A model for membrane bioreactor process based on the concept of formation and degradation of soluble microbial products.

A mathematical model of soluble microbial products (SMPs) formation-degradation was established based on the activated sludge model no. 1 and was applied to the membrane bioreactor process with high concentration of activated sludge under intermittent aerobic operational condition. The simulation results were in good agreement with the experimental data which indicated that the coefficients used in the model could successfully describe the treatment performance. The most advantage of this modified model over the conventional one was that the significant importance of SMP existence was demonstrated and the model provided an reasonable comprehension for SMP concept. The present study demonstrated that SMPs contributed most to the organic matter in the effluent, and the results coincided well with the observations of many other researchers.