Food wastewater and agribusiness are a resource for energy and nutrients. These wastewaters can be processed in a Membrane Bioreactor (MBR) where a perm-selective membrane, e.g. microfiltration or ultrafiltration, is integrated into a bioreactor.
Australian and Vietnamese researchers developed an interesting study on wastewater treatment to produce energy from biogas and nutrients for microalgal cultivation using a hybrid system with anaerobic membrane bioreactor (AnMBR) and a microalgal membrane reactor (MMR). Figure 1 shows the hybrid system on which the LAMBDA MINIFOR is integrated as anaerobic membrane bioreactor.
Figure 1. Hybrid system (a) LAMBDA MINIFOR anaerobic bioreactor with an immersed membrane, (b) microalgal membrane reactor. M.T. Vu, H.P. Vu, L.N. Nguyen et al. / Environmental Technology & Innovation 19 (2020) [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eti.2020.100834]
In this hybrid system, the LAMBDA MINIFOR bioreactor with a submerge membrane (PVDF -Polyvinylidene fluoride) was running continuously for 80 days. The system consisted of a 3L MINIFOR advanced kit containing two LAMBDA Peristaltic Pumps (feed and effluent pump), LAMBDA REDOX measurement unit and combined redox-temperature-pH probe. The effluent of the LAMBDA anaerobic digester was directly fed to culture microalgae Chlorella vulgaris in the MMR for biomass production.
The anaerobic digester LAMBDA MINIFOR removed above 97% of Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) and produced an average of 2.4 kWh/kg COD (feed) day in the form of biogas (Nguyen et al., 2020). These results obtained confirm the feasibility of LAMBDA MINIFOR in the development of studies to treat high-strength wastewater and produce energy.
LAMBDA MINIFOR system: anaerobic bioreactor to produce biogas
The LAMBDA MINIFOR bioreactor is a suitable option to study the transformation of wastewater into biogas, since it allows maintaining the necessary conditions for obtaining energy from organic waste.
Among its main advantages we can mention:
- LAMBDA MINIFOR uses a self-cleaning micro-sparger. Due to its elasticity releases any deposits formed in the sparger holes and, thus, guarantees gas inflow at all times: www.fermentador-bioreactor.com/features/self-cleaning-microsparger/.
- Reliable LAMBDA peristaltic pumps for continuous anaerobic digestion: www.peristalticpump.info.
- Allows the measurement of the REDOX potential for the anaerobic culturing: www.fermentador-bioreactor.com/redox-potential-measurement-orp/.
- Precise electronic inbuilt gas flow controller: www.fermentador-bioreactor.com/features/massflow-precise-gas-flow-controller-and-measurement/.
Additional features of LAMBDA MINIFOR bench-top fermenter could be found at www.lambda-instruments.com/fermenter-bioreactor/
Please, contact us at sales@lambda-instruments.com if you have questions, need quotation or prices of LAMBDA MINIFOR laboratory fermentors and bioreactors.
Keywords: anaerobic membrane bioreactor, anaerobic digestion, biogas, organic waste, microalgal membrane reactor.