The effluent collected from the distillery industry is
highly acidic with a pH range of around 3. Hence, it is
neutralized using sodium hydroxide. The neutralized
solution has a lot of suspended solids, so the filtration
is carried out to remove the suspended particles with a
fine-pore thin cloth. This pre-filtrate is used as feed.
Pretreatment of alcohol-distillery wastes with ceramic
membranes is performed prior to anaerobic digestion.
Ceramic membranes of different pore size are chosen
based on the particle size distribution in raw wastes. In
some pretreatment, chemical oxygen demand (COD) is
reduced from 36000 to 18000 mg/L and suspended
solids are almost completely removed. Mixed stillage
exhibited higher fouling tendency than pure naked
barley stillage. Several cleaning methods are attempted
to recover water flux.