MEMBRANE BIOLOGICAL REACTOR SYSTEM FOR TREATMENT OF OILY WASTEWATERS

The membrane biological reactor (MBR) system consists of a suspended-g rowth biological reactor combined with a membrane ultrafiltration unit process. It is particularly attractive in situations where long solid s retention times are required, and physical retention and subsequent hydrolysis are critical to achieving biological degradation of polluta nts. In order to develop full scale process design information, a larg e pilot system was operated for eleven months. The pilot project invol ved assessing performance and developing design information for the sy stem in the treatment of wastewater from two General Motors (GM) facil ities. The pilot system results provided a basis for design of a full scale, demonstration MBR system for treatment of industrial wastewater . Case history information is presented in this paper on the design of the MBR system and subsequent operation and performance. Despite cert ain design issues, the system has met or exceeded performance expectat ions.