Pilot Study on Treatment of Wastewater from an Ethylene Plant with Membrane Bioreactor Technology

Abstract

Pilot studies were conducted with an anoxic/aerobic concept membrane bioreactor (MBR) technology and a hollow fiber Petro ® MBR system with capacity of 12 m 3 /d was operated continuously (24-hour) during the study. Trials on different membrane fluxes were conducted to obtain the sustainable flux while mixed liquor suspended solid (MLSS) was maintained at 9-11 g/L. The results of the MBR pilot trials showed that no obvious fouling of the membrane was found when the plant was operated at the flux of 12 L /m 2 /h (LMH) over 3 months and 15 LMH over one month during the pilot study. Design guidelines such as hydraulic retention time (HRT), sludge retention time (SRT), anoxic and aeration volume ratio, re-circulation flow rate and air scouring were obtained for a full-scale plant. It was concluded that treatment of wastewater from an ethylene plant without addition of any chemicals using MBR technology is feasible. The product quality consistently met the requirement for discharge and was suitable for the feed of further reverse osmosis (RO) post-treatment.

Comprehensive Review on Waste Water Treatment Technologies with Special Emphasize on Biological Treatments

“…This technology uses a combination of the membrane with biologically activated sludge, microfiltration, ultrafiltration and biological reactions to clear the urban and industrial wastewater. The porous membrane has pores with a diameter of 0.02 to 0.4 μm which can isolate treated water and microorganisms 38 . Anaerobic degradation is carried out in the absence of oxygen.…”

“…Bulk drug manufacturers, oil refineries and resin forming industries mainly released phonic compounds in the water , 34,35 . Other compounds like aniline, naphthalene acid, olefins, nitrobenzene, alkanes, hydrocarbons, sulfides and chloroalkanes produced in the petrochemical industries also spoil water quality [36][37][38] . The major problem with this kind of water is the biological decomposition of petrochemical wastes, as the majority of these compounds are very complex and highly stable.…”

“…are required which need additional cost. Based on many previous studies, it was found that for each type of wastewater treatment, specialized plants should be prepared for optimum removal of contaminants 7,8,38 .…”