Biodegradation of Synthetic High Phenol Contamination Wastewater by an Immersed Membrane Bioreactor

Phenol is a highly toxic and carcinogenic compound and its biological treatment has been broadly agreed that it is economical, practical and it leads to a complete removal of phenol (degraded to inorganic, CO₂ H₂O etc.). The effect of acclimated activated sludge in the phenol biodegradation has been studied. First, the batch acclimated period have been performed gradually by elevated the activated sludge tolerance to the concentration of phenol from 100 mgmiddotL^-1 to 2000 mgmiddotL^-1 as carbon source. Subsequently, the immersed membrane bioreactor had been conducted to verify the feasibility of biodegradable high concentration of phenol (2000 mgmiddotL^-1), using acclimated activated sludge. The phenol and COD removal efficiency were respective 99.98% and 98.29%, at HRT 18 h and F/M 0.29 kg CODmiddotkg MLSS^-1middotd^-1. The results proved the ability of the immersed MBR to tackle with synthetic high strength of phenol wastewater.