In this study, a novel oscillating membrane (OM) photoreactor combined with salt-tolerated Chlorella was developed for old landfill leachates treatment, in which harvesting of highly-active algae was easily performed on large scale. Compared with control membrane photo-bioreactor (CMPBR), OM-MPBR exhibited excellent NH3-N removal efficiency as high as 94.0%. With light time prolonged, an increase in biomass production and NH3 removal rates was observed due to more energy provided for Chlorella cells. By comparison, it was found the highest membrane flux (99.6 L/m2 h bar) was obtained in OM-MPBR, which was attributed to strong shear stress on interface of liquid/membrane effectively reducing bio-foulants. It was clear that energy consumptions of OM-MPBR on biomass productivity (0.68 kWh/kg cell) and NH3 removal (0.0151 kWh/kg NH3-N) were lower than CMPBR. The new coupling system opens a door to scalable development of promising and economical MBR for environmental pollution control and biomass energy production.
Keywords: Ammonia-nitrogen removal; Biofouling control; Harvesting of Chlorella; Landfill leachates; Oscillating membrane photo-bioreactor.
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