In-situ assessment of biofilm formation in submerged membrane system using optical coherence tomography and computational fluid dynamics

Luca Fortunato, Adnan Qamar, Yiran Wang, Sanghyun Jeong, TorOve Leiknes

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

76 Scopus citations

Abstract

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.
Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)84-94
Number of pages11
JournalJournal of Membrane Science
Volume521
DOIs
StatePublished - Sep 9 2016

Bibliographical note

KAUST Repository Item: Exported on 2020-10-01
Acknowledgements: This study was supported by funding from King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST).

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