Gravity-driven membrane reactor for decentralized wastewater treatment: Comparison of reactor configuration and membrane module

Gravity-driven membrane (GDM) filtration is an attractive option for decentralized wastewater treatment due to lower energy consumption. However, insufficient information is available on the design factors of GDM reactor. In this study, we investigated the impacts of membrane aeration, types of membrane modules, and biocarrier deposition onto the membrane on water quality and membrane performance of GDM reactors. In detail, the membrane air diffuser located inside the granular activated carbon (GAC)-biofilm zone had benefit for mass transfer of dissolved oxygen and achieving co-existence of anoxic and aerobic conditions in the reactor, leading to higher removal efficiencies for organics (93.8–94.6 %), nitrogen (38.2–47.2 %) and phosphorus (31.9–57.7 %), compared to the air diffuser located outside the GAC zone (90.3 % for organics, 25.3 % for nitrogen and 7.0 % for phosphorus). In addition, the inside-out ceramic hollow fibre membrane showed ∼150–200 % higher fouling resistance (mainly cake resistance) due to greater biopolymer deposition compared to the outside-in polymeric hollow fibre membrane. However, for the outside-in flat sheet configuration, the ceramic and polymeric membranes showed comparable fouling resistance. The deposition of GAC particles on the membrane surface as secondary layer could improve permeate water quality, but at the expense of an increase in irremovable fouling.