A new approach to construct three-dimensional surface morphology of sludge flocs in a membrane bioreactor. (November 2016) - Mei, Rongwu
Graphical abstract: Highlights: Sludge flocs showed apparent fractal characteristics. Fractal geometry and coordinate transformation were used to construct floc surface. The constructed floc surface was close to the natural floc surface morphology. Fractal dimension was a key factor affecting the constructed surface. The new approach was feasible and superior over the conventional methods. Abstract: In this paper, a novel approach to construct three-dimensional (3D) surface morphology of sludge flocs in a membrane bioreactor (MBR) was proposed. The new approach combined the static light scattering method for fractal dimension ( Df ) determination with the modified two-variable Weierstrass-Mandelbrot (WM) function based on fractal geometry and coordinate transformation for spherical surface construction. It was found that the sludge flocs in the MBR showed apparent fractal characteristics. Results showed that the constructed 3D morphology of sludge flocs was very sensitive to Df, and higher Df induced a more compact and smoother surface morphology. With a set of proper parameter data, the constructed 3D surface morphology of sludge flocs could be quite similar to the real floc surface morphology, showing the feasibility of the proposed approach. The proposed solution to floc surface construction could be potentially used in interfacial interaction assessment, giving important implications for membrane fouling research.