PhD Research Proposal Abdulrahman Sukamari Ibrahim

Application of Biogranulation Technology for the Treatment of Petroleum Industry Wastewater

1. Introduction

It has been reported that Petroleum refining process generates wastewater of about 1.6 times the volume
of crude oil processed (Coelho et al, 2006). Large quantities of water is utilized at different stages of
petroleum processing such as desalting, distillation, thermal cracking and catalytic cracking thereby
producing large volume of wastewater. Even more volumes of wastewaters generation are expected as
more attention is given to oil extraction from oil sands, since oil sands is a source attracting interest as raw
oil wells are depleting globally (Karhu et al, 2009). These wastewaters characteristically contain
monoaromatic hydrocarbons such as BTEX (benzene, toluene, ethyl benzene and xylenes), phenols and
dissolved minerals. BTEX are toxic, posing a serious risk to soil and groundwater; they are also carcinogenic
(de Mello et al, 2010; El Naas et al, 2014). Phenols and dissolved minerals are also toxic to both human and
aquatic life (Tang et al, 2009). Thus, the requirement to treat petroleum wastewaters to regulatory
standards prior to disposal. Several physicochemical processes have been employed for petroleum
wastewater treatment including electrocoagulation, electrochemical oxidation, dissolved air floatation,
precipitation, and incineration (El Naas et al, 2009; Yan et al, 2011; Ham et al, 2007; Khan et al., 2013).
However, these processes are characterised by high installation and running costs, incomplete
mineralisation and the formation of secondary hazardous by-products (Fernandez et al., 2013).

Biological treatment processes have identified advantages over physicochemical processes including energy
efficiency in operation, economics, and environmentally feasible alternatives (Khan et al., 2013). However,
the toxic compounds present in petroleum and industrial wastewaters limit the application of conventional
biological treatment processes as they inhibit the growth-rate of biospecies; even for those that are known
to have the capability of using toxic compounds as substrate for growth (Khan et al., 2013). Additionally, the
fluffy biosolids employed in suspension systems are often washed out.

To overcome these limitations, biogranulation technology has emerged with a strong potential for industrial
wastewater treatment. Biogranulation is the process of microbe-to-microbe self-immobilization in the
absence of any media (Tay et al., 2009). The granules are characterised by well-defined shapes, superior
biomass retention, enhanced microbial functions and resilience to toxicity and shock loadings (Adav et al.,
2008, Show et al., 2012). The major challenge facing the technology is the long-term deterioration in
granule quality over time.

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PhD Research Proposal Abdulrahman Sukamari Ibrahim
2. Research Objective

The objective of the proposed research is to investigate the treatability of petroleum industry wastewater
using the aerobic biogranulation technology.

3. Brief Literature Review

Biogranules are dense microbial communities containing millions of organisms per gram of biomass (Tay et
al. 2009), which individually are not capable of completely degrading wastewaters, but complex interactions
among the resident species can achieve rapid treatment of wastewater (Liu and Tay 2002; Liu and Tay 2004).
Both aerobic and anaerobic granulation have been reported to be effective in the removal of a wide range
of pollutants in wastewater by several researchers (Tay et al., 2001; Moy et al., 2002; Liu et al., 2004; Yang
et al., 2004). Anaerobic granulation is characterized by long start-up time requirements which make the
technology a bit unattractive. Aerobic granulation technology, on the other hand, requires very short start-
up times but research to date has been on synthetic wastewater in sequencing batch reactor (SBR) (Adav et
al., 2008).

Aerobic granulation has been successfully applied in the simultaneous biodegradation of p-nitrophenol and
o-cresol in a sequencing batch reactor (SBR) with high removal efficiency by Fernandez et al (2013). Jiang et
al. (2002) were first to show that aerobically grown microbial granules can be used to degrade phenol.
Hashimi et al (2017) also proved the efficiency and flexibility of aerobic granulation technology in treating
oil refinery wastewater and dairy wastewater under fluctuating loading. Adav et al (2008) cited Moy et al
(2002) to have successfully applied aerobic sludge granules to treat high strength organic waste water.
Aerobic granulation technology has also been successfully employed in the treatment of dairy wastewater,
in the removal of nitrogen and phosphorus, in the removal of heavy metals and dyes, and in the removal of
particulate matter. Real industrial wastewater including highly toxic wastes such as nuclear or radioactive
wastes have been successfully treated using aerobic granular sludge.

One challenge facing the aerobic granulation technology is the lack of convincing experimental evidence for
understanding the basic mechanism of granule formation. Although most process parameters have been
optimized for compact and stable granule formation, there is still no understanding of the molecular
biological mechanism behind the effect of these parameters on microorganisms (Sarma and Tay, 2018). SBR
is the most suitable reactor for aerobic granule development and almost all studies on aerobic granules
reported so far were conducted using SBR (Pronk et al.2015; Li et al. 2014; Moy et al., 2002; Liu et al., 2004;

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PhD Research Proposal Abdulrahman Sukamari Ibrahim
Yang et al., 2004). However, for real wastewater treatment, continuous-flow reactors are mostly used all
over the world. Therefore, development of aerobic granules in a full-scale continuous-flow reactor is
presently considered by researchers. So far full scale studies on aerobic granulation in a continuous flow
reactor mode have been unsuccessful due to the problem of granule structural instability over time (Tay et
al., 2001; Beun et al., 1999; Peng et al., 1999; Show et al., 2012).

Consequently, further optimization of the engineering strategies and fundamental molecular

microbiological investigations would be crucial for dealing with the challenges of this technology and
ultimately lead to the widespread application for continuous flow reactor systems in commercial scale.

