Automatic control system for membrane bioreactors

Automatic control system for membrane bioreactors

A Research Group from the University of Girona has developed atechnology that can be applied to monitor membrane performance and to regulate the air-scour proportionated to the membranes. The technology is an important tool to reduce operational costs of Membrane Bioreactors for wastewater treatment, where aeration represents nearly 40% of the total costs; moreover it leads to an enhanced reliability of the filtration process by means of robust data acquisition and processing procedures. The reduction of the energy consumption in wastewater treatment plants would imply a reduction of CO2 emissions and a consequent lower impact on the environment. During the validation of the invention a maximum of 20% energy saving was achieved. It has been developed and validated in MBR, but there are other possible applications in the water treatment or related fields (e.g. reverse osmosis).