Membrane Bioreactors for Industrial Wastewater Treatment: A Critical Review

Membrane bioreactor (MBR) technology has been extensively employed for various industrial wastewater treatments due to its distinct advantages over conventional technologies. To provide present state and development trends of MBR technology used for industrial wastewater treatments, the authors reviewed and analyzed more than 300 scientific publications. They present an overview of the most recent development of MBR technology for treatment of industrial wastewaters (e. g., food processing, pulp and paper, textile, tannery, landfill leachate, pharmaceutical, oily and petrochemical wastewaters). Moreover, they discuss the operational characteristics, fouling characteristics, fouling control strategies, and costs of MBRs in industrial wastewater treatments. Based on the present information on MBR technology, the authors discuss further research aspects of MBRs in industrial wastewater treatments.