Development of extractive membrane bioreactors for environmental applications

The application of membrane bioreactors in drinking water denitrification as well as in detoxification of industrial wastewaters is discussed. The aim of this paper is to develop new types of membrane reactors involving selective membranes. These kinds of membrane bioreactors are suitable for particular applications in which selective removal of any given pollutant is required. The use of an anion-exchange membrane bioreactor in denitrification system is discussed. Several significant advantages of this bioreactor over the other biological bioreactor were found. It has also been proposed to use the membrane supported biofilm reactors for the treatment of industrial effluents containing volatile organic compounds. The system allows treatment of industrial effluents with extreme pH or high salinity without negative consequence for the biological culture involved. Nevertheless this process needs further investigation due to some problems with biofilm stability.