CCB 4233

INDUSTRIAL EFFLUENT ENGINEERING

PROJECT 1: PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY

GROUP 8
THASARATHAN A/L JAYAKRISHNA

16615

VENNESA JOHNNY TING

16112

WAN MAIZATUL FATHIRAH BINTI WAN ABDUL HALIM

16396

YAU WING TIM

16002

YIM SEE CHENG

16220

Date of Submission: 3rd December 2015

TABLE OF CONTENTS
LIST OF FIGURES .............................................................................................................. ii
LIST OF TABLES ................................................................................................................ ii
1.0

DESCRIPTION OF PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY ........................................... 1

2.0

IDENTIFICATION

AND

CLASSIFICATION

OF

EFFLUENT

IN

PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY ...................................................................................... 3

3.0

REGULATION LIMIT .............................................................................................. 6

4.0

PROPOSED TREATMENT STRATEGY .................................................................. 8

4.1

Preliminary Treatment ............................................................................................ 9

4.1.1

Screening ......................................................................................................... 9

4.1.2

Grit Removal ................................................................................................... 9

4.2

Biological Treatment Process ................................................................................ 10

4.2.1

Activated Sludge Treatment Process .............................................................. 10

4.2.2

Membrane Bioreactor Process (MBR) ............................................................ 11

5.0

MAJOR TREATMENT UNIT ................................................................................. 12

5.1

Overview of Membrane Bioreactor (MBR) ........................................................... 12

5.2

Design of Membrane Bioreactor (MBR) ............................................................... 15

5.3

Calculations for Membrane Bioreactor (MBR) ...................................................... 16

5.3.1

Determination of required SADm or SADp .................................................... 16

5.3.2

Determination of membrane air scouring capacity requirement ...................... 17

5.3.3

Determination of aerobic solid retention time ................................................. 17

5.3.4

Designation of aeration system....................................................................... 18

5.3.5

Examples of Calculations ............................................................................... 19

5.4
6.0

Operating Variables for Membrane Bioreactor (MBR) .......................................... 22

SUSTAINABILITY OF DESIGN ............................................................................ 24

REFERENCES ................................................................................................................... 25

LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1: Effluent Limit for A and C operations .................................................................... 7
Figure 2: Effluent Limit for B and D operations .................................................................... 7
Figure 3: Overall process flow diagram for industrial effluent treatment plant ....................... 8
Figure 4: Activated Sludge Treatment Process .................................................................... 11
Figure 5: Basic principle of membrane filtration.................................................................. 13
Figure 6: (1) Side-stream MBR; (2) Submerged MBR ......................................................... 13
Figure 7: Block diagram of MBR design [10] ........................................................................ 16
Figure 8: Activated-sludge nitrification kinetic coefficients at 20 C ..................................... 21

LIST OF TABLES
Table 1: Top 25 Pharmaceutical Companies .......................................................................... 2
Table 2: Pharmaceutical industry manufacturing process, input and waste generated

[8]

......... 4

Table 3: Characteristics of effluent from pharmaceutical industry [8] ..................................... 5

Table 4: Design data of flat sheet membrane and hollow fiber membrane [10] ....................... 15
Table 5: Design parameters, operating and maintenance conditions for MBR technology in
pharmaceutical industry [10] ................................................................................................. 22
Table 6: Characteristics of influent and effluent with MBR [10] ............................................ 23

ii

1.0

DESCRIPTION OF PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY

Pharmaceutical firms are engaged in the discovery, manufacturing, and marketing of
legal drugs, biologics (viruses, toxins, serums, and analogous products), vaccines, and
medical devices such as pacemakers and prosthetics. The products are made for both
humans and animals. Pharmaceutical products, both prescription and over the counter
(OTC), account for a large share of the aggregate health care spending and represent
major account items in international trade transactions of developed countries[1].
The pharmaceutical industry is characterized by a high level of concentration with
twenty-five multinational companies dominating the industry. Table 1 shows the
information about these major pharmaceutical companies that are sorted in the order
of their 2014 revenues from the sales of pharmaceutical products. The rankings of the
top 25 pharmaceutical companies have been compiled from GlobalData's
pharmaceutical revenue figures, which are based on sales of prescription medicines,
including generics drugs[2].
Company
Novartis
Pfizer
Roche
Sanofi-Aventis
Merck & Co.
Johnson & Johnson
GlaxoSmithKline
AstraZeneca
Gilead Sciences
Takeda
AbbVie
Amgen
Teva
Eli Lilly
Bristol-Myers Squibb
Bayer
Novo Nordisk
Astellas
Boehringer Ingelheim
Actavis
Otsuka

