Performance analysis of a pilot-scale membrane aerated biofilm reactor for the treatment of landfill leachate

Abstract

Please cite this article as: E. Syron, M.J. Semmens, E. Casey, Performance analysis of a pilot-scale membrane aerated biofilm reactor for the treatment of landfill leachate, Chemical Engineering Journal (2015), doi: http://dx. AbstractA 60 litre membrane aerated biofilm reactor (MABR) was successfully employed to treat landfill leachate, which contained very high concentrations of refractory Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) and ammonium. Air or pure oxygen was supplied to the bioreactor through polydimethyl siloxane hollow fibre membranes. Over a year of operation with an average hydraulic retention time of about 5 days, and influent ammonium concentrations ranging from 500 -2500 mg/L, the MABR achieved 80 -99% nitrification. Simultaneously, the influent COD concentrations which ranged from 1000 to 3000 mg/L were reduced by approximately 200-500 mg/L. Oxygen transfer rates as high as 35 g O 2 /m 2 -day were achieved during the study. By operating at low gas flowrates, high oxygen transfer efficiencies were achieved without any negative impact on oxygen transfer rates. This suggested that the biofilm was not oxygen limited during this study. The very low gas flowrates and the low pressure losses required to move air through the membranes resulted in very high standard aeration efficiencies that exceeded 10 kg O 2 /kWh. The results indicate that mixing energy far exceeded that required for aeration in this study. Our results suggest that with process optimization, MABR technology offers a low energy option for effective leachate treatment.

Novel and Conventional Technologies for Landfill Leachates Treatment: A Review

“…MABR for landfill leachate treatment can achieve 80%-99% of nitrification with oxygen transfer rates as high as 35 g O 2 /m 2 -day [73]. When the influent COD/N rate is 5 or higher, the COD, ammonium and total nitrogen removal efficiencies reach 83.7%, 93.1% and 84.6%, respectively [74].…”

A review on the advances in nitrifying biofilm reactors and their removal rates in wastewater treatment

“…Li et al demonstrated that increasing aeration pressure from 0.005 to 0.03 MPa, led to an increase in the COD:N ratio from 4 to 7 . Similarly, Syron et al observed that when oxygen pressure was increased from 0.015 to 0.02 MPa, complete oxidation to nitrate occurred and the oxygen transfer efficiency was increased from 20% to 80% …”

“…However, MABRs can outperform conventional treatment in terms of energy efficiency and pollutant removal rate due to high oxygen transfer efficiencies and smaller aeration equipment. Operating an MABR with pure oxygen requires up to five times less membrane area compared to operating with air which provides savings in capital investment . Also, Lin et al .…”

Study of Biological Methods in Landfill Leachate Treatment

“…During an investigation, membrane bioreactor system with aeration rate of 35 g O 2 /m 2 /day resulted in 80-83% reduction of COD with initial concentration of 1000 -3000 mg/L [26]. In another study, membrane bioreactor with organic rate of 1.2 g COD/L/day and SRT of 80 days leads to COD and ammonia removal to 63% and 98% with initial concentration of 1550 and 288 mg/L, respectively.…”

“…Partial of 80% removal of nitrogen in aerated Lagoon was done by ammonia evapora- Moving-bed biofilm reactor (MBBR) 800 -2000 20 [24] 7500 -7900 8 [25] Membrane bioreactor (MBR) 1000 -3000 80 -83 [26] 1550 63 [20] 14,000 80 [27] aerobic sequencing batch reactor (ASBR) 4000 87 [21] 3200 30 [28] Aerated lagoons 1740 75 [22] 5518 97 [29] tion [22]. In another study, the use of this method in leachate treatment led to the removal of 97% COD and 92% ammonia nitrogen [29].…”