ElectroSAnMBR · Development of A Novel Submerged Anaerobic Electrochemical Membrane Bioreactor (e-SAnMBR) for bilge water treatment

Bilge water is the main pollutant of shipboard wastewater; it can be briefly defined as saline, oily and greasy wastewater with a high COD (> 3-15 g COD L-1). The discharge of oil residue to marine environments is prohibited according to the International Maritime Organization (IMO) regulations (MARPOL 73/78) and the European directive 2000/59/EC. However, due to the fact that the major part of the oil in bilge water is emulsified, the physical methods may fail to satisfy the targeted treatment levels and contribute significantly to operational cost. Few studies are so far available for the use of biological methods for real bilge water treatment.Electro-SAnMBR” project will develop an innovative technology consisting of an electrolysis cell (EC) inside a Submerged Anaerobic Membrane Bioreactor (SAnMBR) for the treatment of real bilge water. The electrochemical system will be consisted by a pair of electrodes (anode and cathode, without an ion exchange membrane) inside a SAnMBR. This e-SAnMBR system will be developed and optimized at a laboratory scale at Environmental Engineering Laboratory (EEL) Cyprus University of Technology (CUT), then it will be operated at pilot scale at Ecofuel Cyprus Ltd and the microbial profile in bioreactors will be examined at Environmental Bioprocessing laboratory (EBL) at CUT. The electrodes will be constructed at the Nano/Micro Mechanics of Materials Lab (NMML) at CUTThe research will be mainly implemented by Dr Gatidou and will involve novel aspects from many disciplines such as molecular microbiology, material science, environmental biotechnology, chemical engineering and environmental analysis and will also involve testing of bioreactors at industrial pilot scale level (Ecofuel Ltd). In addition, potential success of the project could lead to immediate application of the research findings by the company (Ecofuel Ltd) but also to future commercialization of the results