Chapter:1

INTRODUCTION

The moving bed bio-film reactor (MBBR) can be operated as a 2- (anoxic) or 3- (aerobic) phase
system with buoyant free-moving plastic bio-film carriers that require energy (i.e., mechanical
mixing or aeration) for uniform distribution throughout the bulk phase. Information related to
system design is fragmented and poorly documented. This study instead of using plastic media
carrier we decided to take activated carbon and the efficiency of the treatment is going to check.

1)Ability to meet treatment objectives similar to activated sludge, with respect to 5-day
biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5) and nitrogen removal, in a smaller tank volume
(Andreottola et al., 2000).

2)Biomass retention is clarifier-independent.

3)MBBR is a continuous-flow process that does not require a special operational cycle for bio-
film thickness control.

4)Liquid–solids separation can be achieved with sedimentation basins, dissolved air flotation,
ballasted flocculation, granular media filtration, cloth-disc filtration, and membrane (UF/MF)
filtration.

5)MBBRs are well-suited for retrofit installation.

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 1.1 GENERAL DESCRIPTION

An MBBR may be a single reactor or configured as several reactors-in-series. Typically, each

MBBR has a length-to-width ratio (L:W) in the range 0.5:1 to 1.5:1. Plans with a L:W greater than
1.5:1 can result in the free-moving plastic bio-film carriers being non-uniformly distributed
throughout the bioreactor. As a result, the system is subjected to poor oxygen transfer efficiency
and reduced hydraulic capacity of the plastic bio-film carrier retention screens. The MBBRs
contain a plastic bio-film carrier volume up to 67% of the empty bed liquid volume (or carrier fill).
Plastic bio-film carrier retaining screens typically are installed with one MBBR wall and allow
treated effluent to flow through to the next treatment step. Aerobic MBBRs use a diffused aeration
system to uniformly distribute plastic bio-film carriers and meet process oxygen requirements.
Plastic bio-film carriers in denitrification MBBRs are distributed by mechanical mixers. Bio-film
thickness is controlled by air flow or mechanical mixing energy. The MBBR components are
submerged. Activated Carbon bio-film carriers must be removed from the MBBR before service
or repair of the diffuser grid, unless the grid has been installed with a swing arm. Mechanical
mixers can be removed by a hoist and crane assembly. The following includes a general description
of MBBR components, process, and process mechanical design information.

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 Chapter:2

TABEL 2.1 Literature Review/Existing Innovation-technology

to address related to our problem

SR AUTHOR TOPIC METHODOLOGY CONCLUSION

.
NO

 David C. Austin, Integrated • The wastewater This paper concludes the

1.  David J. Maciolek hydroponic treatment systems technique of treatment of
 J. Rob von Rohr and wetland have a plurality of
waste water using
wastewater treatment modules
treatment between the inlet aerated hydroponic
System and and the outlet, each reactor (aquatic plants)
associated for treating water
and removal of some
methods. with a selected
process. organic compound and
• Influent is directed solids.
to a covered
anaerobic reactor,
and then to an
attached growth
pretreatment filter
that is at least
intermittently
exposed to
atmospheric oxygen.
. • Jack E. Barker. Self-powered • A water purification This paper concludes
2. • Carmen L. water unit to purify that the water
Barker. purification potentially purification is done
using various
system contaminated water
equipments like
is provided. expansion tank , fluid
• The water pump and non grid
purification unit is in means of electric power.

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 fluid communication
with a water source
and has a pump to
draw water from the
water source.
• The water is
passed through at
least a main filter
to purify the water
and dispensed
through an outlet.
• Power is provided to
the water purification
unit by a battery bank
and a non-grid power
source.
3. • Meng H. Lean Membrane • The water This research paper
• Joe Zuback bioreactor (MBR) treatment system concludes that the waste
• Nitin Parekh. and and method water is treated using
MBR technique for
• Norine E.Chang. Moving bed incorporating the
removal of total
• Huangpin Ben bioreactor use of a suspended solids.
Hsieh (MBBR) hydrodynamic
• 0Kai Melde. configurations for separator to
wastewater remove most of the
Treatment. totalsuspended
solids (TSS) in
source water being
treated to thereby
lighten the load on
membrane
filtration in the
water treatment
system and lower
energy costs.

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Chapter:3
MBBR TECHNOLOGY

Moving bed bio-film reactor (MBBR) is a type of wastewater treatment process that was
first invented by Prof. HallvardØdegaard at Norwegian university of science and technology in
the late 1980s. It was commercialized by KaldnesMiljöteknologi (now called AnoxKaldnes and
owned by Veolia Water Technologies). There are over 700 wastewater treatment systems (both
municipal and industrial) installed in over 50 countries.

