Performance of newly developed hollow fiber module with spacer in integrated anaerobic–aerobic fungi reactor treating textile wastewater

A submerged microfiltration membrane bioreactor implementing the white-rot fungus Coriolus versicolor was developed for effective treatment of textile dye wastewater [1]. In that system membrane fouling was precluded by placing a bundle of hollow fibers within a pre-filtration assembly, so as to avoid direct deposition of sludge onto it, together with its periodic high-pressure back-washing and low-dose chemical back-flushing. However, the extreme vulnerability of the bare membrane used in that study to inter-fibral deposition of sludge leading to merging of fibers indicated necessity of development of an appropriate module so that the proposed system may enjoy more flexibility in terms of precluding fouling. This study reports superior performance, in terms of avoiding fouling, of newly developed hollow fiber module with spacer over that of usual hollow fiber bundles under severe operating conditions induced by high strength industrial wastewater with concomitant biofouling.