Abstract

The present study introduced a laboratory-scale, anaerobic treatment system for the removal of oil from synthetic wastewater using a biofilm-electrode reactor (BER). The operating parameters of current intensity, initial concentration, reaction time, and supporting electrolyte were investigated. The results of the present study showed that the optimal conditions were: a current intensity of 15 mA, COD concentration of 1500 mg L-1, a reaction time of three days, and 150 mg L-1 NaCl as a supporting electrolyte. The highest efficiency for the COD removal was 86.7 using the introduced method, while it was 65.9 using general biological processes. In the present study, the energy consumed by the bioelectrochemical system was 1.914 kWh/m(3). The biokinetic study indicated that the removal reaction was more consistent with the modified Stover-Kincannon model. The present study indicated that BER is a promising method for the treatment of oil-contaminated wastewaters. It is expected that experimental results will be used as a reference for advance bio-treating of oily wastewater.