Impact of simultaneous retention of micropollutants and laccase on micropollutant degradation in enzymatic membrane bioreactor

Authors

Muhammad Bilal Asif, University of WollongongFollow
Faisal I. Hai, University of WollongongFollow
Bipro R. Dhar, University of Alberta
Hao H. Ngo, University of Technology SydneyFollow
Wenshan Guo, University of Technology SydneyFollow
Veeriah Jegatheesan, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology
William E. Price, University of WollongongFollow
Long D. Nghiem, University of Wollongong, University of Technology SydneyFollow
Kazuo Yamamoto, University of TokyoFollow

RIS ID

129013

Publication Details

Asif, M. B., Hai, F. I., Dhar, B. R., Ngo, H. H., Guo, W., Jegatheesan, V., Price, W. E., Nghiem, L. D. & Yamamoto, K. (2018). Impact of simultaneous retention of micropollutants and laccase on micropollutant degradation in enzymatic membrane bioreactor. Bioresource Technology, 267 473-480.

Abstract

This study systematically compares the performance of ultrafiltration (UF) and nanofiltration (NF) based enzymatic membrane bioreactors (EMBRs) for the degradation of five micropollutants, namely atrazine, carbamazepine, sulfamethoxazole, diclofenac and oxybenzone to elucidate the impact of effective membrane retention of micropollutants on their degradation. Based on the permeate quality, NF-EMBR achieved 92-99.9% micropollutant removal (i.e., biodegradation + membrane retention), while the removal of these micropollutants by UF-EMBR varied from 20 to 85%. Mass balance analysis revealed that micropollutant degradation was improved by 15-30% in NF-EMBR as compared to UF-EMBR, which could be attributed to the prolonged contact time between laccase and micropollutants following their effective retention by the NF membrane. A small decline in permeate flux was observed during EMBR operation. However, the flux could be recovered by flushing the membrane with permeate.