Reduction of refractory COD of pig manure and landfill leachate by nanofiltration
Pig manure and landfill leachate cannot be treated only by conventional biological treatment because a "refractory" COD persists, superior to 500 mg O2.l-1 : four times too high for a direct discharge in the environment. Nanofiltration, an intermediate process between reverse osmosis and ultrafiltration, may be an interesting alternative as a final treatment. In nanofiltration, lower pressure can be used and fluxes are higher than for reverse osmosis. The present study compared the treatability of pig manure and landfill leachate after biological treatment using a pilot-scale nanofiltration plant. Performances were evaluated in terms of permeate COD and permeate flux versus operating conditions (applied pressure, crossflow velocity and recovery rate). Two tubular organic nanofiltration membranes with 450 diameter cut-offs were used for pilot-scale testing: MPT-20 (polyacrylonitrile) and MPT-31 (polysulfone). Preliminary experiments carried out at constant concentrations show that performance (permeation flux and permeate COD) depends mainly on the nanofiltration membrane/effluent coupling. Permeate fluxes obtained with the MPT-20 membrane were higher than those obtained with the MPT-31. The increased crossflow velocity produced a particularly marked flux increase for pig manure. Moreover, the flux obtained with pig manure decreased at pressures superior to 15 bars whereas for the landfill leachate it became constant regardless of the pressure applied. COD retention was better in the case of pig manure and increased with pressure. On the other hand, high crossflow velocity helped reduce the COD retention, particularly for pig manure. The difference stems mainly from the foulant layer on the membrane surface. This layer is compressible and not organised; in the case of pig manure, it may explain the influence of hydrodynamic parameters: crossflow velocity favours the back migration of potential foulant such as colloids from the membrane surface to the bulk liquid phase. This may explain an increased mass transfer and consequent reduction of COD retention at high tangential velocities. Moreover, higher pressure generates a dense layer, which leads to a reduction of mass transfer. The influence of operating conditions was less important for the leachate, as the foulant layer may be more organised and have better cohesion. In the second part of this study, the nanofiltration pilot plant was operated in concentration mode in order to evaluate the influence of recovery rate on flux and retention. Since COD retention is better with the MPT-31 membrane, the latter was used for concentration experiments. The applied pressure was fixed at 15 bar and crossflow velocity at 1.5 m.s-1. Both effluents were concentrated with a volume reduction factor of 4. However this reduction of retentate volume led to both a drop in permeation flux and a rise of permeate COD, to a value above to the environmental norm of 120 mg O2.l-1.