Coal chemical reverse osmosis concentrate treatment by membrane-aerated biofilm reactor system
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Updated: Feb 5, 2026

Hydrogen Production and Utilization in a Membrane Reactor
Published on: March 10, 2023
Meichao Lan1, Mei Li1, Jun Liu1
1Chemical Engineering Research Center, School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, PR China; State Key Laboratory of Chemical Engineering, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, PR China; Tianjin Key Laboratory of Membrane Science and Desalination Technology, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, PR China.
Abstract:
Coal chemical reverse osmosis concentrate (ROC), which is characterized by high salinity and high organics, remains as a serious environmental problem. In this study, a lab-scale three-stage membrane-aerated biofilm reactor (MABR) system was designed to treat such a ROC. The effects of influent salinity and operating parameters (pH, DO and HRT) on the treatment efficiency were discussed. The removal efficiencies of COD, NH4-N and TN under the optimal operating parameters reached to 81.01%, 92.31% and 70.72%, respectively. Simultaneous nitrification and denitrification (SND) as well as shortcut nitrogen removal were achieved. The salinity less than 3% did not induce significant decrease in treatment efficiency and microbial communities. Moreover, the dominant phyla in biofilms were Proteobacteria and Bacteroidetes. This work demonstrated MABR had great potential in ROC treatment.
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