Impact of food to microorganism (F/M) ratio and colloidal chemical oxygen demand on nitrification performance of a full-scale membrane bioreactor treating thin film transistor liquid crystal display wastewater.

•Nitrification can be feasible for full-scale MBR treating high nitrogen-containing wastewater.•F/M ratio is important to stable nitrification for TFT-LCD wastewater treatment.•Colloidal COD at a concentration higher than 150mg/L inhibits nitrification.•Occurrence of Nm. oligotropha indicates good nitrification in MBR treating TFT-LCD wastewater.