Over the years our Technical Director Mr. Dennis Livingston and Professor Simon Judd have shared ideas on the challenges of membrane clogging in submerged/immersed membrane bioreactor (MBR) systems. The feature article, Clogging mitigation through MBR membrane module design, describes what MICRODYN NADIR® has done to address the problem.

In 2019, MICRODYN NADIR introduced the BIO-CEL® L-2 Membrane Module that is specifically designed to resist the effects of clogging. There are three unique design elements built into the L-2. First, the sides were taken off to prevent damage that can be caused by air channelling and to simplify maintenance. Second, a reinforcing bar was added to the top edge of each membrane sheet to prevent tears. And third, a shock-absorbing ring was added between the upper support rings.

According to data presented in the article the BIO-CEL® L-2 is 15-39 times more durable in terms of specific types of wear that can be caused by clogging and 14-24 times easier to service should clogging occur. The paper also includes performance information from full-scale plants that indicates a much higher resistance to clogging as compared to other FS and FP technologies.