Development of a Submerged Membrane Bioreactor simulator: a useful tool for teaching its functioning

Yusmel González Hernández (1) , Ulises Javier Jáuregui Haza (1) , Claire Albasi (2) , Marion Alliet (2)

1 Instituto Superior de Tecnologias y Ciencias Aplicadas - InSTEC (CUBA)
2 LGC - Laboratoire de Génie Chimique

Among the technologies used to treat wastewater, the Submerged Membrane Bioreactor (SMBR) has excellent prospects because of the possibility it provides for water reuse. In this work, an SMBR computer simulator is developed. A mathematical model was implemented, which integrated the biological degradation process using activated sludges with the physical separation process using membranes. The simulator functioning was validated with experimental results and its use in teaching was evaluated through the development of a simulated laboratory running for three and a half hours. This gave access to trends and orders of magnitude that would take more than fifteen months to obtain with real experiments. It was successfully used and accepted by the students.

Mots clés: Improving classroom teaching; Interactive learning environments; Simulations; Submerged Membrane Bioreactor

Domaines: Génie chimique; Génie des procédés

Yusmel González Hernández, Ulises Javier Jáuregui Haza, Claire Albasi, Marion Alliet. Development of a Submerged Membrane Bioreactor simulator: a useful tool for teaching its functioning. Education for Chemical Engineers, 2014, vol. 9, pp. e32-e41. ⟨10.1016/j.ece.2014.03.001⟩. ⟨hal-01069368⟩