In-situ assessment of biofilm formation in submerged membrane system using optical coherence tomography and computational fluid dynamics
Type
ArticleKAUST Department
Biological and Environmental Sciences and Engineering (BESE) DivisionEnvironmental Science and Engineering Program
Water Desalination and Reuse Research Center (WDRC)
Date
2016-09-09Online Publication Date
2016-09-09Print Publication Date
2017-01Permanent link to this record
http://hdl.handle.net/10754/622302
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
This paper introduces a novel approach to study the biofouling development on gravity driven submerged membrane bioreactor (SMBR). The on-line monitoring of biofilm formation on a flat sheet membrane was conducted non-destructively using optical coherence tomography (OCT), allowing the in-situ investigation of the biofilm structure for 43 d. The OCT enabled to obtain a time-lapse of biofilm development on the membrane under the continuous operation. Acquired real-time information on the biofilm structure related to the change in the flux profile confirming the successful monitoring of the dynamic evolution of the biofouling layer. Four different phases were observed linking the permeate flux with the change of biofilm morphology. In particular, a stable flux of 2.1±0.1 L/m2 h was achieved with the achievement of steady biofilm morphology after 30 d of operation. Biofilm descriptors, such as thickness, biofilm area, macro-porosity and roughness (absolute and relative), were calculated for each OCT acquired scans. Interestingly, relative roughness was correlated with the flux decrease. Furthermore, the precise biofilm morphology obtained from the OCT scans was used in computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation to better understand the role of biofilm structure on the filtration mechanism. © 2016 Elsevier B.V.Citation
Fortunato L, Qamar A, Wang Y, Jeong S, Leiknes T (2017) In-situ assessment of biofilm formation in submerged membrane system using optical coherence tomography and computational fluid dynamics. Journal of Membrane Science 521: 84–94. Available: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.memsci.2016.09.004.Sponsors
This study was supported by funding from King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST).Publisher
Elsevier BVJournal
Journal of Membrane ScienceAdditional Links
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S037673881631506Xae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1016/j.memsci.2016.09.004