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The biological treatment of high salinity synthetic oilfield produced water in a submerged membrane bioreactor using a halophilic bacterial consortium
Author(s) -
Sharghi Elham Abdollahzadeh,
Bonakdarpour Babak,
Roustazade Pegah,
Amoozegar Mohammad A.,
Rabbani Ahamad R.
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
journal of chemical technology and biotechnology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.64
H-Index - 117
eISSN - 1097-4660
pISSN - 0268-2575
DOI - 10.1002/jctb.4061
Subject(s) - salinity , effluent , hydraulic retention time , chemical oxygen demand , membrane bioreactor , pulp and paper industry , wastewater , produced water , turbidity , bioreactor , chemistry , membrane fouling , environmental science , sewage treatment , environmental engineering , fouling , membrane , biology , ecology , biochemistry , organic chemistry , engineering
Background Produced water ( PW ) is the most important wastewater of the oil industry and if disposed of without adequate treatment can cause serious environmental pollution. Biological treatment is one option explored in recent years for treatment of PW but traditional biological processes potentially fail when the salinity level of the PW is high. In the present study, a halophilic bacterial consortium was employed for treatment of high salinity synthetic PW in a membrane bioreactor ( MBR ) . Results During the 112 days operation of the MBR at hydraulic retention time ( HRT ) and sludge retention time ( SRT ) of 48 h and 80 days respectively, there was a consistently low turbidity in the MBR effluent. Oil and grease (O&G) content of the effluent was also consistently below international limits for discharge to the sea or re‐injection to oil wells. With increase in organic loading rate from 0.3 to 0.9 kg COD m −3 d −1 , O&G removal efficiency increased from 89.2% to 95.5% whereas chemical oxygen demand ( COD ) removal efficiency ( c . 83%) did not change. Also, the transmembrane pressure during operation of the MBR remained in the range 1–2 kPa . Conclusion The results of the present study indicate the very good potential of the MBR , both in terms of removal performance and membrane fouling, for treatment of high salinity PW . © 2013 Society of Chemical Industry