The Effect of Operational Factors on Solid/Liquid Separation by Ultra-Membrane Filtration in a Biological Denitrification System for Collected Human Excreta Treatment Plants

Abstract

One third of the total population of Japan is served by collected human excreta treatment systems for the sanitary treatment of human wastes. In order to cope with the stringent effluent quality regulations set for human excreta treatment plants, the high-load biological denitrification process with ultra-membrane filtration for solid/liquid separation has been recently developed. This system has big advantages not only with respect to the solid/liquid separation stage of biological treatment processes, but also as regards the cost and operational effectiveness of advanced treatment processes such as ozonation and activated carbon adsorption. However, problems can be experienced with the ultra-membrane filtration process because the attainable hydraulic load is completely governed by the permeation flux. Therefore, in order to utilized the ultra-membrane filtration process in a biological wastewater treatment system, the effects of the operational factors on the permeation flux have to be clarified. In this paper, the effects of factors such as water temperature, suspended solids concentration, driving pressure, and water velocity in the unit are described. It has become clear that in order to attain a stable permeation flux, the water temperature and suspended solids concentration should be kept as stable as possible. The results of the investigation of the development of cake or gel layer resistance showed that high pressure and high velocity give a high and stable permeation flux. However, it has also been shown that the optimum operational conditions are high pressure and low velocity, due to the energy costs for operation of the system.