Upflow anaerobic dynamic membrane bioreactor (AnDMBR) for wastewater treatment at room temperature and short HRTs: Process characteristics and practical applicability

•AnDMBR was developed for real wastewater treatment at room temperature.•AnDMBR was operated at short HRTs (1–8 h) and high flux (22.5–180 L/m2·h)•At HRT > 2 h AnDMBR showed stable COD removal and biogas production.•At HRT = 1 h treatment and filtration performance of AnDMBR deteriorated.•More biomass, biopolymers, and inorganics accumulated in DM layer at lower HRT. An upflow anaerobic dynamic membrane bioreactor (AnDMBR) was set up for real domestic wastewater treatment at room temperature (20–25 °C) and short hydraulic retention time (HRT = 8 h, 4 h, 2 h, and 1 h). Following continuous operation for 93 days with stepwise decreased HRT, stable average chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal was achieved (between 77.3% and 70.6%) when HRT was reduced from 8 h to 4 h, then 2 h with flux varying from 22.5 to 90 L/m2·h. At these three HRTs, the rate of increase in trans-membrane pressure (TMP) was 0.4, 0.38, and 0.57 kPa/d, and average methane (CH4) production was 0.12, 0.10, and 0.08 L/g CODremoved, respectively. Furthermore, decreasing the HRT to 1 h resulted in less COD being removed (60.4%) and lower CH4 production (0.05 L/g CODremoved) as well as a faster rate of TMP increase (2.11 kPa/d). Various analytical methods were applied to characterize the morphology and composition of the dynamic membrane (DM) layers. Organic components analysis revealed that, with reduced HRT, there were apparent increases in soluble microbial products in the liquid phase and accumulation of tryptophan protein-like substances and aromatic protein-like substances in the DM layer, especially when the HRT was shortened to 1 h. Whilst the upflow AnDMBR proved applicable to wastewater treatment at room temperature with short HRTs, 2 h could be the HRT limit for maintaining stable operation.