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, with pre-anoxic zone, treating industrial wastewater of amino acids production. The reactor was operated under organic loading rate of 1.91 kgDQO.m(-3).day(-1) and 0.18 kgNTK.m(-3).day(-1), the recirculation from aerobic reactor to anoxic reactor was four 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.m(-2).h(-1), to determine the critical flux of 28 L.m(-2).h(-1) operating at 11.4 g.L-1 of TSS and 35 days of sludge retention time. The results showed the technical feasibility of using membrane bioreactor to remove organic matter from industrial wastewater of amino acids production.