Oscillating membrane photoreactor combined with salt-tolerated Chlorella pyrenoidosa for landfill leachates treatment

Abstract In this study, a novel oscillating membrane (OM) photoreactor combined with salt-tolerated Chlorella was developed for old landfill leachates treatment, in which harvesting of highly-active algae was easily performed on large scale. Compared with control membrane photo-bioreactor (CMPBR), OM-MPBR exhibited excellent NH 3 -N removal efficiency as high as 94.0%. With light time prolonged, an increase in biomass production and NH 3 removal rates was observed due to more energy provided for Chlorella cells. By comparison, it was found the highest membrane flux (99.6 L/m 2  h bar) was obtained in OM-MPBR, which was attributed to strong shear stress on interface of liquid/membrane effectively reducing bio-foulants. It was clear that energy consumptions of OM-MPBR on biomass productivity (0.68 kWh/kg cell) and NH 3 removal (0.0151 kWh/kg NH 3 -N) were lower than CMPBR. The new coupling system opens a door to scalable development of promising and economical MBR for environmental pollution control and biomass energy production.