Membrane Bioreactors: How Far Are We Now and Where Are We Going? A Companion Program to W207

Saturday, October 18, 8:30 am – 5:00 pm
1 day, 0.6 CEUs

The use of membrane treatment has become more prevalent in wastewater treatment and water recycle industry and the technology is continuously developing. Membrane technology is more and more acceptable in the water industry due to high quality effluent that is being produced coupled with a steady decrease in the cost of membranes as the industry provides more efficient, cost effective equipment. This workshop will be suitable for both professionals that have some membrane system knowledge and for those who would like to learn some details about how to make a membrane project a success, including system sustainability and energy optimization.

The workshop will provide the audience with the most up-to date information on the membranes including understanding of the technology and it’s potential, equipment, design and performance parameters.

The workshop will include presentations on the key aspects of the design of the MBR systems, evaluation, selection and procurement strategies for the membranes, as well as discuss operation issues, system optimization and energy savings, life-cycle costs considerations and the future of the membrane technologies. The proposed program will help to understand the full picture of the latest developments and practical experiences in the application of membrane technology in wastewater treatment. The program will also include advanced topics such as nutrient removal, reuse and sustainability, which are becoming more and more important to many end users.

The morning portion of the workshop will focus on the design Issues including: critical design parameters, why they are important and their impact on the overall cost of the plant; process modeling to achieve optimum performance; pilot testing – when it is required and it’s benefits; membrane comparison; reliability and redundancy; material, configuration, and equipment selection, and, pretreatment requirements.

This part of the workshop will allow the participants to acquire a good understanding about which parameters and considerations are the most important in the design of the membrane systems. The second part of the Workshop will focus on: membrane selection and procurement options; evaluation and comparison of membrane systems, considering capital and cost, energy requirement, life-cycle costs; overall suitability of the systems to various applications; impact of design on operations; energy optimization and system sustainability; and, future of the membrane bioreactors.

You will learn which procurement methods work best and why, the cost
associated with each procurement strategy, as well as develop an understanding why and when the membranes should be pre-selected. Operation discussion will allow you to understand design consideration that will impact operation and what should be considered to design a fully functional and operator friendly MBR system. The speakers will also discuss start-up issues and acceptance testing, control and monitoring requirements, reliability and redundancy to facilitate operation. Operation will also cover fouling and cleaning requirements and procedures, process control, troubleshooting, optimization and maintenance issues.

A discussion on the optimization of the membrane system will focus on the design and operation considerations to achieve energy conservation. The presentation on the future of the membrane industry will provide the audience with some prognosis on the potential future enhancements of membrane technology.

Displays from various membrane equipment vendors will allow the participants to interact with the vendors and be able to talk to manufacturers and learn about the specific features/differences/applications of various systems. The displays will be available throughout the entire afternoon, hence the participants will have a chance to talk to the vendors at the breaks, in addition to the specific time allocated in the program.

The workshop will conclude with a quiz that will test the knowledge acquired by participants, followed by a panel discussion on current developments and the perspective of how far we have come and the future challenges of the membrane technology.

Chair
Justyna Kempa-Teper, Kennedy/Jenks Consultants

Co-Chair
Rick Warner, Washoe County Department of Water Resources

Speakers
Val S. Frenkel, Kennedy/Jenks Consultants
Matthew Kuzma, Siemens Water Technologies Group
Dennis Livingstone, GL&V
Michael Hribljan, ZENON Membrane Solutions
Roger Babcock, The University of Hawaii at Manoa
Eugenio Giraldo, American Water
George Crawford, CH2M HILL
Slav Hermanowicz, University of California at Berkeley
Rich Jones, EnviroSim Associates