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Significance of Ferric Chloride Addition on the Treatment Performance of Cloth-Media MBR Treating Municipal Wastewater

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Abstract

Municipal wastewater treatment saves fresh water resources from contamination and provides a sustainable approach for reuse in water-stress regions. Herein, the impact of ferric chloride addition to cloth-media MBR treating municipal wastewater was tested for treatment performance, membrane filterability and sludge particle size distribution. Dosing of 7.5 and 15 mg/l of FeCl3 did not show any significant impacts on the removal of chemical oxygen demand and ammonia compared to the control test. However, the addition of ferric chloride increases percentage removal of total phosphorous from 33.5 to 39.5 and 46.5% at doses of 7.5 and 15 mgFeCl3/l, respectively. The ferric chloride addition did not enhance membrane filterability or flocculation of the sludge particles. On batch and Jar test experiments, the removal of total phosphorous reached up to 86% at dose of 120 mgFeCl3/l which shows that each mg of P needs 8 mg of Fe (22 mgFeCl3). The batch and jar test experiments did not show any significant impacts of ferric chloride up to 120 mg/l on the biological activity and particle size distribution of the sludge. To enhance phosphorus removal in the MBR systems, coagulant addition to the final permeate is recommended to avoid any negative impacts on the flux rate and to minimize coagulant addition.

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Acknowledgements

This research was carried out and financed within the framework of the research activities of "Prince Khalid Bin Sultan Chair for Water Research" at the Civil Engineering Department of King Saud University. The authors would like to thank Mohamed Ikbal for his assistance during the follow-up of the system and lab analysis.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Water Pollution Research Department, National Research Centre, 33 El Buhouth Street, Dokki, Cairo, 12622, Egypt

    Saber A. El-Shafai & Mohamed El-Qelish

  2. Civil Engineering Department, College of Engineering, King Saud University, P.O. Box 800, Riyadh, 11421, Saudi Arabia

    Waleed M. Zahid

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El-Shafai, S.A., El-Qelish, M. & Zahid, W.M. Significance of Ferric Chloride Addition on the Treatment Performance of Cloth-Media MBR Treating Municipal Wastewater. Arab J Sci Eng 48, 8723–8736 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13369-022-07373-5

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