Partial Ranking of Membrane Bio-Reactors for Recommendation Systems in Wastewater Treatment

The research compares four types of different designs of membrane bioreactors: A) with 295 mm draft tube and without plastic carriers; B) plastic carriers and 295 mm draft tube; C) plastic carriers and 235 mm draft tube with two meshes around the bottom and top of a draft tube; D) plastic carriers without a draft tube. The feed for the reactors was artificial wastewater made from domestic wastewater and chicken manure, and membrane test data were based on a hollow fiber membrane module under ambient desert conditions. Process operation type D is the optimal choice. Mathematical analysis using total ranking methods, multi-indicator decision making, and Hasse diagram support this choice. Concerning analysis by the different tools, inconsistencies between the rankings are noticed. Partial order ranking, as a method without any pre-assumptions concerning the possible relation between the single parameters, proves to be an elegant ranking method.