HQ Location
Switzerland
US
Switzerland
France
US
US
UK
UK
US
Japan
US
US
Israel
US
US
Germany
Denmark
Japan
Germany
US
Japan
1

Revenue (million USD)

47,101
45,708
39,120
36,437
36,042
32,313
29,580
26,095
24,474
20,446
20,207
19,327
18,374
17,266
15,879
15,486
15,329
14,099
13,830
13,062
11,308

Daiichi Sankyo
Biogen Idec
Baxter
Merck KGaA

Japan
US
US
Germany
Table 1: Top 25 Pharmaceutical Companies

10,430
9,398
8,831
7,678

Several characteristics distinguish the pharmaceutical industry from other industries.

A newly released pharmaceutical agent is usually available only by physician
prescription. Patients in effect transfer decision-making authority on the
appropriateness of medications for their ailments to the gate-keeping physicians (or
pharmacists and nurses in some countries). Generally, a prescription may become
available OTC (i.e., without physician prescription) for a non-chronic condition that is
relatively easy to self-diagnose and has low potential for harm from self-medication
under conditions of widespread availability[1].
Another important industry characteristic is the availability of health insurance
coverage for prescribed medications. Most often, private insurers or government
entities subsidize retail drug purchases. Consumers make a co-payment (a fixed sum
for each prescription regardless of the full price) or pay a coinsurance (a fixed
percentage of the full price) that is less than the full market price. Co-payments tend
to vary depending on the drug classification. Consumer payment of far less than full
cost of prescriptions creates the familiar moral hazard (excessive use) problem[1].

2.0

IDENTIFICATION

AND

CLASSIFICATION

OF

EFFLUENT

IN

PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY
Industrial effluent is defined as any wastewater that is produced from any processes
that operate in the industry. Industrial effluent can be produced when process water is
in contact with raw materials, products, intermediates, by-products and waste
products at various operation units[3]. In pharmaceutical industry, high quality water is
an important raw material for production, cooling and material processing operation
in manufacturing of drugs. In multiproduct pharmaceutical industry, various processes
and sub-processes are required for a wide range of drugs production. Therefore, the
amount of effluent generated is usually in an abundant amount with inadequate
characterization of components existing in product waste. Effluent generated from
pharmaceutical industry which contains contaminants, nutrients, toxin and organics is
a challenge from treatment process.
Effluent from pharmaceutical industry has high concentration of pollutants due to the
presence of non-biodegradable organic matter such as antibiotics, drugs, animal and
plants steroids, hormones, analgesics, heavy metal, spent solvents, reaction residues
and others. Moreover, the effluents normally possess high pH, Chemical Oxygen
Demand (COD) and Total Suspended Solids (TSS). Therefore, effluent treatment
plants (ETPs) is crucial for pharmaceutical industry as it maintain the level of COD
and other parameters by removing any toxic, organics, debris, dirt, grit, pollution and
toxic from effluent [4]. The controlled of effluent parameters is important to meet the
requirement set by regulatory board and minimize pollution problem to the
environments. Different separation techniques are used in ETPs such as evaporation,
drying, centrifugation and filtration for effluent treatment process. After separation
procedure, effluent can be discharged into the environment; however, the
characteristics and composition of effluent varies according to different company.
Effluents discharged are normally classified based on the type of components present
such as antibiotics, prescription and non-prescription drugs present. The growing
demand of various pharmaceutical products such as antibiotics, vaccine and medicine
has led to the released of contaminants into wastewater and then to environment in an
increasing pattern. The volume of contaminants are normally varies from nanogram to
low microgram per liter[5]. The contaminants can bring potential risk to human in
3

terms of health impact and ecosystem without any prior notice. Effluent which
contains fluoroquinone antibiotics causes the mutation of bacteria when it is
discharged into river[6]. Mutated bacteria become resistant to the antibiotics and
finally cannot be cured. Besides that, aquatic organism is more prone to the risk of
exposure with pharmaceutical contaminated water compare to human being.
The current method in ETPs possesses certain challenges and problems which should
be overcome in the future. The high temperature of effluent can cause instantaneously
damaged to aquatic organisms as they may experience thermal shock. Furthermore, a
sudden increase in temperature encourages the growth of water plants and fungus
which affect the balance of ecosystem. Furthermore, certain processes have utilized
an abundant amount of chemical for neutralization process which may increase
treatment cost. Bad odour presents in effluent stream which due to the decomposition
and decay of organic matter[7]. Therefore, advanced technology should be developed
to improve the efficiency of ETPs. The effluent from pharmaceutical industry can also
be known as the influent for wastewater treatment plant. Table 2 shows the process in
pharmaceutical industry manufacturing process and its typical waste generated [8].
Manufacturing
Process
Chemical reaction

