Bioelectrochemical system for anaerobic oily wastewater treatment: Biokinetic & energy consumption studies

Abstract The present study introduced a laboratory-scale, anaerobic treatment system for the removal of oil from synthetic wastewater using a biofilm-electrode reactor (BER). The operating parameters of current intensity, initial concentration, reaction time, and supporting electrolyte were investigated. The results of the present study showed that the optimal conditions were: a current intensity of 15 mA, COD concentration of 1500 mg L−1, a reaction time of three days, and 150 mg L−1 NaCl as a supporting electrolyte. The highest efficiency for the COD removal was 86.7% using the introduced method, while it was 65.9% using general biological processes. In the present study, the energy consumed by the bioelectrochemical system was 1.914 kWh/m3. The biokinetic study indicated that the removal reaction was more consistent with the modified Stover-Kincannon model. The present study indicated that BER is a promising method for the treatment of oil-contaminated wastewaters. It is expected that experimental results will be used as a reference for advance bio-treating of oily wastewater.