Sustainable treatment of dairy industry wastewater using an integrated anaerobic membrane bioreactor-reverse osmosis system for industrial water reuse

Busra Cicekalan; Shayan Shitreh; Beril Cavdar; Soodeh Salimi-Khaligh; Ayse Yuksekdag; Abdullah Cataltas; Ahmet Musluoglu; Huseyin Guven; Ismail Koyuncu; Hale Ozgun; Mustafa Evren Ersahin

doi:10.1016/j.cej.2025.166345

Sustainable treatment of dairy industry wastewater using an integrated anaerobic membrane bioreactor-reverse osmosis system for industrial water reuse

Busra Cicekalan^*
, Shayan Shitreh
, Beril Cavdar
, Soodeh Salimi-Khaligh
, Ayse Yuksekdag
, Abdullah Cataltas
, Ahmet Musluoglu
, Huseyin Guven
, Ismail Koyuncu
, Hale Ozgun
, Mustafa Evren Ersahin

^*Corresponding author for this work

Department of Environmental Engineering

Istanbul Technical University
SUTAS Sut Urunleri A.S.
Hochreiter Biyogaz A.S.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

8 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The increasing demand for water in industrial processes has prompted the exploration of sustainable water management technologies. This study investigated the integration of an anaerobic membrane bioreactor (AnMBR) with reverse osmosis (RO) for energy recovery and water reuse in the dairy industry. The AnMBR system, fed with dairy industry wastewater, was operated under mesophilic conditions, and its treatment and filtration performances were evaluated. The permeate from the AnMBR system was subsequently treated by the RO system, and the quality of reclaimed water was assessed for potential industrial reuse. The methane yield from anaerobic digestion of dairy industry wastewater was 0.214 ± 0.008 mL CH₄/g COD_fed. The RO permeate quality met EPA standards, and the combined AnMBR + RO system operated at a cost of 0.46 €/m³. The findings of this study demonstrated that the AnMBR + RO system could produce treated water suitable for use as makeup water in cooling towers, offering a sustainable alternative for industrial water reuse and reducing the overall water footprint.

Original language	English
Article number	166345
Journal	Chemical Engineering Journal
Volume	521
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2025.166345
Publication status	Published - 1 Oct 2025

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2025 Elsevier B.V.

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 6 Clean Water and Sanitation
SDG 9 Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure

Keywords

Anaerobic membrane bioreactor
Dairy industry wastewater
Energy recovery
Reverse osmosis
Water reuse

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10.1016/j.cej.2025.166345

Cite this

Cicekalan, B., Shitreh, S., Cavdar, B., Salimi-Khaligh, S., Yuksekdag, A., Cataltas, A., Musluoglu, A., Guven, H., Koyuncu, I., Ozgun, H., & Ersahin, M. E. (2025). Sustainable treatment of dairy industry wastewater using an integrated anaerobic membrane bioreactor-reverse osmosis system for industrial water reuse. Chemical Engineering Journal, 521, Article 166345. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2025.166345

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abstract = "The increasing demand for water in industrial processes has prompted the exploration of sustainable water management technologies. This study investigated the integration of an anaerobic membrane bioreactor (AnMBR) with reverse osmosis (RO) for energy recovery and water reuse in the dairy industry. The AnMBR system, fed with dairy industry wastewater, was operated under mesophilic conditions, and its treatment and filtration performances were evaluated. The permeate from the AnMBR system was subsequently treated by the RO system, and the quality of reclaimed water was assessed for potential industrial reuse. The methane yield from anaerobic digestion of dairy industry wastewater was 0.214 ± 0.008 mL CH4/g CODfed. The RO permeate quality met EPA standards, and the combined AnMBR + RO system operated at a cost of 0.46 €/m3. The findings of this study demonstrated that the AnMBR + RO system could produce treated water suitable for use as makeup water in cooling towers, offering a sustainable alternative for industrial water reuse and reducing the overall water footprint.",

keywords = "Anaerobic membrane bioreactor, Dairy industry wastewater, Energy recovery, Reverse osmosis, Water reuse",

author = "Busra Cicekalan and Shayan Shitreh and Beril Cavdar and Soodeh Salimi-Khaligh and Ayse Yuksekdag and Abdullah Cataltas and Ahmet Musluoglu and Huseyin Guven and Ismail Koyuncu and Hale Ozgun and Ersahin, \{Mustafa Evren\}",

