Abstract
A novel approach was employed to study removal of organic micropollutants (OMPs) in a baffled osmotic membrane bioreactor-microfiltration (OMBR-MF) hybrid system under oxic–anoxic conditions. The performance of OMBR-MF system was examined employing three different draw solutes (DS), and three model OMPs. The highest forward osmosis (FO) membrane rejection was attained with atenolol (100 %) due to its higher molar mass and positive charge. With inorganic DS caffeine (94-100 %) revealed highest removal followed by atenolol (89-96 %) and atrazine (16-40 %) respectively. All three OMPs exhibited higher removal with organic DS as compared to inorganic DS. Significant anoxic removal was observed for atrazine under very different redox conditions with extended anoxic cycle time. This can be linked with possible development of different microbial consortia responsible for diverse enzymes secretion. Overall, the OMBR-MF process showed effective removal of total organic carbon (98%) and nutrients (phosphate 97% and total nitrogen 85%), respectively.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 98-106 |
| Number of pages | 9 |
| Journal | Bioresource Technology |
| Volume | 262 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Apr 14 2018 |
Bibliographical note
KAUST Repository Item: Exported on 2020-10-01Acknowledgements: The research reported in this publication was supported by funding from the SEED program of King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Saudi Arabia. The help, assistance and support of the Water Desalination and Reuse Center (WDRC) staff is greatly appreciated. PhD candidate Nirenkumar Pathak would like to acknowledge scholarship support from commonwealth of Australia under Research Training Program (RTP).