An immersed membranes uses aeration (air bubbles rising past the membranes) as a means to scour the membrane surface and keep it clean from solids, or foulants, allowing for continuous and effective operation. In a module of flat sheet membranes, fine bubble aeration is used to create and maintain space between the membrane sheets. The bubbles inhibit the sheets from touching and clogging together, thus reducing their surface area and their productivity. The aeration may be used for scouring, to supply oxygen to biomass and as a spacer to maintain the working surface area of immersed flat sheet membranes. The face-to-face spacing between the membrane sheets may be 4 mm or less. The bubbles may be less than twice the face-to-face spacing between the membrane sheets.

A method of operating an immersed microporous membrane module includes a step of monitoring membrane performance to sense the onset of sludging in the module. Differences in permeability between permeation in backwashes, or trends in permeability during backwashing and permeability during permeation, or both, are monitored. Solid deposits formed during the onset of sludging may be removed with an in situ de-sludging process. For example, the deposits may be removed by stopping permeation while aerating the module, optionally at an increased rate. At other times, the module is optionally aerated while permeate is withdrawn at an aeration rate correlated to flux. The method may be used in particular with a membrane module having parallel textured flat sheet membranes suspended between a pair of vertically oriented headers. An aerator may be made from an open bottomed channel having an array of holes rising and concentrated towards the center of the channel.

A submerged membrane unit has air diffusers located outside of the membrane area in plan view. The diffusers may be mounted in or below a diffuser case. The diffuser case may have walls to direct bubbles towards the membranes. The diffusers may be drop diffusers, for example as in a single drop diffuser assembly. The membrane unit may have polymeric or ceramic membranes, for example ceramic flat plate membranes. In an example, a rectangular shrouded membrane unit has a diffuser case below it that is rectangular in plan view but trapezoidal in side view, with drop diffusers located in the corners of the diffuser case. In a process of treating high strength wastewater, for example thickening or digesting waste sludge, a membrane unit optionally with ceramic plate membranes is immersed in the wastewater. The membranes are sparged with bubbles produced below but beside the membrane unit in a diffuser case.

A device for decomplexation and enhanced removal of copper based on self-induced Fenton-like reaction constructed by electrochemistry coupled with membrane separation is disclosed. The device includes a reactor, two electrocatalytic anodes capable of generating hydroxyl radicals, an electrocatalytic cathode membrane assembly, a direct current power supply, an aeration system, an inlet pipe and an outlet pipe. The device of the present invention has a simple construction. Using this device to treat industrial wastewater containing copper complexes under specific conditions allows the decomplexation and the removal of the industrial wastewater containing the copper complexes to be simultaneously realized at a low consumption and a high efficiency. The coupling of electrochemistry with membrane separation can be achieved to protect the cathode from being contaminated by pollutants in the sewage and prolong the service life of the electrode.

Devices and techniques may improve the permeate productivity in membrane distillation separation by modifying the feed and/or coolant sides of a membrane distillation module depending on the membrane distillation configuration. The bubbling of a carrier gas through the feed liquid in the feed liquid side of the module can increase the turbulent dissipation rate and/or enhance mass transfer across the membrane pores.

Hydrogen generation assemblies and methods of generating hydrogen are disclosed. In some embodiments, the method may include receiving a feed stream in a fuel processing assembly of the hydrogen generation assembly; and generating a product hydrogen stream in the fuel processing assembly from the received feed stream. Generating a product hydrogen stream may, in some embodiments, include generating an output stream in a hydrogen generating region from the received feed stream, and generating the product hydrogen stream in a purification region from the output stream. The method may additionally include receiving the generated product hydrogen stream in a buffer tank of the hydrogen generation assembly; and detecting pressure in the buffer tank via a tank sensor assembly. The method may further include stopping generation of the product hydrogen stream in the fuel processing assembly when the detected pressure in the buffer tank is above a predetermined maximum pressure.

The invention relates to the design of an enclosure for a membrane aeration module, which incorporates a reversible, low-pressure, air-lift pump to encourage a vertical water flow through and between the membranes in the module. These enclosed membrane modules are suitable for use in membrane aerated biofilm reactors, which are used to treat water or wastewater.

The invention relates to a gas in/outlet-adapter system for a container/rack assembly for a diagnostic robot comprising: —a receptacle (15) comprising a gas-inlet wherein the receptacle (15) is attached to a container (12), —a nozzle (16) comprising a gas-outlet wherein the nozzle (16) is attached to a rack to supply the container (12) via the receptacle (15) with a gas at a defined pressure level, wherein the receptacle (12) —provides one opening (24) —which provides for a fluidic contact to the interior of the container (12) —and a second opening (25) —which provides for a gas leak-proof connection to the nozzle (16) on the rack when the receptacle (15) is placed over the nozzle (16), and wherein the nozzle (16) —provides one opening (26) —which provides for a fluidic contact to a tubing system of the rack—and a second opening (27) —which provides for a fluidic contact to the nozzle (16) when the receptacle (15) is placed to cover the nozzle (15).

An object of the present invention is to provide a filtration apparatus capable of achieving space-saving of the entire apparatus. A filtration apparatus according to the present invention includes a plurality of filtration modules that each include a plurality of hollow fiber membranes that are arranged adjacent to each other so as to extend in an up-down direction, a washing module configured to supply air bubbles from below the plurality of filtration modules, and a frame that supports the plurality of filtration modules. The washing module includes a plurality of aeration tubes each having a plurality of aeration holes. At least a portion of the frame is a hollow tube through which a gas is supplied to the plurality of aeration tubes.

Algae harvesting and cultivating systems and methods for producing high concentrations of algae product with minimal energy. In an embodiment, an algae harvesting method is provided for performing dead-end filtration in an algae harvesting system having at least one treatment tank defining a plurality of filtration stages including at least a first filtration stage and a second filtration stage. An algae medium is pulled through the hollow fiber membranes such that a retentate and a permeate are produced.