Removal of pharmaceutical compounds in membrane bioreactors (MBR) applying submerged membranes

Fate and Removal of Pharmaceuticals and Illegal Drugs Present in Drinking Water and Wastewater

“…Photolysis can remove naproxene by 99-100% [22]. Application of membrane bioreactors allows the removal of naproxene from wastewater by 86% [23].…”

“…Adsorption on activated sludge allows the removal of ketoprofen in the range of 65-77% [7,19]. However, the most efficient method for removal of ketoprofen is membrane filtration that eliminates 98% of this pharmaceutical [23].…”

“…above 90%) through chlorination, adsorption on activated carbons and ozonation. Paracetamol is considered to be one of the most efficiently removed pharmaceuticals in the process of wastewater treatment [23]. Acetylsalicylic acid in removed through biodegradation in 80-98% [19].…”

Trace organic contaminants in biosolids: Impact of conventional wastewater and sludge processing technologies and emerging alternatives

“…Clara et al [12] reported that SRT>10 days is sufficient to degrade most TrOCs and achieve low effluent TrOC concentrations, although recalcitrant compounds such as carbamazepine are unaffected by operation conditions. Tambosi et al [80] observed that the biodegradation of TrOCs increased when the SRT of an MBR was increased from 20 to 30 days.…”

“…Mcnamara [149] reported that thermal hydrolysis of raw sludge at 150°C and 5.1 bar for 2 hours deteriorated the biodegradation of nonylphenol ethoxylates in a laboratory-scale mesophilic anaerobic digester, probably due to an increase in volatile fatty acids that inhibited nonylphenol ethoxylate-degrading microorganisms or competed with nonylphenol ethoxylates as substrate [149]. Hamid and Eskicioglu [123] showed that the treatment of dewatered sludge cake in a microwave reactor operating at constant wavelength of 2.45 GHz, 1200 W, and 35 bars and varying temperature (80,120, and 160°C) decreased the total concentration of 16 hormones by up to 69% due to auto-oxidation and/or denaturation of the compounds under extreme conditions. Moreover, microwave pre-treatment of sludge at 80,120 or 160°C increased the hormone removal of an aerobic digester by 42, 52, and 78%, respectively.…”