Self-forming dynamic membrane bioreactor for textile industry wastewater treatment

The robustness of anaerobic dynamic membrane bioreactor (AnDMBR) for synthetic textile wastewater treatment was investigated. Textile wastewatermay contain high concentrations of NaCl and sulfate, hence their impact on the AnDMBR performancewas investigated in detail. A dynamic membrane was formed on a 20-mu m pore sized nylon support layer at a constant flux of around 8 LMH. In the absence of sulfate addition, total and filtered (soluble) COD averaged 96 +/- 49 mg/L (91% removal) and 75 +/- 35 mg/L (93% removal), respectively. Sulfate addition increased total CODin the permeate to 222 +/- 68 mg/L (79% removal). Average SS concentrationwas lower than 30 mg/L in the permeate although its concentration in the bioreactor reached 10 g/L. Throughout the AnDMBR operation dye removal averaged >97%. Sludge filterability, which was assessed by specific resistance to filtration, supernatant filtration, capillary suction time and viscosity, decreased after sulfate addition. Organic and inorganic matters in the dynamic layer were characterized by SEM-EDS and FTIR analyses. (C) 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

The study investigated the robustness of AnDMBR for synthetic textile wastewater treatment, finding that in the absence of sulfate addition, the removal rate of total COD and filtered COD was 91% and 93% respectively, but decreased to 79% after sulfate addition. The suspended solids concentration in textile wastewater was low, while the dye removal rate was high.