Membrane bioreactors and electrochemical processes for treatment of wastewaters containing heavy metal ions, organics, micropollutants and dyes: Recent developments

Adewale Giwa; Abdallah Dindi; Joanna Kujawa

doi:10.1016/j.jhazmat.2018.06.025

Membrane bioreactors and electrochemical processes for treatment of wastewaters containing heavy metal ions, organics, micropollutants and dyes: Recent developments

J Hazard Mater. 2019 May 15:370:172-195. doi: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2018.06.025. Epub 2018 Jun 12.

Authors

Adewale Giwa¹, Abdallah Dindi², Joanna Kujawa³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Chemical Engineering, Khalifa University of Science and Technology, Masdar City campus, P.O. Box 54224, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Electronic address: agiwa@masdar.ac.ae.
² Department of Chemical Engineering, Khalifa University of Science and Technology, Masdar City campus, P.O. Box 54224, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
³ Faculty of Chemistry, Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, 7, Gagarina Street, 87-100 Torun, Poland.

PMID: 29958700
DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2018.06.025

Abstract

Research and development activities on standalone systems of membrane bioreactors and electrochemical reactors for wastewater treatment have been intensified recently. However, several challenges are still being faced during the operation of these reactors. The current challenges associated with the operation of standalone MBR and electrochemical reactors include: membrane fouling in MBR, set-backs from operational errors and conditions, energy consumption in electrochemical systems, high cost requirement, and the need for simplified models. The advantage of this review is to present the most critical challenges and opportunities. These challenges have necessitated the design of MBR derivatives such as anaerobic MBR (AnMBR), osmotic MBR (OMBR), biofilm MBR (BF-MBR), membrane aerated biofilm reactor (MABR), and magnetically-enhanced systems. Likewise, electrochemical reactors with different configurations such as parallel, cylindrical, rotating impeller-electrode, packed bed, and moving particle configurations have emerged. One of the most effective approaches towards reducing energy consumption and membrane fouling rate is the integration of MBR with low-voltage electrochemical processes in an electrically-enhanced membrane bioreactor (eMBR). Meanwhile, research on eMBR modeling and sludge reuse is limited. Future trends should focus on novel/fresh concepts such as electrically-enhanced AnMBRs, electrically-enhanced OMBRs, and coupled systems with microbial fuel cells to further improve energy efficiency and effluent quality.

Keywords: Electrically-enhanced membrane bioreactor; Electrochemical processes; Energy consumption; Membrane bioreactor; Membrane fouling.