Excellent performance of anaerobic membrane bioreactor in treatment of distillery wastewater at pilot scale

A pilot-scale anaerobic membrane bioreactor (AnMBR) was designed and optimized for the treatment of real distillery wastewater. A low hydraulic retention time of 3.5 days was reached after only 3 weeks. The AnMBR could treat up to 3.97 g(COD)/L/day with high biogas production at 1.36 NLbiogas/L-bioreactor/day. The performances of an AnMBR and an anaerobic packed-bed bioreactor for treating the same wastewater were compared. The AnMBR had a shorter start-up period (21 days), a higher COD removal efficiency (96.9 %), and higher stability and methane production (0.26 L-CH4/g(CODinput)), indicating the interest of investigating AnMBR industrialization. The membrane performance was also studied, demonstrating a long cleaning cycle interval of at least 44 days. The transmembrane pressure and Food-to-Microorganism ratio were defined to minimize membrane fouling without affecting the anaerobic digestion performance.

Automated summary

A highly efficient AnMBR was designed to treat distillery wastewater, which had a shorter start-up period, higher COD removal efficiency, higher methane production, and longer cleaning cycle compared to anaerobic packed-bed bioreactor, showing potential for industrialization. Performance of the membrane was also studied to minimize fouling without affecting anaerobic digestion.