Performance of airlift MBR for on-site treatment of slaughterhouse wastewater in urban areas of Vietnam

In many cities in Vietnam, wastewater generated in slaughterhouses is normally discharged directly into surface waters without treatment. Management of slaughterhouse wastewater (SHWW) is difficult due to the lack of infrastructure for conveyance to centralized facilities. On-site treatment presents one cost-effective way of managing SHWW compared to mass improvement of infrastructure. This study evaluates the application of an airlift membrane bioreactor (AL-MBR) for on-site treatment of SHWW. The concentrations of chemical oxygen demand (COD), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), total nitrogen (TN) and NH -N in the simulated SHWW were 1,697 ± 317 mg/L, 891 ± 137 mg/L, 246 ± 65 mg/L and 171 ± 4.2 mg/L, respectively. The mixed-liquor volatile suspended solids in the aerobic and anoxic tanks were maintained at 5,000-6,000 mg/L. Air flow rate and cross flow velocity were maintained at 0.2 L/min and 0.8 m/s, respectively, to keep the trans-membrane pressure (TMP) stable at 0.8 bar and the membrane flux at 15-18 L/m h bar (LMH/bar). The removal efficiencies of COD and TN were 95 ± 1.9% and 70 ± 3.3%, respectively, at a hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 2.5 days. This study shows that GL-MBR is a promising on-site solution for SHWW treatment.