Performance Assessment of a New Type of Membrane Bioreactor under Steady State and Transient Operating Conditions
Publication: Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 137, Issue 9
Abstract
Methyl--butyl ether (MTBE) is an additive to gasoline that serves as an oxygenate to increase the octane rating and improve combustion efficiency. Assessment of MTBE biodegradation under aerobic conditions was performed in lab-scale biomass concentrator reactors (BCRs). These reactors were bench-scale microcosms that retain and concentrate biomass thereby enabling biodegradation to sub- level. The BCRs were run under low hydraulic retention times with a synthetically prepared feed containing of several oxygenates, MTBE, diisopropyl ether (DIPE), ethyl--butyl ether (ETBE), -amyl methyl ether (TAME), -amyl alcohol (TAA), and the primary gasoline constituents benzene, toluene, ethyl benzene, and -xylene (BTEX). The BCRs were effective in the removal of the aforementioned contaminants to concentrations lower than the targeted , which is below the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) taste and odor threshold of . Reactor performance was also evaluated under shock loading and intermittent feeding (starvation tests) of the contaminants of concern to evaluate the reactor’s robustness in recovering from such stresses. The BCRs were found to be highly resilient to fluctuations in substrate and flow conditions.
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Acknowledgments
We thank Nita Naik, Jaiho Cho, Salam Musaad, and Larry Heitkamp for their contributions to this research.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 137 • Issue 9 • September 2011
Pages: 817 - 825
Copyright
© 2011 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Apr 23, 2010
Accepted: Mar 8, 2011
Published online: Mar 10, 2011
Published in print: Sep 1, 2011
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