Dye wastewater treatment and membrane fouling in a moving bed-UV-photocatalytic modified membrane bioreactor

Abstract

A moving bed-UV-photocatalytic modified membrane bioreactor (MB-UVPMBR)system effectively removed organic matter, and the removal efficiency of LanasolBlue 3R (LB) reached 85.1%, which was significantly greater than that in a movingbed membrane bioreactor (MBMBR) system. The dye removal efficiency of the system was enhanced as a result of the degradation of LB by a polyvinylidene fluoride(PVDF)/TiO2-modified membrane under UV irradiation. An analysis of the membrane resistance distributions of the two systems showed that the main cause of membrane fouling was the deposition of a cake layer on the membrane surface. The membrane in the MB-UVPMBR exhibited a 67.5%reduction in total filtration resistance compared to the membrane in the MBMBR，attributed to the hydrophilicity and photocatalytic properties of the PVDF/TiO2-modified. Overall，the removal efficiency of organic pollutants in the MB-UVPMBR system was better than that in the MBMBR system.