Treatment of palm oil mill effluent using combination system of microbial fuel cell and anaerobic membrane bioreactor

- Combine system of MFC and AnMBR has better fouling control compared to sole AnMBR.
- AnMBR has good COD removal efficiency at 45 °C.
- Higher polysaccharide concentration and smaller floc size are main cause to fouling.

It was found that the operational temperature and the incorporation of microbial fuel cell (MFC) into anaerobic membrane bioreactor (AnMBR) have significant effect on AnMBRs' filtration performance. This paper addresses two issues (i) effect of temperature on AnMBR; and (ii) effect of MFC on AnMBRs' performance. The highest COD removal efficiency was observed in mesophilic condition (45 °C). It was observed that the bioreactors operated at 45 °C had the highest filtration resistance compared to others, albeit the excellent performance in removing the organic pollutant. Next, MFC was combined with AnMBR where the MFC acted as a pre-treatment unit prior to AnMBR and it was fed directly with palm oil mill effluent (POME). The supernatant from MFC was further treated by AnMBR. Noticeable improvement in filtration performance was observed in the combined system. Decrease in polysaccharide amount was observed in combined system which in turn suggested that the better filtration performance.