Development of a Hollow Fiber Membrane Bioreactor for Cometabolic Degradation of Chlorinated Solvents

The purpose of this research was to develop the hollow fiber membrane (HFM) bioreactor system for treatment of chlorinated solvents in waste mixtures. This new technology employs a hollow fiber membrane reactor to separate chlorinated solvents from water or air with subsequent cometabolic biodegradation using a mutant methanotrophic microorganism, Methylosinus trichosporium OB3b PP358. Laboratory experiments geared toward process development of the HFM bioreactor system have been ongoing for several years. Thus far, the system development has been mainly advanced through the experimental research program. The experimental program, combined with the refinement and validation of the HFM bioreactor computer model, has made possible a detailed investigation of the decision variables and parameters. The main research objective of this effort was the development of a methodology to design full-scale treatment units. In order to fulfill the objective, computer modeling investigations were conducted on HFMM mass transfer, the polishing reactor, the chemostat, biomass concentration, mass transfer coefficient and varying HFMM dimensions. Interactions among the decision variables and parameters were shown to be quite complex. The analysis gave much insight into the sensitivity of individual decision variables and parameters to other decision variables and also helped identify important interactions between variables. From the modeling analysis, a design strategy was detailed.