Biological Treatment of Coke Plant Wastewater with Activated Sludge MBR Technology

Effluent from a coke oven by products plant contains elevated concentrations of organic and nitrogenous compounds and mostly in the waste ammonia liquor. Due to more restrictive effluent limitations guidelines from USEPA, it was evident that advanced wastewater treatment technology would be required before plant production could resume.This paper will focus on the subsequent design, seeding, start-up and operation following a successful pilot scale demonstration on a coke plant’s wastewater using an immersed MBR. Results demonstrated 80%-99% removal of targeted compounds following partial and full scale start-up of the coke ovens in early-2014. Process design and performance trending data will be presented for the full scale MBR treatment system, the first ever for a coke producer in North America.