Performance evaluation of a thermophilic anaerobic membrane bioreactor (TAnMBR) for palm oil wastewater treatment | |
| Author | Thet Lei Yee |
| Call Number | AIT Thesis no.EV-18-33 |
| Subject(s) | Thermophilic bacteria Wastewater--Treatment Palm oil |
| Note | A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Engineering in Environmental Engineering and Management |
| Publisher | Asian Institute of Technology |
| Series Statement | Thesis ; no. EV-18-33 |
| Abstract | The direct discharge of palm oil mill effluent (POME) wastewater has a serious threat to the environment for its high concentration of chemical oxygen demand (COD), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) and oil content. Conventional methods of POME treatment have both economic and environmental drawbacks. In this study, a thermophilic anaerobic membrane bioreactor (TAnMBR) with PTFE thermos - resistant membrane was used as an alternative, cost - effective method for treating POME meanwhile finding the possibility to recover the oil content from the wastewater. As a first objective of this study, performances of TAnMBR for treating POME was evaluated. After seed sludge acclimatization, system was operated in three loading rates, which are 2, 3 and 4 kg COD/m 3 .d. Raw palm oil wastewater was used as the feed. Same feed concentration, 60 kg COD/m 3 was used for all loading rates. The feed flow rate was increased to increase the loading rate. MF membrane with nominal pore size of 0.1 μm was used in external submerged mode. Filtration was maintained in intermitted with time interval of 8 min ON - 8hr OFF. The reactor was operated at around 11.58 g/L to 19.39 g/L of MLVSS concentration. Biogas productivity and methane yield was increased with the increased organic loading rate. Highest biogas productivity was nearly 3 times the reactor volume. Methane content was over 60% in all loading rate and 66% in the highest loading rate. The highest methane yield was 0.46 m 3 CH 4 /g COD r achieved in the highest loading rate. Moreover, the reactor achieved 92 - 98% of COD removal efficiency and 96 - 99% of BOD removal efficiency. In addition, as using MF membrane, the reactor achieved almost 100% removal efficiency in term of TSS. Membrane fouling was one of the limiting factors in membrane application. Membrane fouling in this study was mainly due to organic fouling which contributed 93% of the membrane fouling. In the second objective of this study, the efficacy of PTFE hollow fiber membranes of two different pore size, viz., 0.1 μm and 0.08 μm for oil recovery from palm oil wastewater was studied. For each membrane, oil recovery efficiency was evaluated and compared in terms of oil and grease concentration and membrane fouling tendency. Air scouring was conducted to minimize membrane fouling. It was found that membrane started fouling after running 82 h for 0.1 μm pore sized membrane whereas 0.08 μm membrane for only 50 h. running period. In terms of oil concentrating efficiency, both membrane could concentrate oil in palm oil wastewater. However, 0.08 μm membrane can concentrate more effectively than 0.1 μm membrane. Same as TAnMBR, The predominant foulant in this study was organic fouling |
| Year | 2018 |
| Corresponding Series Added Entry | Asian Institute of Technology. Thesis ; no. EV-18-33 |
| Type | Thesis |
| School | School of Environment, Resources, and Development (SERD) |
| Department | Department of Energy and Climate Change (Former title: Department of Energy, Environment, and Climate Change (DEECC)) |
| Academic Program/FoS | Environmental Engineering and Management (EV) |
| Chairperson(s) | Visvanathan, Chettiyappan; |
| Examination Committee(s) | Annachahatre, Ajit P.;Loc Thai Nguyen; |
| Scholarship Donor(s) | Deutscher Akademischer Austausch Dienst (DAAD);AIT Fellowship; |
| Degree | Thesis (M. Sc.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 2018 |