Concentrating biomass in flow from bio-reactor using filter membrane - with 0.1-10 micron pores to pass dissolved matter detrimental to reaction before returning to reactor with 0.5-8 hours reactor dwelling time

摘要

The method is intended for concentrating biomass in the process flow (3) from a bio-reactor (2) by passing this flow along a filter membrane (8) and returning (10,12) the concentrate to the reactor. The filter membrane pores are such that the organic and/or inorganic matter dissolved in the flow are passed and the biomass is held back whilst the dwelling time in the reactor is 30 mins. - 8 hrs. pref. 1-4 hrs. The flow pref. passes through the concentrate chamber (6) of the filter unit (5) under a pressure of 1-7 at.gauge at a rate of 2-4 m/sec. The membrane pore size is pref. 0.1-10 micron. The reactor may be anaerobic or aerobic.