ElectroSAnMBR · Development of A Novel Submerged Anaerobic Electrochemical Membrane Bioreactor (e-SAnMBR) for bilge water treatment

Development of A Novel Submerged Anaerobic Electrochemical Membrane Bioreactor (e-SAnMBR) for bilge water treatment

Bilge water (BW) is a complex mixture of seawater and numerous types of wastes with high pH pH (up to 9.0) and oil content (up to 2953 mg/L). Salinity fluctuates between 25 and 35 g/L, hindering the biological treatment, while COD is also high (>3-15 g/L). Compounds like diesel fuel, glycol-based coolants, engine, transmission and hydraulic oils are among the detected components. Additionally, several hydrocarbons, PAHs, anionic surfactants, organic solvents, detergents and metals have been identified. Oil residue discharge to marine environments is prohibited by MARPOL 73/78 of IMO and European directive 2000/59/EC. As a result, BW is treated enroute before being discharged (oil content 15 mg/L) or deposited at reception facilities on land. However, due to the high extend of oil emulsification in BW, its treatment via physical methods is unsatisfactory, while physicochemical methods contribute substantially to operational costs. Furthermore, conventional biological processes are unsuitable due to existence of toxic refractory organics high salinity of BW. To overcome this challenge ElectroSAnMBR project aimed to provide an alternative and innovative technology for real BW treatment. This was investigated by developing a single chamber electrolysis cell (EC) inside a Submerged Anaerobic Membrane Bioreactor (SAnMBR) to effectively treat BW and therefore, recalcitrant wastewater was converted to methane. ElectroSAnMBR project through the implementation of 8 work packages (WPs) went beyond traditional treatment practices by manufacturing novel microbial biocompatible electrodes with surface characteristics that can promote biofilm formation and excellent conductivity, design, construction, batch operation of integrated EC at anaerobic digestion system and examination of fundamentals aspects involved in their operation, design, construction and operation under continuous flow of SAnMBRs/e-SAnMBR for possible industrial application, biotransformation and ecotoxicity assessment of effluents, evaluation of microbial developed during treatment process and correlation to treatment efficiency. A series of carefully designed and conducted experiments led to the successful achievement of the goals and objectives of the ElectroSAnMBR project. The overall conclusions demonstrated that treatment of recalcitrant and toxic wastewaters like BW is beneficial by submerged anaerobic membrane bioreactor with microbial electrolysis cells. Due to the complex nature of BW, gradual acclimatization of anaerobic biomass is substantial for achieving higher removal rates of organic load and production of gasses such as methane that can be used for energy generation. All related results were published in scientific journals and presented in international conferences.

Текст от CORDIS, на английски · Данни: CORDIS, © Европейски съюз