Membrane photobioreactor (MPBR) technology is an emerging algae-based wastewater treatment system. Given the limitations due to the general use of conventional analytical approaches in previous research, this study aims to provide a more comprehensive assessment of MPBR performance through advanced characterisation techniques. New performance parameters are also proposed, encompassing five important aspects of MPBR system efficiency (i.e. biomass concentration, composition, production, nutrient uptake and harvesting potential). Under initial standard operating conditions, performance parameters, such as cell count/MLSS ratio, cell viability, proportion of bacteria and biomass yield coefficient, were found to offer new insights into the operation of MPBR. These parameters were then used, for the first time, to systematically investigate MPBRs operated under different hydraulic retention times (HRTs) and solids retention times (SRTs). Applying shorter HRT and SRT was observed to increase cell viability and productivity (up to 0.25 × 10⁷ cells/mL·d), as anticipated due to the higher nutrient loading. It was noted that the faster growing algal cells featured lower requirement for nutrients. On the other hand, extending HRT and SRT resulted in a more heterogeneous culture (lower cell count/MLSS ratio and higher proportion of bacteria), achieving a higher degree of autoflocculation and greater NO₃-N and PO₄-P removals of up to 79% and 78% respectively. The results demonstrate the trade-off between applying different HRTs and SRTs and the importance of fully characterising system performance to critically assess the advantages and limitations of chosen operating conditions.

膜光生物反应器（MPBR）技术是一种新兴的基于藻类的废水处理系统。鉴于先前研究中常规分析方法的普遍使用所带来的局限性，本研究旨在通过先进的表征技术对MPBR性能进行更全面的评估。还提出了新的性能参数，涵盖了MPBR系统效率的五个重要方面（即生物质浓度，组成，产量，养分吸收和收获潜力）。在初始标准操作条件下，发现性能参数，例如细胞计数/ MLSS比，细胞生存力，细菌比例和生物量产量系数，为MPBR的操作提供了新的见识。然后，首次使用这些参数，以系统地研究在不同的水力停留时间（HRT）和固体停留时间（SRT）下运行的MPBR。观察到使用较短的HRT和SRT可提高细胞活力和生产力（最高0.25×10⁷ 细胞/ mL·d），这是由于较高的营养负荷所预期的。值得注意的是，生长较快的藻细胞对营养的需求较低。另一方面，延长HRT和SRT会导致培养的异质性更高（细胞计数/ MLSS比值降低和细菌比例更高），实现更高的自絮凝程度以及更大的NO ₃ -N和PO ₄ -P去除率分别为79％和78％。结果表明了在应用不同的HRT和SRT之间的权衡，以及充分表征系统性能以严格评估所选工作条件的优势和局限性的重要性。