Sequential micro and ultrafiltration of distillery wastewater

Abstract

Water reuse and recycling, wastewater treatment, drinking water production and environmental protection are the key challenges for the future of our planet. Membrane separation technologies for the removal of all suspended solids and a fraction of dissolved solids from wastewaters, are becoming more and more promising. Also, these processes are playing a major role in wastewater purification systems because of their high potential for recovery of water from many industrial wastewaters. The aim of this work was to evaluate the application of micro and ultrafiltration for distillery wastewater purification in order to produce water suitable for reuse in the bioethanol industry. The results of the analyses of the permeate obtained after micro and ultrafiltration showed that the content of pollutants in distillery wastewater was significantly reduced. The removal efficiency for chemical oxygen demand, dry matter and total nitrogen was 90%, 99.2% and 99.9%, respectively. Suspended solids were completely removed from the stillage.

Keywords

• distillery wastewater
• microfiltration
• ultrafiltration
• water reuse