Input substances

Waste generated

Reactants, solvents, catalysts such as benzene, Residues and reactor

toluene, methanol, xylene, hydrochloric acid, bottom wastes
chloroform, ethylene glycol
Separation
Separation and extraction solvents such as Residues
acetone, hexanes, methanol and toluene
Purification
Solvent for purification process such as methanol, Residues
acetone, toluene and hexanes
Drying
Active drugs and intermediates
Natural products Animal tissues, plant and extraction solvents
Spent raw materials
extraction
Fermentation
Starch, nutrients, phosphates, solvents such as waste filter cake and
ethanol, methanol, acetone and amyl alcohol
residues
Formulations
Sugar syrups for medicine formulations, binders Waste from packaging
and drugs
and rejected drugs.
Table 2: Pharmaceutical industry manufacturing process, input and waste generated [8]
Researchers have been carried out experiments to determine the characteristics of
effluent from different pharmaceutical plants. Table 3 shows the typical
characteristics of the effluents.
4

Parameters

Characteristics

pH

3.9-4.0

TSS (mg/L)

5460-7370

TDS (mg/L)

2564-3660

Total solids

8024-11030

BOD (mg/L)

11200-15660

COD (mg/L)

21960-26000

Colour

Dark yellow

Chromium (mg/L)

0.057-1.11

Lead (mg/L)

0.559-6.53

Cadmium (mg/L)

0.036-0.484

Nickel (mg/L)

0.892-2.35

Zinc (mg/L)

0.583-0.608

Arsenic (mg/L)

0.0049-0.0076

Phosphate (mg/L)

260-280

Table 3: Characteristics of effluent from pharmaceutical industry [8]

3.0

REGULATION LIMIT
Organic solvents are widely used in the pharmaceutical production processes. In fact,
this industry is one of the largest users of organic solvent. The usage of organic
solvent comes with a drawback because they can be harmful to the environment and
human health if released unregulated. Therefore, treatment of wastewater from the
industry has to be carried out according to the regulatory limit set by the
environmental agency or the government before the effluent is considered safe to be
released to the environment. The regulatory limit is established to require a minimum
level of treatment for industrial point sources. This limit is usually based upon
demonstrated performance of model process and treatment technologies that are found
to be economically achievable.
Many countries have their own regulatory limit for the industrial activity that takes
place in the country. For this project, the regulatory limit from the United States will
be used as a reference because based on our point of view; the regulatory limit of the
United States covers a wider range as compared to other regulatory limit from other
countries. According to the regulatory limit of the United States for the
pharmaceutical industry, the limit is divided according to different subcategories
which are:1. Category A: Fermentation Operations
2. Category B: Biological and Natural Extraction Operations
3. Category C: Chemical Synthesis Operations
4. Category D: Mixing, Compounding and Formulation Operations
5. Category E: Pharmaceutical Research Operations
Besides, the regulatory limit of the United States establishes limitation based on
model process technologies and wastewater treatment technologies hence making it
more reliable and accurate. Therefore, facility owners and operators may use any
combination of process technologies and in-process or end-of-pipe wastewater
treatment technologies to comply with the required limits. The categories of
technologies are:1. BPT: Best practicable control technology

2. BCT: Best conventional pollutant control technology

3. BAT: Best available technology economically achievable
4. NSPS: New source performance standards
5. PSES: Pre-treatment standards for existing sources
6. PSNS: Pre-treatment standards for new sources
For this study, we will be focusing on the limit based on the best available technology
economically achievable. The regulatory limits are as follows:

Figure 1: Effluent Limit for A and C operations

Figure 2: Effluent Limit for B and D operations

4.0

PROPOSED TREATMENT STRATEGY

A wide variety of products are made in the pharmaceutical industries, typically
requiring large volumes of chemicals, materials, and substances that are used
throughout process operations. Waste streams generated in these industries can be
heavily overloaded with contaminants, toxins, nutrients, and organic content,
presenting unique challenges in terms of treatment, especially as regulations become
more stringent.
Additionally, as is the case in other industrial manufacturing sectors, water is a critical
ingredient in pharmaceutical operations. Consistent and high-quality supplies are
needed for a range of purposes including production, material processing, and
cooling. As disruptions in raw water supply represent a significant concern, more
companies are turning to water efficiency initiatives to help mitigate water scarcityrelated risks. Basically, the treatment processes can be divided into the following
categories:
1. Preliminary Treatment
2. Primary Treatment
3. Biological Treatment
4. End Product
Figure below shows the overall process flow diagram for industrial effluent treatment
plant.

