Evaluation of Carbonaceous Organic Matter and Nitrogen Removal of ­Wastewater in Membrane Bioreactor

This study aimed to evaluate the carbonaceous organic matter and nitrogen removal as well as the determination of critical flux in membrane bioreactor (MBR), with pre-anoxic zone, treating industrial wastewater of amino acids production. The reactor was operated under organic loading rate of 1.91 kg DQO/m³ · day and 0.18 kg NTK/m³ · day, the recirculation from aerobic reactor to anoxic reactor was 4 times the influent flow rate. The system showed an average removal of COD, TKN and TN of 97 %, 98 % and 92 %, respectively. The ultrafiltration system was tested at various fluxes between 25 and 37 L/m²·h, to determine the critical flux of 28 L/m²·h operating at 11.4 g/L of TSS and 35 days of sludge retention time. The results showed the technical feasibility of using MBR to remove organic matter from industrial wastewater of amino acids production.