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Cicekalan, B, Shitreh, S, Cavdar, B, Salimi-Khaligh, S, Yuksekdag, A, Cataltas, A, Musluoglu, A, Guven, H , Koyuncu, I , Ozgun, H & Ersahin, ME 2025, 'Sustainable treatment of dairy industry wastewater using an integrated anaerobic membrane bioreactor-reverse osmosis system for industrial water reuse', Chemical Engineering Journal, vol. 521, 166345. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2025.166345

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T1 - Sustainable treatment of dairy industry wastewater using an integrated anaerobic membrane bioreactor-reverse osmosis system for industrial water reuse

AU - Cicekalan, Busra

AU - Shitreh, Shayan

AU - Cavdar, Beril

AU - Salimi-Khaligh, Soodeh

AU - Yuksekdag, Ayse

AU - Cataltas, Abdullah

AU - Musluoglu, Ahmet

AU - Guven, Huseyin

AU - Koyuncu, Ismail

AU - Ozgun, Hale

AU - Ersahin, Mustafa Evren

PY - 2025/10/1

Y1 - 2025/10/1

N2 - The increasing demand for water in industrial processes has prompted the exploration of sustainable water management technologies. This study investigated the integration of an anaerobic membrane bioreactor (AnMBR) with reverse osmosis (RO) for energy recovery and water reuse in the dairy industry. The AnMBR system, fed with dairy industry wastewater, was operated under mesophilic conditions, and its treatment and filtration performances were evaluated. The permeate from the AnMBR system was subsequently treated by the RO system, and the quality of reclaimed water was assessed for potential industrial reuse. The methane yield from anaerobic digestion of dairy industry wastewater was 0.214 ± 0.008 mL CH4/g CODfed. The RO permeate quality met EPA standards, and the combined AnMBR + RO system operated at a cost of 0.46 €/m3. The findings of this study demonstrated that the AnMBR + RO system could produce treated water suitable for use as makeup water in cooling towers, offering a sustainable alternative for industrial water reuse and reducing the overall water footprint.

AB - The increasing demand for water in industrial processes has prompted the exploration of sustainable water management technologies. This study investigated the integration of an anaerobic membrane bioreactor (AnMBR) with reverse osmosis (RO) for energy recovery and water reuse in the dairy industry. The AnMBR system, fed with dairy industry wastewater, was operated under mesophilic conditions, and its treatment and filtration performances were evaluated. The permeate from the AnMBR system was subsequently treated by the RO system, and the quality of reclaimed water was assessed for potential industrial reuse. The methane yield from anaerobic digestion of dairy industry wastewater was 0.214 ± 0.008 mL CH4/g CODfed. The RO permeate quality met EPA standards, and the combined AnMBR + RO system operated at a cost of 0.46 €/m3. The findings of this study demonstrated that the AnMBR + RO system could produce treated water suitable for use as makeup water in cooling towers, offering a sustainable alternative for industrial water reuse and reducing the overall water footprint.

KW - Anaerobic membrane bioreactor

KW - Dairy industry wastewater

KW - Energy recovery

KW - Reverse osmosis

KW - Water reuse

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DO - 10.1016/j.cej.2025.166345

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SN - 1385-8947

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JF - Chemical Engineering Journal

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ER -

Sustainable treatment of dairy industry wastewater using an integrated anaerobic membrane bioreactor-reverse osmosis system for industrial water reuse

Abstract

Bibliographical note

UN SDGs

Keywords

Access to Document

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