Performance evaluation of submerged membrane bioreactor for municipal wastewater treatment: Experimental study and model validation with GPS-X software simulator

In this study, flat sheet submerged MBR (FS-SMBR) was investigated under 6 and 4 h hydraulic retention times (HRT) and 40 days solid retention time with real municipal wastewater. The implementation of the treatment system was evaluated in terms of physico-chemical and microbial analysis as well as sludge characterization. The permeate of FS-SMBR complied with the standards for reuse and non-detectable levels of faecal coliform was achieved at 6 and 4 h HRTs, with pore-blocking resistances (R_t) of 28 × 10¹¹ and 40 × 10¹¹/m, respectively. Examining another dominant factor, that is, sludge viscosity, the best results were acquired using HRT 4 h for domestic wastewater. Furthermore, the results obtained were validated and calibrated using the GPS-X software simulator, and the results of modelled data were completely matched with the experimental data under the same conditions.