Textile wastewater treatment in an anaerobic/aerobic membrane bioreactor and by post-ozonization

Abstract

This study evaluates the performance of biological-physical and chemical treatment process of raw textile wastewater. The physico-biological process consisted of biological anaerobic/aerobic treatment followed by ultrafiltration (i.e. a membrane bioreactor (MBR) process). The chemical process consisted of ozone oxidation. Experiments were conducted using pilot-scale reactors fed with real textile wastewater. The long-term performances of pilot membrane bioreactor (side-stream) were observed whilst real wastewater containing mostly acid dyes was continuously being fed. The performance and operation of the MBR were evaluated in terms of permeate characteristics and variability (COD, colour, total N, NO<, NH4+). Additionally, the decolourization processes by ozonation was monitored using UV-Visible spectrophotometry.