GE is pleased to present the "12 Golden Rules to Maximize MBR Value." You will find many unique insights that you can immediately take advantage of to make more informed membrane bioreactor decisions. Learn more about design considerations that will ensure the best value for your dollar, smart features that guarantee trouble-free performance, and operational strategies to handle unexpected situations.

VALUE is what guides prudent city administrators, plant owners and consulting engineers to choose membrane bioreactor technology. Each of these decision makers knows that maximizing long-term system value extends beyond the initial capital cost and includes a membrane bioreactor vendor's experience, commitment to membrane technology, and service. All are key in ensuring that you have access to the best available wastewater technology today and well into the future.

Plan for the Unexpected

Increasingly stringent discharge and reuse regulations leave no margin of error in plant operations. Membrane bioreactor design should incorporate the appropriate level of redundancy to mitigate operating risk. System and process redundancy is one of the most effective ways to safeguard your membrane bioreactor against unpredictable circumstances such as prolonged peak flows, unseasonably wet weather and equipment failures.

Design Tip

Levels of redundancy can vary significantly. Small-scale membrane bioreactor plants may be able to rely on equalization, large-scale membrane bioreactor plants don't have that luxury.

Protect Your Membrane Bioreactor Investment

Fine screening for a membrane bioreactor system is an essential pretreatment step to prevent unwanted solids in the waste stream from entering the membrane tank. This prudent design measure minimizes solids accumulation and protects the membranes from damaging debris and particles, resulting in extended membrane life, reduced operating costs, higher quality sludge and trouble-free operation.

Screens with perforated panels between 1 mm and 2 mm provide the optimal level of protection.

Get More for Less

Hollow fiber membrane systems pack the largest filtration area into each square foot of process train, resulting in more capacity within a smaller membrane footprint. This reduces capital and operating costs of a membrane bioreactor system. Modular cassettes further optimize the filtration area, eliminating the need for stacking, and ensuring simple, safe and easy access to the membranes at all times.

Track Membrane Bioreactor Vendor Experience

Take the time to carefully examine the membrane bioreactor vendor's track record of plant performance, reliability and client satisfaction. A partnership with GE provides access to over 25 years of membrane bioreactor leadership during the design, construction and operational stages of a membrane bioreactor plant.

Through such collaborative efforts, GE has set the standard for membrane bioreactor projects around the world with achievements ranging from the world's largest membrane bioreactor plants to simple, cost-effective packaged plants that can be quickly set up in virtually any location.

Keep it Clean

Clean membranes (inside and outside) ensure high quality effluent and a high state of system readiness to handle peak flows or recover quickly from an upset. Different cleaning scenarios require different tools to ensure the quickest and most cost-effective cleaning. Hollow fiber membranes have an inherent advantage as they can withstand backpressure of 8 psi and conduct an effective backpulse cleaning, which distributes cleaning solutions more effectively.

Read the Fine Print

Membrane warranties should protect the client, and the membrane bioreactor manufacturer. Review warranties carefully with vendors and make sure that the warranty is not overly restrictive and provides reasonable terms for items including membrane replacement, guaranteed replacement costs, and conditions which may void warranty coverage such as duration and number of peak flow events.

Don't be Power Hungry

Energy costs are skyrocketing; look for efficiencies wherever possible. For example, continuous membrane aeration can consume over 50% of a membrane bioreactor plant's total energy demand. However, the patented GE cyclic aeration process can trim this energy demand by up to 75%, significantly reducing overall operating costs.

Design Tip

Compare energy consumption of different membrane bioreactor systems at the average daily flow rate.

Avoid Plant Burn-out

Responsible flux assumptions are critical to designing an membrane bioreactor plant that will operate smoothly under all conditions and withstand wastewater variability or increasing flows. ZeeWeed® MBR designs incorporate a thorough 20-year lifecycle analysis based on actual full-scale plant operating data to ensure that each plant meets expectations well into the future, and provides reliable, cost-effective operation.

Understand Your Membrane Bioreactor Design Parameters:

Even though it may be appealing to select a high initial design flux to reduce capital costs, it may end up costing much more over the long term.

Get with the Program

Membrane bioreactor plant automation simplifies process control, reduces staffing requirements, and streamlines maintenance procedures. ZeeWeed® MBR incorporates several layers of automated controls including advanced PLC capabilities, exclusive ZENOTrac™ monitoring system, and the industry’s most advanced automated cleaning toolkit to ensure simple, troublefree operation.

Design Tip

Computers are all around us and simplify our lives. Take advantage of membrane bioreactor automation and reduce plant operating costs.

Only the Strongest Survive

Reinforced membranes provide the highest degree of durability for withstanding the harsh operating environment of a membrane bioreactor. Membrane bioreactors that incorporate reinforced fibers are inherently more reliable and also benefit from longer membrane life, lower operating costs and avoid catastrophic membrane failures-which means that your plant keeps working.

Design Tip

Hollow fiber membranes offer a wider PSI operating spectrum. This means that you can do more with them, from increasing throughput and membrane life to backpulsing-you get more value.

Don't Lose Control

Separate tanks for the bioreactor and the membranes ensure that tight control can be maintained over the membrane bioreactor processes, while offering a great deal of flexibility for plant operation and maintenance. By providing a separate tank for the membranes, a membrane bioreactor plant can better optimize coarse bubble scouring of the membranes, implement a broader range of cleaning methods without removing membranes or adversely affecting biological activity, and handle fluctuations in bioreactor volume and MLSS concentration more effectively.

Keep it Simple

The ideal membrane bioreactor system should provide a high degree of simplicity in design, operation and maintenance. Keeping a membrane bioreactor system simple provides numerous benefits that reduce costs and result in highly efficient systems that provide years of trouble-free operation. Key features to look for include:

	Membrane modules that easily allow for inspection and
	maintenance.
	Membrane cassettes that include built-in permeation and
	aeration equipment.
	Minimum number of connections between the membrane
	cassette and process tank.
	Proper amount of space between membrane modules.

Ensure the membrane cassette connections are accessible from the top of the tank. This will allow you to remove a single cassette without having to shut down an entire train or drain the tank.