling/flux decline and energy consumption. These subjects are not treated on a scientific basis but on a citation basis. For instance on energy consumption, half a page (!) is used only (p. 77). Here, Cote is referred who gives a value of 2–10 kWh/m3 for sidestream operations and a value of 0.2–0.4 kWh/m3 for submerged systems. That’s it. I personally miss the scientific description but for those who want information, they have a perfect book. It is striking that the only equations are found in chapters 2 and 3, chapters which could have been omitted.
0376-7388/01/$ – see front matter © 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. PII: S 0 3 7 6 - 7 3 8 8 ( 0 1 ) 0 0 5 3 6 - 1
146
Book review
Without chapters 2 and 3 we would have a book without any equation. The authors did a great job by summarizing a huge amount of information in a readable form. Those who want more background are referred to the various references cited in the book.
Marcel Mulder Faculty of Chemical Technology, University of Twente P.O. Box 217, 7500 AE Enchede, The Netherlands Tel.: +31-53-489-2964; fax: +31-53-489-4611. E-mail address: [email protected]
Book review
Membrane Bioreactors for Wastewater Treatment Tom Stephenson, Simon Judd, Bruce Jefferson and Keith Brindle (Eds.); IWA Publishing, London, UK, ISBN 1 900222 07 8 Membrane technology can be applied for all types of separation problems ranging from a small to a large industrial scale. In this respect it is mainly used for concentration, fractionation or purification. However, membrane processes may be coupled to a chemical or biochemical reaction in a so-called membrane reactor or membrane bioreactor. The membrane may have different functionalities such as retaining the catalyst (or active sludge), removing a specific end-product or side-product or it may add a reactant such as a gas like oxygen or carbon dioxide. Despite the research efforts membrane reactors, hardly reached the stage of commercialization except for a few ‘niche markets’ such as condensation reactions. This is different for membrane bioreactors and the combination of membrane technology and biological reactors for wastewater treatment has been emerged rapidly over the past 10 years. Especially, the aerobic treatment of municipal sewage is applied on a large scale. In this concept, the sedimentation tank is replaced by a membrane unit. This has many advantages such as a higher biomass concentration in the reactor, a reduced reactor volume and an improved product quality. Membrane bioreactors can be considered as a breakthrough in wastewater treatment. Recently many papers have been published showing interest in the subject. It was time then for a book and here it is membrane bioreactors for wastewater treatment. Chapter 1 gives an introduction in types of membrane reactors and some characteristics of membrane
bioreactors in wastewater treatment. Some basic fundamentals on membrane processes and biological processes are treated in chapters 2 and 3. These chapters have been included for those who lacks knowledge on either membrane technology or biological processes. Chapter 4 includes the biomass separation of membrane bioreactors and this chapter is about one-third of the book. Two other types of reactors are described in chapter 5, the membrane aeration bioreactor (MABR) and the extractive membrane bioreactor (EMBR). Finally, chapters 6 and 7 describe various major commercial MBR concepts such as Kubota, Zenon, Orelis, Wehrle Werke, US Filter and Degremont. It is not clear why the Mitsubishi concept is not treated in this chapter. Some case studies can be found in chapter 7. The book gives a comprehensive overview on research, development, application and commercialization of MBRs for wastewater treatment. It contains many data, tables, figures on various applications. It is clearly an information book, not a handbook. The book is quite descriptive, the authors refer rather than they use their own interpretation or their own approach. There are two major aspects which has a large impact on the performance of a MBR; membrane fouling/flux decline and energy consumption. These subjects are not treated on a scientific basis but on a citation basis. For instance on energy consumption, half a page (!) is used only (p. 77). Here, Cote is referred who gives a value of 2–10 kWh/m3 for sidestream operations and a value of 0.2–0.4 kWh/m3 for submerged systems. That’s it. I personally miss the scientific description but for those who want information, they have a perfect book. It is striking that the only equations are found in chapters 2 and 3, chapters which could have been omitted.
0376-7388/01/$ – see front matter © 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. PII: S 0 3 7 6 - 7 3 8 8 ( 0 1 ) 0 0 5 3 6 - 1
146
Book review
Without chapters 2 and 3 we would have a book without any equation. The authors did a great job by summarizing a huge amount of information in a readable form. Those who want more background are referred to the various references cited in the book.
Marcel Mulder Faculty of Chemical Technology, University of Twente P.O. Box 217, 7500 AE Enchede, The Netherlands Tel.: +31-53-489-2964; fax: +31-53-489-4611. E-mail address: [email protected]