Submerged Membrane Bioreactor for Vegetable Oil Wastewater Treatment

• Published in: Chemical engineering & technology Vol. 38; no. 1; pp. 101 - 109
• Main Authors: Ma, Zhun, Lei, Ting, Ji, Xiaosheng, Gao, Xueli, Gao, Congjie
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Weinheim WILEY-VCH Verlag 01.01.2015; WILEY‐VCH Verlag
• Subjects: Bioreactors; Foulants; Fouling; Membrane bioreactor; Membrane fouling; Membranes; Pollutants; Sludge; Submerged; Vegetable oil wastewater; Vegetables; Waste water
• ISSN: 0930-7516; 1521-4125
• DOI: 10.1002/ceat.201400184

A bench‐scale submerged membrane bioreactor (SMBR) was employed to treat vegetable oil plant wastewater with complete sludge retention. Treatment performance and membrane fouling of the SMBR were investigated. The system stably removed high amounts of total organic carbon, oil, and ammonia from vegetable oil wastewater and reduced the chemical oxygen demand, demonstrating the great potential of the SMBR in removing pollutants. The membrane fouling layer was not only governed by deposition of organic substances composed of extracellular polymeric substances like proteins, polysaccharides etc., and oil substances but also by inorganic elements. Organic foulants coupled to inorganic precipitation enhanced the formation of a gel layer and triggered severe membrane fouling in the SMBR. Treatment and disposal of vegetable oil wastewaters (VOWs) is one of the principal problems for vegetable oil producing countries. A bench‐scale submerged membrane bioreactor was applied to treat VOWs with complete sludge retention. Treatment performance and membrane fouling were investigated. The experimental results demonstrated the great potential of this membrane bioreactor in removing pollutants.