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Performance evaluation of ceramic membrane bioreactor: effect of operational parameters on micropollutant removal and membrane fouling

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Abstract

This paper presents the removal of nine potential endocrine disruptors including pesticides, pharmaceuticals and industrial chemicals using a submerged membrane bioreactor (MBR) system. Two lab-scale submerged MBRs having ceramic membranes were operated at three different sludge retention times (SRT: 15, 45, 90 days) and two hydraulic retention times (HRT: 12, 6 h) and the effects of SRT and HRT on both micropollutant removal and membrane fouling were investigated. While the effect of SRT and HRT change was observed on the removal of atrazine, fluoxetine, penconazole, no significant change was detected for the other micropollutants studied. It was determined that physicochemical properties such as distribution coefficient (LogD) and hydrophobicity of micropollutants are also effective on the removal efficiency of micropollutants. High removal efficiencies (\(\ge\) 97.5%) were observed for hydrophobic pollutants (logD > 3.2) except for penconazole (72.1%) and for hydrophilic pollutants (logD < 3.2) except for atrazine (42.5%). Membrane fouling was significantly affected by different operational parameters applied, with the slowest fouling occurring at 45 days of SRT and 12 h of HRT. However, micropollutant addition did not have a significant effect on membrane fouling. It has been shown that the simultaneous and effective treatment performance for micropollutants makes the membrane bioreactor system a promising wastewater treatment process.

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taken from test reactor (Rt) at different SRTs and HRTs. b Particle size distribution of activated sludge taken from control reactor (Rc) at different SRTs and HRTs

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The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Funding

The authors would like to acknowledge the Office of Scientific Research Projects Coordination of Yildiz Technical University for supporting this study through the project no. FBA-2019–3486.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Environmental Engineering Department, Civil Engineering Faculty, Yildiz Technical University, 34220, Istanbul, Turkey

    Abdulkadir Caglak & Guleda Onkal Engin

  2. Department of Chemistry, Yildiz Technical University, 34220, Istanbul, Turkey

    Dotse Selali Chormey & Sezgin Bakirdere

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  1. Abdulkadir Caglak
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  2. Dotse Selali Chormey
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  3. Sezgin Bakirdere
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  4. Guleda Onkal Engin
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All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by [AC] and [DSC]. Data evaluation was carried out by [SB] and [GOE]. The first draft of the manuscript was written by [AC]. Manuscript revision and editing were performed by [GOE]. All authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Guleda Onkal Engin.

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Caglak, A., Chormey, D.S., Bakirdere, S. et al. Performance evaluation of ceramic membrane bioreactor: effect of operational parameters on micropollutant removal and membrane fouling. Environ Sci Pollut Res 29, 68306–68319 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-20612-4

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