Effect of bamboo charcoal amendment on an AnMBR in the aspect of anaerobic habitat and membrane fouling

Abstract

The effect of bamboo charcoal (BC) amendment on the anaerobic habitat such as alkalinity and membrane fouling in an anaerobic membrane bioreactor (AnMBR) was investigated in this study. Results showed that the addition of BC into an anaerobic EGSB reactor modified the effluent wastewater properties, and 0.19–0.27 g of alkalinity was produced with the consumption of 1 g of COD which favored the performance of the anaerobic system. Analyzed by energy diffusive X-ray analysis (EDX) and confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM), the content of dissolved microbial products (SMPs) as well as that of the elements Ca, Al, Si, and Fe decreased significantly with the addition of BC. At the same time, BC inhibited the enrichment of microbes such as Bacteroidetes contributing to the formation of dense cake layers on the membrane surface. This work described an effective strategy for the treatment of high-concentration refractory organic wastewater. The addition of BC not only improved the anaerobic habitat and effluent quality, but also alleviated the issue of membrane fouling effectively, which could provide a foundation for future scale-up studies.