The First Two Years of Full-Scale Anaerobic Membrane Bioreactor (Anmbr) Operation Treating a High Strength Industrial Wastewater at Kens Foods Inc

An existing anaerobic process, upgraded to an anaerobic membrane bioreactor (AnMBR) system, was commissioned in July 2008 to treat wastewater produced from salad dressings and barbeque sauce. Upgrading the existing anaerobic treatment process to an AnMBR was considered the best choice as it reduced operating and maintenance costs, provided stable operation, consistently produced high quality anaerobic effluent and removes the strain on an existing aerobic process.The two years of AnMBR operation has shown that the system is very suitable for treating this industrial wastewater as it provides COD, BOD, and TSS removals in excess of 99.4 percent. The AnMBR effluent BOD and TSS concentrations were consistently less than 25 mg/l and 2 mg/l, respectively, while influent BOD and TSS concentrations averaged 18,000 and 11,000 mg/l, respectively. The AnMBR system provides superior performance and a very low rate of membrane fouling, with the aid of biogas scour across the membrane surface. The change in transmembrane pressure was negligible over the first twenty four months of operation and no citric acid cleaning events were required while operating at a MLSS concentration up to 48,000 mg/l.