Figure 3: Overall process flow diagram for industrial effluent treatment

plant
8

4.1

Preliminary Treatment
Preliminary treatment is designed to remove gross, suspended and floating
solids from raw sewage. It includes screening to trap solid objects and
sedimentation by gravity to remove suspended solids. This level is sometimes
referred to as mechanical treatment, although chemicals are often used to
accelerate the sedimentation process. Preliminary treatment can reduce the
BOD of the incoming wastewater by 20-30% and the total suspended solids by
50-60%. Preliminary treatment is usually the first stage of wastewater
treatment. Many advanced wastewater treatment plants in industrialized
countries have started with preliminary treatment, and have then added other
treatment stages as wastewater load has grown and the need for treatment has
increased[9].
4.1.1 Screening
Wastewater contains large solids and grit that can interfere with
treatment processes or cause undue mechanical wear and increased
maintenance on wastewater treatment equipment. To minimize
potential problems, these materials require separate handling.
Screening is the first unit operation used at wastewater treatment plants
(WWTPs). Screening removes objects such as rags, paper, plastics, and
metals to prevent damage and clogging of downstream equipment,
piping, and appurtenances[9].
4.1.2 Grit Removal
Grit includes sand, gravel, cinder, or other heavy solid materials that
have higher specific gravity than the organic biodegradable solids in
the wastewater. Removal of grit prevents unnecessary abrasion and
wear of mechanical equipment, grit deposition in pipelines and
channels, and accumulation of grit in anaerobic digesters and aeration
basins. Grit removal facilities typically precede primary clarification,
and follow screening. This prevents large solids from interfering with
grit handling equipment. In secondary treatment plants without
primary clarification, grit removal should precede aeration[9].
9

4.2

Biological Treatment Process

Biological treatment is an important and integral part of any wastewater
treatment plant that treats wastewater from either municipality or industry
having soluble organic impurities or a mix of the two types of wastewater
sources[9]. The obvious economic advantage, both in terms of capital
investment and operating costs, of biological treatment over other treatment
processes like chemical oxidation and thermal oxidation cemented its place in
any integrate wastewater treatment plant over a century.
There are two main processes in the biological treatment process that will be
focused on in this project. They are:
1. Activated Sludge Treatment Process
2. Membrane Bioreactor Process
4.2.1 Activated Sludge Treatment Process
The old treatment plant consisted of an equalization basin,
neutralization, primary sedimentation, roughing biofilter, activated
sludge system, and rock trickling filter with final clarifiers. In the
proposed study, the old activated sludge system, rock filter, and final
clarifier were replaced with a new single-stage, nitrification-activated
sludge system. A schematic diagram of the pilot plant is presented in
the figure below.
The advantages of this process includes it is a chemical-free operation,
it produces extremely pure water, and full efficiency of wastewater
treatment can be obtained instantly.
However, there are some drawbacks resulting from this process. By
applying this process, large amount of sludge will be produced.
Besides that, microbiological contamination of the effluent may be
significant since there is no physical barrier between activated sludge
and treated water.

10

Figure 4: Activated Sludge Treatment Process

4.2.2 Membrane Bioreactor Process (MBR)
Membrane bioreactor (MBR) technology combines biologicalactivated sludge process and membrane filtration. MBR technology is
also used in cases where demand on the quality of effluent exceeds the
capability of CAS. With the development of submerged membranes,
firstly introduced by Yamamoto et al., the number of MBRs treating
municipal wastewater increased while the MBR market is currently
experiencing accelerated growth.

