MBBR (Moving Bed Biofilm Reactor) TECHNOLOGY

apple-icon-60x60

Currently, MBBR (Moving Bed Biofilm Reactor) technology represents one of the most efficient and reliable solutions in wastewater treatment.

The heart of this technology are special plastic carriers, which operate inside biological reactors.

These carriers greatly increase the efficiency of biological treatments, as they provide micro-organisms with a protected surface, on which they can adhere and develop. In this way a stable and resistant biofilm is formed, which allows to reduce the volume of the biological reactor up to 3-4 times.

Unlike other attached growth biomass technologies, the carriers inside the reactors are not static, but move freely, thanks to the mixing action of the aeration systems or submerged mixers.

The various types of carriers developed by ITALPROGETTI are specially designed and manufactured for:

  • have a high specific surface, protected from abrasion phenomena

  • ensure maximum mass transfer efficiency (between the biofilm and the effluent)

  • avoid clogging phenomena

The benefits of MBBR technology are several:

  • Compactness: With MBBR technology the reactor volumes are drastically reduced and therefore it is possible to operate in very limited spaces, usually impossible for other types of conventional treatment.

  • Expandability: The capability of the treatment plant can be increased simply by putting more carriers in the reactor.

  • Flexibility: The MBBR biological reactor can assume different configurations. The same reactor can be divided into compartments, where the biofilm can specialize according to the actual characteristics of the wastewater, which change from compartment to compartment. In particular, it is possible to create sectors with a attached growth nitrifying biomass, which, not competing with other types of micro-organisms, is particularly resistant and efficient in nitrogen oxidation.

  • Stability: The active biofilm reacts rapidly to fluctuations in the incoming organic load, both in qualitative and quantitative terms. MBBR technology guarantees excellent treatment stability, especially in cases of variability of the characteristics of the wastewater to be treated.

  • Operational simplicity:In the absence of a recycling of biological sludge and a concentration of suspended biomass to be monitored, the management of the MBBR treatment is linear and very simplified.

ITALPROGETTI offers its customers 3 possible plant solutions that adopt MBBR technology.

1. MBBR STAND-ALONE

It is the easiest configuration. This configuration guarantees a high reduction of soluble pollutants (soluble BOD and COD, total nitrogen) and at the same time guarantees the highest operative simplicity.

MBBR_1_ENG

2. HIGH LOAD PRE-TREATMENT

In this configuration the effluent has been treated in a MBBR reactor, in order to remove most of the organic load; then the effluent goes to an activated sludge system for a final refinement and to reach high quality standards.

MBBR_2_ENG

3.INTEGRATED FIXED-FILM ACTIVATED SLUDGE (IFAS)

The IFAS process is a hybrid system, in which MBBR carriers are introduced into a suspended biomass reactor.

The advantages of traditional activated sludge technology are combined with those of MBBR technology: attached growth and suspended biomass act in synergy for an effective removal of the polluting load.

MBBR_3_ENG