Integration of Membrane Bioreactor and Reverse Osmosis for Textile Wastewater Treatment and Reclamation: A Pilot-Scale Study

Po-Hsun Lin; Pin-Hui Lee; Emily K. Kin

doi:10.46604/peti.2023.5273

Authors

Po-Hsun Lin Graduate Institute of Environmental Engineering, National Central University, Taoyuan, Taiwan
Pin-Hui Lee EClean-Tech Enterprise Co., Ltd, Taoyuan, Taiwan
Emily K. Kin Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.46604/peti.2023.5273

Keywords:

membrane bioreactor, textile wastewater, reverse osmosis, transmembrane pressure

Abstract

Membrane bioreactor (MBR) technology, a combination of traditional activated sludge and membrane filtration, has been widely used for industrial wastewater treatment and reclamation. This paper highlights a pilot-scale MBR system treating textile wastewater from a textile factory in Taiwan. Over 7 months of continuous operation, the average MBR influent chemical oxygen demand (COD) is 332 mg/L, and the average effluent COD is 38 mg/L, which results in approximately 88% COD removal. A reverse osmosis (RO) module is installed after 2 months of MBR operation and uses the MBR permeate as its influent. The RO produces pure water with average COD, conductivity, and color of 7 mg/L, 16 μS/cm, and 7 Pt-Co, respectively. The RO permeate is suitable for reuse in manufacturing processes, and the RO membrane shows stable performance with TMP, which is less than or equal to 0.5 kg/cm² during the test. The study demonstrates the great feasibility of MBR combined with RO for treating and reclaiming textile wastewater.

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