11

5.0

MAJOR TREATMENT UNIT

From the justifications of the available treatment methods for the treatment of
wastewater from the pharmaceutical industry, the one major process unit that will be
focused on in this project is the membrane bioreactor (MBR). Further descriptions,
design, calculations and operating variables related to MBR are shown below.
5.1

Overview of Membrane Bioreactor (MBR)

Membrane bioreactor (MBR) technology incorporates biological-activated
sludge process and membrane filtration

[10],[11]

. It is the most important recent

technological advance developed and applied to fulfill the shortcomings of the

conventional activated sludge (CAS) process in treating wastewater with
varying composition and fluctuating flow rate. MBR has attracted growing
interests with its distinct advantages of smaller footprint, less sludge
production, higher separation efficiency and highly improved effluent quality
as compared to CAS[12]. Due to these reasons, MBR is widely used for
municipal and industrial wastewater treatment especially in the pharmaceutical
industry as it performs excellently in removing pharmaceutically active
compounds, organic matter and suspended solids, nitrification/ denitrification
and phosphorus and more[10].
MBR is a suspended growth-activated sludge system that utilizes microporous
membranes for solid/ liquid separation instead of secondary clarifiers[10]. It is a
physical process where separated compounds remain chemically unchanged.
The fundamental principle lies behind is shown in Figure 5 where feed water
passes through the membrane surface to produce permeate and the rejected
constituents form concentrate or retentate. A membrane is simply a twodimensional material used to separate components of fluids based on their
relative size or electrical charge. The transport of only specific compounds
through the membrane is called semi-permeable filtration[10].

12

Figure 5: Basic principle of membrane filtration

The mass balance of this physical process can be represented by the equation
below

Where

= feed flow rate,

permeate flow rate,

flow rate and

= solute concentration in feed flow,

= solute concentration in permeate,

= concentrate

=solute concentration in concentrate.

There are two types of MBR configurations namely: (1) side-stream MBR
with external pressure-driven membrane filtration (2) submerged MBR with
internal vacuum-driven membrane filtration (see Figure 6). Submerged MBR
is more commonly used as compared to side-stream MBR due to its low
energy consumption and fouling on module is less pronounced. Shear
enhancement is important in both configurations as it helps to prevent
membrane fouling with the constituents of mixed liquor by lowering the
permeate flux. Side-stream MBR provides shear through pumping whereas
submerged MBR employs aeration in the bioreactor to provide it [11].

Figure 6: (1) Side-stream MBR; (2) Submerged MBR

13

Aforementioned, the performance of MBR may be limited by fouling during

filtration of activated sludge. Fouling occurs in such a way that it reduces long
term flux stability on the membrane surface and within the pores necessitating
membrane cleaning. When cleaning fails to produce adequate flux recovery,
the membrane will have to be replaced. This leads to addition of repair and
maintenance cost to the overall cost. As a result to that, several techniques are
employed to reduce fouling

which are reduction of flux, promotion of

turbulence to limit the thickness of the boundary layer, and periodical

application of cleaning measures to remove the cake layer and foulants [11].
MBR is highly recommended to be used in the pharmaceutical industry due to
its capability in removing pharmaceutically active compounds (PhACs) and
other organic compounds effectively. Most pharmaceutical substances are
biologically active and persistent to avoid degradation before transmitting its
curing effect. For this reason, pharmaceutical residuals are usually not
completely degraded or retained by adsorption to sludge but end up in
receiving waters. MBR is able to enhance trace-organic removal to a greater
extent as it has higher sludge age, higher biomass concentration, complete
retention of solids and microorganisms, etc. Several studies have been carried
out to verify the performance of MBR in the elimination of PhACs such as
lipid regulators and cholesterol lowering statin drugs,

-blockers, antibiotics,

anti-ulcer agent, analgesics and anti-inflammatory drugs[10]. Studies show that

the COD removal efficiencies of MBR can achieve a percentage of 93.7 to
97.8%[13]. Besides, problem of large amount of sludge recycling and sludge
disposal in the conventional activated sludge process can also be reduced to a
great extent, that is, 0.027g VSS (volatile suspended solids)/g COD removed.
In addition, shock in organic loading does not result in a failure of the
capability of MBR to treat the water.
Hence, complete solids removal, significant disinfection capability, high rate
and high efficiency organic removal and small footprint have made MBR an
excellent treatment solution to cope with the growing needs for transforming
wastewater into clean water in the pharmaceutical industry.

