LE3 .A278 2013

2013

Tong, Anthony

Acadia University

Master of Science

Masters

Chemistry

Chemistry

This research is focused on the biodegradation of petrogenic hydrocarbons in water using membrane bioreactor (MBR) technology. In MBR treatment, petroleum hydrocarbons are biologically degraded to simpler organic, inorganic (carbon dioxide and water) compounds and microbial biomass using a heterotrophic bacterial culture. This is followed by filtration using nano-sized porous membranes. Industrial oily wastewater with mixed fractions of hydrocarbons was collected and continuously treated for 50 days. MBR effluent samples were analyzed daily for constituent hydrocarbons using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS). UV-Vis spectrometry was used to measure chemical oxygen demand (COD), ammonia, colour, turbidity and total suspended solids. Electrochemical tests were also conducted to measure pH, conductivity and total dissolved solids. Heavy metals were also analyzed by inductively coupled plasma spectroscopy. These parameter measurements were essential in evaluating the performance of the MBR treatment process. During the treatment period, 98.0%, 96.0% and 99.8% removal of total aliphatic hydrocarbons in lube oil fraction (TAH-LO), total aliphatic hydrocarbons (TAH) and total polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), respectively, were achieved. Overall, total organic removal, measured in terms of COD, ranged from 88.3 – 92.6%. Degradation kinetics were also determined for hydrocarbons and COD, thereby determining half-life of the decontaminating process. Therefore, this study demonstrated that MBR is an effective, environmentally friendly, compact secondary treatment method suitable for the removal of petroleum hydrocarbons in wastewaters.

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https://scholar.acadiau.ca/islandora/object/theses:303