Mathematical modeling of aerobic membrane bioreactor (MBR) using activated sludge model no. 1 (ASM1)

Activated sludge model no. 1 (ASM1) was applied to an aerobic membrane bioreactor (MBR) treating dilute municipal wastewater. The model for the aerobic MBR was calibrated using the data collected from a lab-scale aerobic MBR using AQUASIM 2.0. The performance of MBR process in terms of chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal and ammonia nitrogen (SNH) nitrification was studied at different operating conditions such as hydraulic retention time (HRT), solid retention time (SRT) and mixed liquor suspended solids (MLSS) concentrations. The characteristics of influent wastewater, pre-settled primary effluent from a wastewater treatment plant (City of Elmhurst WWTP, Elmhurst, IL, USA), were determined in the laboratory and used for the calibration of the model. The results from the simulations provided a better understanding of the mechanisms and kinetics of the MBR process including sludge removal.