Hollow fiber membrane bioreactor for the treatment of high strength landfill leachate
Published online on July 15, 2013
Abstract
Performance assessment of membrane bioreactor (MBR) technology for the treatability of high-strength landfill leachate is relatively limited or lacking. This study examines the feasibility of treating high-strength landfill leachate using a hollow-fiber MBR. For this purpose, a laboratory-scale MBR was constructed and operated to treat leachate with a chemical oxygen demand (COD) of 9000–11,000 mg/l, a 5-day biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5) of 4000–6,000 mg/l, volatile suspended solids (VSS) of 300–500 mg/l, total nitrogen (TN) of 2000–6000 mg/l, and an ammonia-nitrogen (NH3-N) of 1800–4000 mg/l. VSS was used with the BOD and COD data to simulate the biological activity in the activated sludge. Removal efficiencies > 95–99% for BOD5, VSS, TN and NH3-N were attained. The coupled experimental and simulation results contribute in filling a gap in managing high-strength landfill leachate and providing guidelines for corresponding MBR application.