Refinery wastewater treatment is needed especially in the oil-producing arid regions such as oil refineries due to water scarcity. One of potentially applicable process to treat refinery wastewater is a submerged membrane technology. However, the application of submerged membrane systems for industrial wastewater treatment is still in its infancy due to significant variety in wastewater composition and high operational costs. Aim of this study was to investigate ultrafiltration (UF) membrane morphology and performance for refinery produced wastewater treatment. Submerged UF bundle was equipped using polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) hollow fibers, which added by dispersing lithium chloride monohydrate (LiCl.H2O) and titanium dioxide (TiO2). The comparison of morphological and performance tests was conducted on prepared PVDF ultrafiltration membranes. Distinctive changes were observed in membrane characteristics in term of membrane wettability, tensile testing and roughness measurement. Mean pore size and surface porosity were calculated based on permeate flux. Fouling characteristics for hydrophilic PVDF hollow fibers fouled with suspended solid matter was also investigated. Mixed liquor suspended solid (MLSS) of 3 g/L and 4.5 g/L were assessed by using submerged PVDF membrane with varied air bubble flow rates. Results showed that effect of air bubbles flow rate of 2.4 ml/min increased flux, total suspended solids (TSS) and sulfide removal of 148.82 L/m2h, 99.82 % and 89.2%, respectively due to increase of turbulence around fibers, which exerts shear stress to minimize particles deposited on membrane surface. It was concluded that submerged ultrafiltration is an available option to minimize energy process for treating such wastewater solution.