14

5.2

Design of Membrane Bioreactor (MBR)

Four key parameters are important for the operation and maintenance of MBR
such as flux, permeability, aeration, clean frequency and protocol[11]. Among
the parameters mentioned, design flux is a very important parameter in
designing a membrane bioreactor (MBR). The stability of the process is
greatly influenced by design flux as stability increases with lower design
flux[11]. Moreover, the determination of area for MBR design should be
constrained by budget available and risk level.
Flux can be defined as volume per area per unit time in which to express the
rate at which wastewater permeates a membrane in MBR. SAD p is a key
indicator in MBR technology with respect to air supply. It is defined as the
ratio of membrane aeration demand to flux. In designing MBR, low-fouling
membrane and efficient membrane air scour reduces SAD p and further reduces
energy demand which enable it to emerge as an important wastewater
treatment method in industry compare to others such as Activated Sludge
Process (ASP). Furthermore SAD m indicates the flowrate of air scour per
membrane area. This parameter is necessary to aerate the membrane unit in
MBR in order to remove solids particles[11]. A comparison study is tabulated
in Table 4 regarding the design of flux, permeability, SAD m and SADp in two
different configurations of MBR technology which are flat sheet membrane
and hollow fibre membrane.
Flux,

Permeability,

SADm

LMH

LMH/bar

[Nm3/(m2.h)

Mean

19.4

261

0.57

27.5

Mean

19.5

104

0.30

15.4

Configurations

Flat Sheet
Membrane
Hollow Fibre
Membrane

SADp

Table 4: Design data of flat sheet membrane and hollow fiber membrane [10]

15

Besides that, the design of MBR can be summarized as shown in the block
diagram in Figure 7 with material balance shown. This designed is referred to
the calculations done based on Kubota 515 Panel RM/RW Module [11].

Q sludge wastage rate

= 1144.7m3/h
Recycle ratio=1.54

V aeration tank =
10156.48m3

Vanoxic tank=
7555.6m3

Q influent =
2518.5 m3/h

V membrane tank,min =
1825m3 (Kubota)

Effluent

Recycle ratio=4
Vanoxic tank = Volume of anoxic tank
V aeration tank = Volume of aeration tank
V membrane tank,min = Minimum volume of membrane tank
Figure 7: Block diagram of MBR design [10]
5.3

Calculations for Membrane Bioreactor (MBR)

5.3.1 Determination of required SADm or SADp
Specific air demand based on membrane area (SADm) is defined as scouring
air flow rate per membrane area. SAD m does not reflect the cost performance
of a specific membrane as it is not sensitive to flux and the air pressure
required. It is the ratio of QA to membrane area.

Where, QA is membrane aeration rate (m3/hr) and Am is total membrane

surface area (m2).
The specific air demand based on permeate volume (SADp) is defined as
scouring air volume per permeate volume. SAD P is often used to compare the
air utilization efficiencies of membranes.
16

Where, QAir is air flow rate (m3/hr), J is flux (m/hr) and Am is total membrane
surface area (m2).
5.3.2 Determination of membrane air scouring capacity requirement
Designing air scouring system is one of the key technical challenges in MBR.
Air flow rate must be uniform among nozzles so that the membranes above the
nozzles are evenly scoured. Otherwise, a localized membrane fouling occurs
where the scouring air is not sufficient. The air scour energy in a MBR system
causes a high turbulent and surface contact to remove solid particles that
attach to the surface of the membrane as well as to protect from membrane
fouling which might cause lower production, lower membrane life and greater
operational cost. In order to determine the total net amount of air required to
perform biological treatment, calculation for the Mo (Oxygen requirement for
biological treatment) and Mm (Oxygen transferred by membrane aeration)
should be done.
In addition, aeration plays a vital role in the designation of membrane surface.
The membrane modules must be designed efficiently to maximize the mass
transfer in the internal spaces of membrane module thus allowing a systematic
use of scouring air. The submerged membrane typically needs a coarse bubble
aeration (air scouring) to remove flocculants and if the designation is not done
properly it might run inefficiently, causing a hike in energy bills and affects
the overall turndown capabilities.
In addition, in the case of hollow fiber membrane, rising bubbles also increase
random fiber movement that causes acceleration and deceleration of fibers in
liquid, which greatly increases the anti-fouling effect.
5.3.3 Determination of aerobic solid retention time
Assumptions:

Temperature below 280C.

