The effect of hydraulic retention time on the performance and fouling characteristics of membrane sequencing batch reactors used for the treatment of synthetic petroleum refinery wastewater

► Treatment of synthetic petroleum wastewater in MSBRs operated at different HRTs. ► High removal of pollutants at all HRTs with biodegradation as the major mechanism. ► Decreasing HRT increases membrane fouling rate. ► Increased SMP and viscosity responsible for higher membrane fouling with decreasing HRT. ► Change in volume based D (0.9) and D (0.1) with HRT correlated to SMP and EPS respectively.