Application of turbulence promoters in ceramic membrane bioreactor used for municipal wastewater reclamation

In ceramic membrane bioreactor (CMBR), the permeate flux through a multi-channel tubular membrane has been improved by using turbulence promoters with different configurations. It was confirmed that the introduction of inserts led to better flux in comparison with empty tube. Winding inserts with 10 mm pitch and 1.6 mm wire diameter showed better performances than the others did. A 30-day laboratory-scale operation for reclamation of municipal wastewater was studied using the ceramic membrane bioreactor. The flux under the same operation parameters increased from 70 to 175 l m⁻² h⁻¹. The average reduction rate of chemical oxygen demand (COD) was more than 95% for municipal wastewater. The investigation showed that the introduction of winding inserts was effective in increasing permeate flux of a CMBR system, and the effluent quality would not reduce in comparison with empty tube.