Dynamic anaerobic membrane bioreactor coupled with sulfate reduction (SrDMBR) for saline wastewater treatment

Muhammad Ahmar Siddiqui; Basanta Kumar Biswal; Philippe M Heynderickx; Jeonghwan Kim; Samir Kumar Khanal; Guanghao Chen; Di Wu

doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2021.126447

Dynamic anaerobic membrane bioreactor coupled with sulfate reduction (SrDMBR) for saline wastewater treatment

Bioresour Technol. 2022 Feb:346:126447. doi: 10.1016/j.biortech.2021.126447. Epub 2021 Nov 30.

Authors

Muhammad Ahmar Siddiqui¹, Basanta Kumar Biswal¹, Philippe M Heynderickx², Jeonghwan Kim³, Samir Kumar Khanal⁴, Guanghao Chen¹, Di Wu⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Water Technology Centre, Hong Kong Branch of Chinese National Engineering Research Centre for Control & Treatment of Heavy Metal Pollution, The Hong Kong University of Science & Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China.
² Centre for Environmental and Energy Research (CEER), Ghent University Global Campus, Incheon, South Korea; Department of Green Chemistry and Technology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.
³ Department of Environmental Engineering, Program of Environmental and Polymer Engineering, Inha University, Michuhologu, Inharo 100, Incheon, South Korea.
⁴ Department of Molecular Biosciences and Bioengineering, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa, Honolulu, HI 96882, USA.
⁵ Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Water Technology Centre, Hong Kong Branch of Chinese National Engineering Research Centre for Control & Treatment of Heavy Metal Pollution, The Hong Kong University of Science & Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China; Centre for Environmental and Energy Research (CEER), Ghent University Global Campus, Incheon, South Korea; Department of Green Chemistry and Technology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium. Electronic address: di.wu@ghent.ac.kr.

PMID: 34861386
DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2021.126447

Abstract

This study investigated organic removal performance, characteristics of the membrane dynamics, membrane fouling and the effects of biological sulfate reduction during high-salinity (1.0%) and high-sulfate (150 mgSO₄^2--S/L) wastewater treatment using a laboratory-scale upflow anaerobic sludge bed reactor integrated with cross-flow dynamic membrane modules. Throughout the operational period, dynamic membrane was formed rapidly (within 5-10 min) following each backwashing cycle (21-16 days), and the permeate turbidity of <5-7 NTU was achieved with relatively high specific organic conversion (70-100 gTOC/kgVSS·d) and specific sulfate reduction (50-70 gSO₄^2--S/kgVSS·d) rates. The sulfide from sulfate reduction can be reused for downstream autotrophic denitrification. 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing revealed that the microbial communities enriched in the sludge were different than those accumulated on the dynamic layer. Overall, this study demonstrates that the anaerobic dynamic membrane bioreactor coupled with sulfate reduction (SrDMBR) shows promising applicability in saline wastewater treatment.

Keywords: Anaerobic membrane bioreactor; Dynamic membrane Saline wastewater; Fouling control; Sulfate reduction.

MeSH terms

Anaerobiosis
Bioreactors
RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / genetics
Sewage
Sulfates
Waste Disposal, Fluid*
Wastewater
Water Purification*

Substances

RNA, Ribosomal, 16S
Sewage
Sulfates
Waste Water