Performance of Hybrid Mesh Filter Bioreactor For Textile Wastewater Treatment

Abstract

The rapid growth of the textile industry, while bringing positive impacts, also brings negative effects related to the increasing amount of wastewater generated. Poorly managed wastewater can potentially create adverse effects on human health and the environment. This study evaluates the hybrid mesh filter bioreactor (MFBR) performance for textile wastewater treatment. The bioreactor was operated with a nylon mesh filter having 37 μm pore size under intermittent aeration with aeration on/off durations of 1/1 hour. Wastewater influent was degraded by microorganisms attached to biofilm carriers and filtered by an external filtration tank. The process performance was evaluated under varying concentrations of COD (600-1200 mg/L). The stable operation was achieved for around 60 days with 88.4-94.8% turbidity removal and a flux value of 102±15 L/m2·hour. Although high COD removal was observed (89.4-92.1%), only 14.3-25.2% color removal was achieved in hybrid MFBR under hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 4-8 hours.