Calibrating a side-stream membrane bioreactor using Activated Sludge Model No. 1.

Membrane bioreactors (MBRs) are attracting global interest but the mathematical modeling of the biological performance of MBRs remains very limited. This study focuses on the modeling of a side-stream MBR system using the Activated Sludge Model No. 1 (ASM1), and compares the results with the modeling of traditional activated sludge processes. ASM1 parameters relevant for the long-term biological behaviour in MBR systems were calibrated (i.e. Y H = 0.72gCOD/gCOD, Y A = 0.25gCOD/gN, b H = 0.25d −1 , b A = 0.080d −1 and f P = 0.06), and generally agreed with the parameters in traditional activated sludge processes, with the exception that a higher autotrophic biomass decay rate was observed in the MBR. Influent wastewater characterization was proven to be a critical step in model calibration, and special care should be taken in characterizing the inert particulate COD (X I ) concentration in the MBR influent. It appeared that the chemical–biological method was superior to the physical–chemical method. A sensitivity analysis for steady-state operation and DO dynamics suggested that the biological performance of the MBR system (the sludge concentration, effluent quality and the DO dynamics) are very sensitive to the parameters (i.e. Y H , Y A , b H , b A μ maxH and μ maxA ), and influent wastewater components (X I , S s , X s and S NH ).