OPTIMIZATION OF WASTEWATER TREATMENT BIOTECHNOLOGY USING A MEMBRANE BIOREACTOR

The growing environmental concerns associated with elevated levels of ammonium nitrogen in municipal wastewater, along with increasingly stringent discharge regulations, necessitate the development and implementation of advanced and highly efficient treatment technologies. This study is aimed at optimizing the operational parameters of a membrane bioreactor system for urban wastewater treatment, focusing on the balance between treatment performance and operational sustainability. Membrane bioreactor systems offer several key advantages over conventional biological treatment methods, including higher biomass retention, improved effluent quality, compact system design, and the ability to support simultaneous nitrification and denitrification processes within a single reactor. To investigate optimal operating conditions, GPS-X simulation software was used to model 36 combinations of filtration duration and washing duration over a 10-day dynamic period. The impact of these parameters on critical performance indicators – transmembrane pressure, hydraulic load, hydraulic permeability, nitrogen removal efficiency, and washwater consumption – was assessed. The simulations demonstrated that the optimal operating regime involved a filtration duration of 30 minutes combined with a washing duration of 180 seconds. Under these conditions, transmembrane pressure was minimized (1,586 kPa), while ammonium and nitrate nitrogen concentrations in the treated effluent were effectively reduced to 0.13 mg N/L and 11.36 mg N/L, respectively – well below the regulatory limits for discharge. Additionally, the system exhibited favorable hydraulic permeability (0.3635 m³/(m²·kPa·day)) and moderate washwater usage (13.1 m³/day), contributing to operational cost efficiency and membrane longevity. These results not only confirm the suitability of membrane bioreactor technology for nutrient removal but also emphasize its practical potential for municipal implementation in Ukraine. The study highlights the role of simulation-based optimization in achieving both environmental compliance and resource-efficient operation, reinforcing the relevance of membrane bioreactor systems as a core component of modern wastewater management strategies.