Excess DO to supply the active microorganisms enough oxygen for

biochemical reaction
17

n = ( nm N / Kn + N ) -

kdn

Where,
n = specific growth rate of nitrifying bacteria, g new cells/ g cells.d
nm = maximum specific growth rate of nitrifying bacteria, g new cells/ g
cells.d
N

= Nitrogen concentration, g/m3

Kn

= Half velocity constant, substrate concentration at one-half the

maximum specific substrate utilization rate, g/m3

kdn

= Endogenous decay coefficient for nitrifying organisms, g VSS/ g

VSS.d
But for fully complete-mix activated sludge nitrification system, at
temperature below 25C with sufficient DO present, nitrification rates are
affected by the liquid DO concentration in activated sludge. To account for the
effects of DO, the expression for the specific growth rate described above is
modified as follows:

n = ( nm N / Kn + N ) ( DO / KO + DO ) -

kdn

Where DO = dissolved oxygen concentration, g/m3

K0 = half-saturation coefficient for DO, g/m3
5.3.4 Designation of aeration system
Same like all aerobic biological systems, the biomass contained in the MBR
needs to have a continuous amount of oxygen supply to carry out its chemical
reactions. The appropriate amount oxygen must be supplied to all the
microorganisms and wastewater to carry out these demands:

Carbonaceous biochemical oxygen demand (BOD): conversion of the

carbonaceous organic matter in wastewater to cell tissue and various
gaseous end products

18

Nitrogenous BOD: ammonical nitrogen is oxidized to the intermediate

product nitrite, which is then converted to nitrate; this process is
nitrification

Inorganic chemical oxygen demand (COD): oxidation of reduced

inorganic compounds within the wastewater.

5.3.5 Examples of Calculations

Assumptions:
1. Flux for the system, J is 10 L/m2.h
2. Average flow of wastewater is 70 Nm3/h and 30 m3/h
3. Area of membrane = 240 m2
4. Packing density of membranes is 115 m2/m3
5. The initial soluble BOD, So = 150 g/m3 and the final soluble BOD, S =
15 g/m3
6. DO concentration in the influent = 1.5 g/m3
7. Mass of mixed liquid suspended solid, MLSS = 250 kg/d with density
of 8 kg/m3
8. Nitrogen concentration, N = 1.0 g/m3
9. Space time,

is 3 hours

The energy demand for the aeration system can be determined via the specific
aeration demand (SAD) with reference to the volume of wastewater intake.
SADp =

(m3 of Air / m3 of permeate)

=
= 29.2 m3 of Air / m3 of permeate
To calculate the total membrane area required,
Am

=
=
= 3000 m2
19

Since the area of one membrane unit = 240 m2

Nmembrane=
= 10.4
= 11 membranes
To calculate the minimum volume of the membrane tank,
Vmin

=
=
= 26.1 m3

To calculate the growth rate at 12C,

nm

=(

) x (1.07)12-20

= 0.44 g/g.d
Kn

= 0.74 g/m3 x (1.053)12-20

= 0.49 g/m3

Kdn

= 0.08 g/g.d x (1.04)12-20

= 0.06 g/g.d

Substituting these values into the equation above, the n is calculated to be

0.672g/g.d
Given that the solid retention time,
SRT

=
=
= 1.49 days

Multiplying with a scaling factor of 1.25,

20

SRT

= 1.49 days x 1.25

= 1.86 days

Given that the mass of MLSS = 250 kg/d @ 8 kg/m3, the volume required for
the aerobic tank =
Vaer

= 250 kg/d x 1.86 d

= 465.03 kg 8 kg/m3
= 58.13 m3

Given that flow rate of influent = 30m3/h,

Vano

=Qx
= 30m3/h x 3h
= 90 m3

Figure 8: Activated-sludge nitrification kinetic coefficients at 20 C

21

5.4

Operating Variables for Membrane Bioreactor (MBR)

The detailed design parameters, operating and maintenance condition of MBR
in pharmaceutical industry for effluent treatment is tabulated in Table 5. It
shows the design data of a well-known MBR manufacturer in Italy which is
Kubota. This represents the typical parameters for the design of MBR
technology in pharmaceutical industry.
Design Parameters

Data

Membrane aeration capacity (Nm3/h)

90-180

Biological aeration capacity (Nm3/h)

160

F/M ratio

0.04-0.18

HRT (h)

10.2-15.4

SRT (day)

27-70

MLSS (g/L)

10.5-12

Chemical cleaning reagents

NaOCI, 0.5% followed by 1% Oxalic acid

(Clean frequency and protocol)

(Backflow and soaking for 2 horus)

SADm (Nm3/hm3)

0.75

SADp (Nm3air/m3 permeate)

60-90

Mean permeability

200-250 without relaxation

LMH/bar

500-800 with relaxation

Permeability decline kt, LMH/(barh)

