Performance of an integrated fixed bed membrane bioreactor (FBMBR) applied to pollutant removal from paper-recycling wastewater

Abstract

Recently, new technologies regarding water and wastewater treatment have been developed and among these processes, the fixed bed biofilm reactor combined with membrane bioreactor is the recent alternative solution to conventional technologies. In this research, an integrated fixed bed membrane bioreactor (FBMBR) with a hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 36 h was developed to remove pollutants from real paper-recycling wastewater. The removal efficiencies of chemical oxygen demand (COD), ammonium, nitrite, nitrate and total nitrogen (TN) for permeate and supernatant were in the range of 92–99%, 59–97%, 78–97%, 59–98% and 68–92%, respectively. In addition, the membrane fouling was evaluated by transmembrane pressure (TMP) monitoring during experimental period at a constant flux of 12 l m−2.h−1, and the TMP increasing rate was 2 mbar/day. The results as a whole indicated that the FBMBR can be applied effectively to removal of pollutants from real paper-recycling wastewater. Keywords: Fixed bed membrane bioreactor (FBMBR), Membrane fouling, Transmembrane pressure (TMP)