This study applied Response Surface Methodology (RSM) to optimize the performance of a pilot-scale aerobic ceramic membrane bioreactor treating textile wastewater. The results demonstrated that HRT, OLR, MLSS, and TMP along with their interactions significantly affected COD and turbidity removal. RSM successfully identified the optimal operating region, with optimum conditions of HRT = 10.3888 h, OLR = 1.90893 kg COD/(m³.d), MLSS = 7.3347 g/L, and TMP = 1.07646 bar.
The strong agreement between experimental data and model predictions confirms the robustness of the developed model, highlighting RSM as an efficient tool for process optimization.
For future work, it is recommended to validate these optimal conditions at larger scales, assess long-term performance and membrane fouling, and consider the inclusion of additional operational factors to further refine the optimization.