In the application of polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) membrane bioreactor in a large scale of biogas production, the membrane layer can be inserted in the middle of the reactor that separates between acid-forming and methane-forming process. In the application of continuous reactor using the substrate that has hydrophobic toxic compounds, hydrophobic substrate theoretically cannot diffuse through the membrane layer. Therefore, the toxic compounds in the substrate will be accumulated outside the membrane layer (acid-forming process), which can inhibit hydrolysis process of the substrate.
I suggest that you use a scrubbing process (say with water) to remove the toxic chemicals prior to entering the membrane separation process. Alternatively, you could use adsorption process on charcoal prior to entering the membrane separation unit.
I teach this same subject in my core chemical engineering course on Separation and Purification at Yale University.
Hope this helps answer your question.
Professor Yehia Khalil
Yale University
USA
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