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Published on: May 1, 2012
Impact of salinity on the population dynamics of microorganisms in a membrane bioreactor treating produced water
Borte Kose Mutlu1, Hale Ozgun1, Mustafa Evren Ersahin1
1Istanbul Technical University, Civil Engineering Faculty, Environmental Engineering Department, 34469, Maslak, Istanbul, Turkey; National Research Center on Membrane Technologies, Istanbul Technical University, 34469, Maslak, Istanbul, Turkey.
Abstract:
Biomass characteristics may change subject to a salinity increase when treating high strength wastewater. In this study, the impact of salinity in a membrane bioreactor (MBR) was investigated for the treatment of produced water (PW). MBR was operated as a pre-treatment prior to nanofiltration (NF) and reverse osmosis (RO). Mixed PW, that was originated from different oil, gas, and oil-gas wells, were subjected to pre-treatment for 146 days including three different operational phases: Low-salinity (~10 mS/cm), gradual increased salinity (10-40 mS/cm) and high salinity (~40 mS/cm). The results of this study showed that microorganisms could adapt using real wastewater and treat PW up to a certain level of the salinity. At high salinity levels of PW, the floc structure started to be disrupted and membrane fouling was accelerated. PCR-DGGE analysis confirmed the changes in microbial communities' composition in relation with high salinity. The results of the final treatment experiments presented that NF and RO treatment produced high-quality effluents that could be suitable for reuse.
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