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Tuesday, May 9, 2023

05-09-2023-1424 - Moving bed biofilm reactor (MBBR) ; rotating biological contactor

Moving bed biofilm reactor (MBBR) is a type of wastewater treatment process that was first invented by Prof. Hallvard Ødegaard at Norwegian University of Science and Technology in the late 1980s.[1] The process takes place in an aeration tank with activated sludge and uses floating, recycled plastic carriers that a biofilm can grow on. The compact size and cheap wastewater treatment costs offers many advantages for the system. The main objective of using MBBR being water reuse and nutrient removal or recovery.[2] In theory, wastewater will be no longer considered waste, it can be considered a resource. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moving_bed_biofilm_reactor

A rotating biological contactor or RBC is a biological fixed-film treatment process used in the secondary treatment of wastewater following primary treatment.[1][2][3][4][5] The primary treatment process involves removal of grit, sand and coarse suspended material through a screening process, followed by settling of suspended solids. The RBC process allows the wastewater to come in contact with a biological film in order to remove pollutants in the wastewater before discharge of the treated wastewater to the environment, usually a body of water (river, lake or ocean). A rotating biological contactor is a type of secondary (biological) treatment process. It consists of a series of closely spaced, parallel discs mounted on a rotating shaft which is supported just above the surface of the wastewater. Microorganisms grow on the surface of the discs where biological degradation of the wastewater pollutants takes place.

Rotating biological contactors (RBCs) are capable of withstanding surges in organic load. To be successful, micro-organisms need both oxygen to live and food to grow. Oxygen is obtained from the atmosphere as the disks rotate. As the micro-organisms grow, they build up on the media until they are sloughed off due to shear forces provided by the rotating discs in the sewage. Effluent from the RBC is then passed through a clarifier where the sloughed biological solids in suspension settle as a sludge.[6] 

Operation

The rotating packs of disks (known as the media) are contained in a tank or trough and rotate at between 2 and 5 revolutions per minute. Commonly used plastics for the media are polyethylene, PVC and expanded polystyrene. The shaft is aligned with the flow of wastewater so that the discs rotate at right angles to the flow, with several packs usually combined to make up a treatment train. About 40% of the disc area is immersed in the wastewater.[8]: Ch 2 

Biological growth is attached to the surface of the disc and forms a slime layer. The discs contact the wastewater with the atmospheric air for oxidation as it rotates. The rotation helps to slough off excess solids. The disc system can be staged in series to obtain nearly any detention time or degree of removal required. Since the systems are staged, the culture of the later stages can be acclimated to the slowly degraded materials.[8]: Ch 2 

The discs consist of plastic sheets ranging from 2 to 4 m in diameter and are up to 10 mm thick. Several modules may be arranged in parallel and/or in series to meet the flow and treatment requirements. The discs are submerged in waste water to about 40% of their diameter. Approximately 95% of the surface area is thus alternately submerged in waste water and then exposed to the atmosphere above the liquid. Carbonaceous substrate is removed in the initial stage of RBC. Carbon conversion may be completed in the first stage of a series of modules, with nitrification being completed after the 5th stage. Most design of RBC systems will include a minimum of 4 or 5 modules in series to obtain nitrification of waste water. As the biofilm biomass changes from Carbon metabolizing to nitrifying, a visual colour change from grey/beige to brown can be seen which is illustrated by the adjacent photo.

Biofilm color transition from grey/beige to brown, left to right, indicates slow transition from Carbon metabolizing bacteria to Nitrogen metabolizing bacteria. Courtesy of KEE Process Ltd.

Biofilms, which are biological growths that become attached to the discs, assimilate the organic materials (measured as BOD5) in the wastewater. Aeration is provided by the rotating action, which exposes the media to the air after contacting them with the wastewater, facilitating the degradation of the pollutants being removed. The degree of wastewater treatment is related to the amount of media surface area and the quality and volume of the inflowing wastewater.

RBC's regularly achieve the following effluent parameters for treated waste water: BOD5: 20 mg/L, Suspended Solids: 30 mg/L and Ammonia N: 20 mg/L. They consume very low power and make little noise due to the slow rotation of the rotor (2-5 RPM). They are generally considered very robust and low maintenance systems. Better discharge effluent parameters can be achieved by adding a tertiary polishing filter after the RBC to lower BOD5, SS and Ammonia Nitrogen. An additional UV or Chlorination step can achieve effluent parameters that make the water suitable for irrigation or toilet flushing.

Secondary clarification

Secondary clarifiers following RBCs are identical in design to conventional humus tanks, as used downstream of trickling filters. Sludge is generally removed daily, or pumped automatically to the primary settlement tank for co-settlement. Regular sludge removal reduces the risk of anaerobic conditions from developing within the sludge, with subsequent sludge flotation due to the release of gases.

A schematic cross-section of the contact face of the bed media in a rotating biological contactor (RBC)[7]


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotating_biological_contactor

 

 

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