MBBR (moving bed biofilm reactor ) wastewater treatment

 

 

 

 

An introduction to MBBR (moving bed biofilm reactor )/ FM Reactor/ FAB Reactor wastewater treatment

When communities of microorganisms grow on surfaces, they are called biofilms. Microorganisms in a biofilm wastewater treatment process are more resilient to process disturbances compared to other types of biological treatment processes.  Thus, biofilm wastewater treatment technologies can be considerably more robust especially when compared to conventional technologies like activated suldge process..

In the MBBR biofilm technology the biofilm grows protected within engineered plastic carriers, which are carefully designed with high internal surface area. These biofilm carriers are suspended and thoroughly mixed throughout the water phase. With this technology it is possible to handle extremely high loading conditions without any problems of clogging, and treat industrial and municipal wastewater on a relatively small footprint.

PHOTO OF MOVING MEDIA (BIO CARRIERS)

System description

The MBBR™ biofilm technology is based on specially designed plastic biofilm carriers or biocarriers that are suspended and in continuous movement within a tank or reactor of specified volume. The design of associated aerators, grids, sieves, spray nozzles and other integral parts to the reactor is also of great importance in making up the system as a whole .

The industrial and municipal wastewater is led to the MBBR™ treatment reactor where biofilm, growing within the internal structures of the biocarriers, degrade the pollutants.  These pollutants that need to be removed in order to treat the wastewater are food or substrate for growth of the biofilm.  The biocarrier design is critical due to requirements for good mass transfer of substrate and oxygen to the microorganisms  .  Excess biofilm sloughs off the biocarrier in a natural way .

An aeration grid located at the bottom of the reactor supplies oxygen to the biofilm along with the mixing energy required to keep the biocarriers suspended and completely mix within the reactor.

Treated water flows from reactor through a grid or a sieve, which retains the MBBR™ biocarriers in the reactor. Depending on the wastewater, the reactors are may be equipped with special spray nozzles that prevent excessive foam formation.