Membranes can be used as alternative for post-treatment of upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactors. However, mainly for anaerobic effluent, fouling is still a challenge and major drawback can be minimized by coagulant addition before membrane filtration. In this work, three concentrations of aluminum sulfate (20, 150, and 950 mg L⁻¹) were applied in UASB effluent to evaluate pollutant removal and fouling mitigation potential in two steps: coagulation/flocculation and crossflow filtration with ultrafiltration membrane. All coagulant dosages removed foulants (e.g. carbohydrates and proteins) before filtration and supernatants showed lower flux decrease in relation to UASB effluent, with an enhancement in reversible fouling fraction in comparison with total fouling resistance. Scanning Electron Microscopy and Energy Dispersive X-Ray Spectroscopy (SEM-EDX) analyses showed efficient coagulation and precipitation resulting in less residual aluminum in membrane surface for 950 mg L⁻¹ coagulant dosage. All coagulants concentrations altered the cake layer, assisting crossflow filtration. Coagulation of UASB effluent before membrane filtration indicate an interesting alternative for post-treatment of anaerobic effluent.

膜可替代用于上流厌氧污泥层（UASB）反应器的后处理。但是，主要是对于厌氧废水，结垢仍然是一个挑战，通过在膜过滤之前添加混凝剂可以最大程度地减少主要缺点。在这项工作中，三种浓度的硫酸铝（20、150和950 mg L ^-1）应用于UASB废水中，以两个步骤评估污染物的去除和结垢缓解潜力：凝结/絮凝和采用超滤膜的错流过滤。在过滤之前，所有凝结剂剂量都去除了污垢（例如碳水化合物和蛋白质），并且相对于UASB流出液，上清液的通量下降较小，与总的抗污垢性相比，可逆污垢分数有所提高。扫描电子显微镜和能量色散X射线光谱（SEM-EDX）分析显示有效的凝结和沉淀作用，对于950 mg L ^-1的膜表面残留铝较少凝结剂用量。所有凝结剂浓度都会改变滤饼层，从而有助于错流过滤。膜过滤前UASB废水的混凝表明厌氧废水的后处理有一个有趣的替代方法。