1.5

Table 5: Design parameters, operating and maintenance conditions for MBR technology
in pharmaceutical industry [10]
The constituent of influent and effluent after treatment process through MBR
process is tabulated as below in Table 6 based on the block diagram of MBR
design. Based on Table 6, the difference between parameters of influent and
effluent constituent from MBR technology is obvious in terms of its BOD,
COD, TSS and TKN value. Total Kjedaldahl Nitrogen (TKN) is defined as the
sum of nitrogen, ammonia and ammonium content in wastewater. The
reduction of concentration in each constituent shows that MBR is effective in
treating the wastewater content from pharmaceutical industry based on the
design carried out by using Kubota Module.
22

Constituent

Unit

Influent

Effluent

Typical effluent
quality from MBR

BOD5

g/m

153.3

COD

g/m3

284.9

45

Total suspended solids

g/m3

92.5

3.94

g/m3

33.8

3.9

(TSS)
Total Kjedaldahl nitrogen
(TKN)
Table 6: Characteristics of influent and effluent with MBR [10]

23

6.0

SUSTAINABILITY OF DESIGN
Due to global environmental concerns, it is highly beneficial if wastewater effluent is
selectively reuse for agriculture and industrial purposes or utilized as low cost
substrates for energy production and value added products[12].
1. MBR utilization for biofuel production
Biogas is renewable fuel produced from the activity of methanogen. MBR
stands a potential in biofuel production with its anaerobic biological
process for wastewater treatment.
2. Electricity production
There is a restriction in the application of MBR which is the high energy
consumption, estimated at 0.8-1.1 kWh/

. The use of microbial fuel cells

(MFC) with MBR is able to convert chemical energy in organic matters

into electrical energy by catalytic reaction of microorganisms. In other
words, MFC can provide clean and safe energy, quiet performance, low
emissions and ease the operation of treatment.
3. Nutrients and metals recovery
Phosphorus recovered via MBR can be used for food production, primarily
for the production of fertilizer and animal feed additions. Besides, studies
also show that MBR is able to recover nitrogen from the effluent for a
fraction of about 90%.
All in all, the attractive advantages and interesting engineering characteristics of
membrane bioreactor (MBR) have great potential to play a vital role in wastewater
treatment for sustainable development and green tomorrow.

24

REFERENCES
1.

Gale, T., Pharmaceutical Industry, in International Encyclopedia of the Social

Sciences. 2008.

2.

PMLiVE. Top 25 Pharma Companies by Global Sales. 2015 [cited 2015 November
14]; Available from: http://www.pmlive.com/top_pharma_list/global_revenues#.

3.

C, G., et al., Pharmaceutical industry wastewater: Review of the technologies for

water treatement and reuse. Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, 2014. 53:
p. 11571-11592.

4.

Deschamps, E., et al., Managemennt of effluents and waste from pharmaceutical

industry in Minas Gerais, Brazil. Brazilian Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences, 2012.
48(4): p. 727-736.

5.

Kavitha, R.V., V.K. Makam, and K.a. Asith, Physio-Chemical analysis of effluents
from pharmaceutical industry and its efficiency study. International Journal of
Engineering Research and Applications (IJERA), 2012. 2(2): p. 103-110.

6.

Adebayo, G.B., et al., Assessment and biological treatment of effluent from a

pharmaceutical industry. Scholars Research Library, 2014. 1(4): p. 28-33.

7.

HyCa Technologies PVT LTD. 2015, HyCa Technologies PVT LTD.

8.

Rana, R.S., et al., A review on characterization and bioremediation of pharmaceutical

industries' wastewater: an Indian perspective. Applied Water Science, 2014.

9.

Zaerpour, M., Design, Cost & Benefit Analysis of a Membrane Bioreactor. 20132014, Department of Environmental and Geomatic Engineering.

10.

J, R., Membrane Bioreactor ( MBR ) as an Advanced Wastewater Treatment

Technology. 2008. 5: p. 37-101.

11.

Zaerpour, M., Design, cost & benefit analysis of a membrane bioreactor. 2014,
Department of Environmental and Geomatic Enginering, Politecnico di Milano:
Milano.

25

12.

H., N.C., et al., Green technology in wastewater treatment technologies: Integration

of membrane bioreactor with various wastewater treatment systems,. Chemical
Engineering Journal, 2015. 283: p. 582-594.

13.

K, G.S. and H. Y, 5 Treatment of Pharmaceutical Wastes. Waste Treat. Process Ind,

2006: p. 167-233.

26