MBR vs. MBBR: Which Technology Fits Which Project?
- The Main Differences
Biomass Growth: Membrane Bioreactors (MBR) are biological reactors with suspended biomass. Moving Bed systems (MBBR) are reactors with attached biomass, where the biofilm forms itself on a support medium with a high specific surface area which is permanently in motion (hydro- or mechanised movement).
Separation Mechanism & Effluent Quality: MBR systems filter the treated sewage through membranes having very small dimensions, for example, ultrafiltration or nanofiltration. This provides a very close fit, with no need to add a chemical product to the liquid to achieve this barrier. The ability of the systems to maintain high biological treatment capacity comes from the very high biomass concentration that is achieved on their moving media (MBBR) (more than 20 kgTSS/m³).
Operational Challenges & Costs: One of the greatest benefits of the MBBR is that the constant flow does not cause the filter medium to become clogged, but the system does need to be operated with sophisticated devices to distribute the flow and to provide aeration, which can result in high operational and energy costs. Capital cost is another drawback that has been a challenge for MBR systems, but has been declining over the years.
Which Technology is Best For Which Scenario?
Linking these technical concepts with Xealio’s mobile and containerized wastewater solutions:
MBR is the best choice for projects that have very high quality requirements on effluent, hygiene requirements, or conditions of environmental discharge. It is ideal for municipal use, military bases, or humanitarian/refugee camps where public health and safe water reuse is paramount.
The decision to use MBBR: Due to its extremely high biomass and clogging-free property, the MBBR is very resilient and offers a huge treatment capacity in a small space. This is the perfect solution for strong and heavy load applications such as remote mining camps or industrial sites. In these cases, the requirement for a high capacity, non-clogging biological process is worth the increased energy demand to keep the bed moving.