4. Experimental Approach

The experimental work would be carried out in a laboratory Sequential Batch Reactor (SBR) system in the
first instance. The reactor would be seeded with sludge collected from the aeration tank of a wastewater
treatment system of an oil refinery. Once granules are formed in the reactor, the morphology and size
distribution of granules would be measured by means of an image analysis procedure. Thereafter, series of
novel laboratory experiments will be conducted to understand the basis of granule formation, assess the
integrity of the granules and their treatment efficiency.

Investigation will be done under different operating conditions to establish optimum operating parameters.
Parameters to be investigated would include process parameters such as settling time, Hydraulic Retention
Time (HRT), up-flow velocity, Height to Depth (H/D) ratio, Organic Loading Rate (OLR) etc. Others to be
investigated according to standard methods include Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD), pH, Dissolved Oxygen
(DO), nitrate, nitrite and NH4 concentrations, Sludge Volume Index (SVI), Total Suspended Solids (TSS), and
Volatile Suspended Solids (VSS). Once optimum operating conditions have been established in SBR, attempt
would be made to understand the effects of these parameters on the microorganisms involved in granule
formation. Finally investigation would begin on continuous flow operation.

5. Significance of the Research

As wastewater discharge standards become more stringent and volumes keep rising, there is need to
develop cost-effective technologies that can meet these regulatory requirements. Aerobic granulation
technology can reduce the cost and energy requirement for wastewater treatment. Without reducing the
daily wastewater handling capacity, this new technology can reduce the size of the wastewater treatment
plant by 75% (Sarma and Tay, 2018).The development of the novel technology for industrial wastewater
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PhD Research Proposal Abdulrahman Sukamari Ibrahim
treatment in continuous flow operation will open the door to the commercialization of the biogranulation
technology.

Reference

Adav, S.S., Lee, D.J., Show, K.Y., Tay, J.H., 2008. Aerobic granular sludge: recent advances. Biotechnology
Advances. 26: 411–423.

Beun, J.J., Hendricks, A., Van Loosdrecht, M.C.M., Morgenroth, E., Wilderer, P.A., Heijnen, J.J. 1999. Aerobic
granulation in a sequencing batch reactor. Water Research. 33, 2283–2290.

Coelho, A.; Castro, A. V.; Dezotti, M.; Sant’Anna, G. L., (2006), Treatment of petroleum refinery sourwater by
advanced oxidation processes. Journal of hazardous materials, 137 (1), 178-184.

de Mello, J. M. M.; de Lima, B. H.; de Souza, A. A. U.; da Silva, A.; Ulson, S. M. d. A. G., 2010, Biodegradation of
BTEX compounds in a biofilm reactor—modeling and simulation. Journal of Petroleum Science and
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El-Naas MH, Acio JA & El Telib AE (2014) Aerobic biodegradation of BTEX: Progresses and prospects. Journal of
Environmental Chemical Engineering 2: 1104−1122.

El-Naas, M. H.; Al-Zuhair, S.; Al-Lobaney, A.; Makhlouf, S., 2009, Assessment of electrocoagulation for the
treatment of petroleum refinery wastewater. Journal of environmental management, 91 (1), 180-185.

Hami, M. L.; Al-Hashimi, M. A.; Al-Doori, M. M., 2007, Effect of activated carbon on BOD and COD removal in a
dissolved air flotation unit treating refinery wastewater. Desalination, 216 (1-3), 116-122.

J. Li, L.-B. Ding, A. Cai, G.-X. Huang and H. Horn, 2014, Aerobic sludge granulation in a full-scale sequencing batch
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Liu, Y. and Tay, J.-H., (2002). The essential role of hydrodynamic shear force in the formation of biofilm and
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Liu, Y., Yang, S. Y., Tay, J. H., Liu, Q. S., Qin, L., Li, Y. 2004. Cell hydrophobicity is a triggering force of biogranulation.
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M.A.I. Al-Hashimi, T.R. Abbas, and G.F. Jumaha, 2017, “Aerobic Granular Sludge: an Advanced Technology to
Treat Oil Refinery and Dairy Wastewaters,” Engineering and Technology Journal, Vol. 35, Part A, No. 3, pp.
216-221.
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M. Pronk, M. De Kreuk, B. De Bruin, P. Kamminga, R. V. Kleerebezem and M. Van Loosdrecht, 2015, Full scale
performance of the aerobic granular sludge process for sewage treatment. Water Res., 84, 207–217

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characteristics of aerobic sludge granules. Letters in Applied Microbiology, 34, 407–412.

Peng, D., Bernet, N., Delgenes, J. P., Moletta, R. 1999. Aerobic granular sludge—a case report. Water Research,
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S. J. Sarma, J. H. Tay, 2018, Aerobic granulation for future wastewater treatment technology: challenges ahead,
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biochemical biotechnology,167, 1622-1640

Tang, X.; Eke, P. E.; Scholz, M.; Huang, S., 2009, Processes impacting on benzene removal in vertical-flow
constructed wetlands. Bioresource technology, 100 (1), 227-234.

Tay, J.-H., Liu, Q.-S., Liu, Y., 2001. Microscopic observation of aerobic granulationin sequential aerobic sludge
blanket reactor. Journal of Applied Microbiology. 91: 168 - 175.

Yan, L.; Ma, H.; Wang, B.; Wang, Y.; Chen, Y., 2011, Electrochemical treatment of petroleum refinery wastewater
with three-dimensional multi-phase electrode. Desalination, 276 (1), 397-402.

Yang, S. F., Tay, J. H., Liu, Y. 2004. Respirometric activities of heterotrophic and nitrifying populations in aerobic
granules developed at different substrate N/COD ratios. Current Microbiology, 49, 42–46.