Incorporation of the concept of microbial product formation into ASM3 and the modeling of a membrane bioreactor for wastewater treatment

Abstract

This paper proposes a modification of ASM3 in a way that takes into account the process of production and consumption of microbial products (MPs) in a submerged membrane bioreactor fed with the effluent of a particular precoagulation sedimentation unit. A comparative representation of the modeling results obtained with ASM3 and ASM1 is performed and it highlights the importance of considering the process of storage of organic substrate, including MPs, as a prior step to bacterial growth. In addition to the suspended solids and microorganisms, various soluble organic substances, which might be either undecomposed organic substances contained in the raw water or MPs, are assumed to be selectively retained within the bioreactor. The results show that the carbonaceous materials are more accurately estimated by ASM3, while ASM1 performs slightly better than ASM3 in the estimation of nitrate. The estimated MP concentration in the mixed liquor and permeate agrees with the experimental evidence, and as expected, MPs play a role in supplying organic substrate to heterotrophs in both ASM1 and ASM3.