Feasibility and simulation model of a pilot scale membrane bioreactor for wastewater treatment and reuse from Chinese traditional medicine

The lack and pollution of water resource make wastewater reuse necessary. The pilot scale long-term tests for submerged membrane bioreactor were conducted to treat the effluents of anaerobic or aerobic treatment process for the high-strength Chinese traditional medicine wastewater. This article was focused on the feasibility of the wastewater treatment and reuse at shorter hydraulic retention time （HRT） of 5.0, 3.2 and 2.13 h. MLSS growth, membrane flux, vacuum values and chemical cleaning periods were also investigated. The experimental results of treating two-phase anaerobic treatment effluent demonstrated that the CODfilt was less than 100 mg/L when the influent COD was between 500-10000 mg/L at HRT of 5.0 h, which could satisfy the normal discharged standard in China. The experimental results to treat cross flow aerobic reactor effluent demonstrated that the average value of CODfilt was 17.28 mg/L when the average value of influent COD was 192.84 mg/L at HRT of 2.13 h during 106 d, which could completely meet the normal standard for water reuse. The maximum MLSS and MLVSS reached 24000 and 14500 mg/L at HRT of 3.2 h respectively. Membrane flux had maximal resume degrees of 94.7% at vacuum value of 0.02 MPa after cleaning. Chemical cleaning periods of membrane module were 150 d. A simulation model of operational parameters was also established based on the theory of back propagation neural network and linear regression of traditional mathematical model. The simulation model showed that the optimum operational parameters were suggested as follows： HRT was 5.0 h, SRT was 100 d, the range of COD loading rate was between 10.664-20.451 kg/（m3.d）, the range of MLSS was between 7543-13694 mg/L.

Treatment of Chinese traditional medicine wastewater in a submerged membrane bioreactor

A pilot scale test was conducted in a submerged membrane bioreactor SMBR with capacity of 10. 0 m^3/d for 120 days to treat high-strength Chinese traditional medicine wastewater. Performance of the SMBR was investigated with a sludge retention time （ TSR ） of 50 days, a hydraulic retention time （ THR ） of 8.0 h, membrane flux of 8. 0 IV（ m^2 · h） and dissolved oxygen （DO） concentration of 2. 0 - 3. 0 mg/L, respectively. It was observed that the SMBR had high capacity of COD and suspended solid （SS） removal. The influent COD concentration was fluctuated between I 000 and 5 000 mg/L, while the averaged effluent COl） concentration was only 44. 6 mg/L. The influent SS concentration was fluctuated between 1 000 and 1 600 mg/L, while little effluent SS was detected. It was found that the COD remove rate increased with mixed liquor suspended solids （MLSS） and organic loading rate （ROL）. In order to obtain good-quality effluent, the operational conditions of the SMBR were suggested as follows： the temperature was controlled above 10 ℃, MLSS about 7000 mg/L, R,L under 24. 76 kg/（ m^3 · d）, low vacuum value and constant water flux.

Treatment of Chinese Traditional Medicine Wastewater by Photosynthetic Bacteria

The influence factors treating wastewater of Chinese traditional medicine extraction by photosynthetic bacteria are tested and discussed. The results indicate that the method of photosynthetic bacteria can eliminate COD and BOD from wastewater in high efficiency. And it also has high load shock resistance. On the conditions of slight aerobic and semi-darkness, treating wastewater of Chinese traditional medicine extraction, the method has better efficiency to eliminate COD and BOD from the wastewater than those by anaerobic illumination and aerobic darkness treatments. After pretreatment of hydrolytic acidization, the removal rate of COD in the wastewater reached more than 85 %, and that rate of BOD reached more than 90% in the treating system of photosynthetic bacteria. It may be more feasible and advantageous than traditional anaerobic biological process to treat organic wastewater using PSB system.

Non-thermal plasma treatment of Radix aconiti wastewater generated by traditional Chinese medicine processing

The wastewater effluent from Radix aconiti processing, an important step in the production processes of traditional Chinese medicine（TCM）, is a type of toxic wastewater and difficult to treat. Plasma oxidation methods have emerged as feasible techniques for effective decomposition of toxic organic pollutants. This study examined the performance of a plasma reactor operated in a dielectric barrier discharge（DBD） to degrade the effluent from R. aconiti processing. The effects of treatment time, discharge voltage, initial pH value and the feeding gas for the reactor on the degradation of this TCM wastewater were investigated. A bacterium bioluminescence assay was adopted in this study to test the toxicity of the TCM wastewater after non-thermal plasma treatment. The degradation ratio of the main toxic component was 87.77% after 60 min treatment with oxygen used as feed gas and it was 99.59% when the initial p H value was 8.0. High discharge voltage and alkaline solution environment were beneficial for improving the degradation ratio. The treatment process was found to be capable of reducing the toxicity of the wastewater to a low level or even render it non-toxic. These experimental results suggested that the DBD plasma method may be a competitive technology for primary decomposition of biologically undegradable toxic organic pollutants in TCM wastewater.

Effect of nutritional bio-stimulants(NBS)on the biological treatment of the wastewater from traditional Chinese medicine production

Nutritional bio-stimulant(NBS)technology is an attractive method to improve the efficiency of biological treatment of wastewater by stimulating the microbial growth and increasing species diversity.In this study,a commercial NBS,which consisted of organic acids,absorbable nitrogen and phosphorus and trace elements,was applied as a nutrient supplement to replace conventional chemical fertilizer(CCF)in aerobic biological treatment of a traditional Chinese medicine(TCM)wastewater.A mill trials was carried out in a commercial scale TCM wastewater treatment system for 41 days.The process performance and active sludge characteristics were continuously monitored when the CCF was replaced with NBS gradually in the system.It was found that the chemical oxygen demand(COD)of the effluent decreased from 118 to 89 mg·L^(-1),well below the 100 mg·L^(-1)wastewater discharge limit,when the CCF was replaced with NBS completely.More importantly,the ammonia concentration of the effluent stayed constantly low in the NBS stage of the trial,indicating that the added NBS was completely utilized by the microorganisms.In contrast,the effluent ammonia concentration was gradually increasing and exceeded the limit in the CCF stage of the trial,indicating that the CCF was not fully utilized by the microbes.The improved perfromance of the aerobic wastewater treatment system was attributed to the fact that the NBS nutrients were more bio-available than the CCF to the microorganisms.