Abstract
The membrane bioreactor (hence forth MBR) has recently been applied to wastewater treatment in various industries such as the fiber, food processing, and the oil refining industries in addition to general sewage treatment. We examined MBR performance using raw water including various types of oil in laboratory tests. The results showed a stable MBR operation when raw water with biodegradable oil was treated with appropriate biological loading. They also showed that activated sludge under higher biological loading and nonbiodegraded residual oil may cause membrane fouling. When treating raw water including nonbiodegradable oil, MBR performance differs depending on the kinetic viscosity of oil. It was found that high-kinetic-viscosity oil causes fouling with in a short period and that oil in the supernatant of activated sludge may affect MBR operation performance.