The MBBR system consists of an aeration tank (similar to an activated sludge tank) with
special plastic carriers that provide a surface where a bio-film can grow. The carriers are made of
a material with a density close to the density of water (1 g/cm3). An example is high-density
polyethylene (HDPE) which has a density close to 0.95 g/cm3. The carriers will be mixed in the
tank by the aeration system and thus will have good contact between the substrate in the influent
wastewater and the biomass on the carriers. To prevent the plastic carriers from escaping the
aeration it is necessary to have a sieve on the outlet of the tank. To achieve higher concentration
of biomass in the bioreactors, hybrid MBBR systems have also been used wheresuspended and
attached biomass co-exist contributing both to biological processes. There are also anaerobic
MBBRs that have been mainly used for industrial wastewater treatment. Recently, a combination
of anaerobic (methanogenic) MBBR with aerobic MBBR was applied in the laboratory for
municipal wastewater treatment with simultaneous production of biogas.

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 FIG-2.1. MBBR Technology

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 3.1 ADVANTAGES

The MBBR system is considered a bio-film process. Other conventional bio-film processes for
wastewater treatment are called trickling filter, rotating biological contactor (RBC) and biological
aerated filter (BAF). Bio-film processes in general require less space than activated sludge systems
because the biomass is more concentrated, and the efficiency of the system is less dependent on
the final sludge separation. A disadvantage with other bio-film processes is that they experience
bioclogging and build-up of headloss. MBBR systems don't need a recycling of the sludge, which
is the case with activated sludge systems.The MBBR system is often installed as a retrofit of
existing activated sludge tanks to increase the capacity of the existing system. The degree of filling
of carriers can be adapted to the specific situation and the desired capacity. Thus an existing
treatment plant can increase its capacity without increasing the footprint by constructing new
tanks.When constructing the filling degree can be set to, for example, 40% in the beginning, and
later be increased to 70% by filling more carriers. Examples of situations can be population
increase in a city for a municipal wastewater treatment plant or increased wastewater production
from an industrial factory.

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 3.2 DESIGNING PARAMETERS

The designing parameters for tank for MBBR system are given below:-

TABLE- 3.1 DESIGN PARAMETERS

Parameters Unit Values Range
Anoxic Retention Time Hour 1-1.2
Aerobic Retention Time Hour 3.5-4.5
Bio-film Area or Surface m²/m³ 200-250
BOD Loading Kg/m³.d 1-1.4
Hydraulically Retention Time m/h 0.5-0.8
of Secondary clarifier

3.3 TYPICAL OPERATING PARAMETERS OF MBBR SYSTEM

TABLE-3.2 OPERATING PARAMETER

Variable Range
Media Diameter (mm) 7-15
Media Length (mm) 10-15
Spacing Surface Area(m²/m³) 160,490-7700
Filling Fraction(%) 60-70
Contact Time (hr) 2-5
BOD Loading Rate(kg BOD7/m³. day 4-5

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 3.4 REACTORS USED IN MBBR TECHNOLOGY

The reactors used in MBBR technology are made up of polyethylene reactors as shown in figure.
There are chances of breakage and clogging of polyethylene reactors. These polyethylene reactors
cannot be reused after breakage or after clogging. Instead of using these reactors we can use any
other subsequent material like activated carbon.

Aerobic reactor Anoxic reactor

FIG-2.2THE MOVING BED BIO-FILM REACTOR USED IN MBBR

TECHNOLOGY

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Chapter : 4

ACTIVATED CARBON BIO-FILM CARRIERS

Bio-film carriers described here typically are extruded or molded from virgin high-density
polyethylene, but may be recycled high-density polyethylene. No long-term experience exists for
operating MBBRs that use recycled plastic bio-film carriers with ACTIVATED CARBON as
inside the plastic bio-film carrier. Some plastic bio-film carriers are manufactured with an
increased density (e.g., 0.98 g/cm3 for heavy bio-film carriers). Heavier media has an increased
capital cost, but reduces carrier propensity to float and, thereby, (mixing) power required to
uniformly distribute the carriers. These carriers are slightly buoyant and have a specific gravity
between 0.94 and 0.96 g/cm3 . Both native and bio-film-covered plastic biofilm carriers have a
propensity to float. Distribution mechanisms include the aeration system, liquid recirculation, and
mechanical mixing. Plastic bio-film carriers typically used in MBBRs have channels along the
media interior that forms a protectedsurface. Bio-films primarily develop on the protected surface
inside of the plastic bio-film carrier (Bjornberg et al., 2009). The free-moving carriers rotates freely
within these bioreactors. Figure 1 conceptualizes three axes of rotation for these plastic bio-film
carriers. Depending on the direction of flow and relative angle of the plastic bio-film carrier,
advection of water through the free-moving plastic bio-film carrier channels may be promoted or
deterred. Bulk-liquid hydrodynamics influences mass transfer and, consequently, substrate flux;
therefore, bulk-liquid hydrodynamics leads to uncertainty when designing bio-film reactors such
as MBBRs (Boltz and Daigger, 2010). Plastic bio-film carriers have a bulk specific surface area,
net specific surface area, bulk-liquid volume displacement, and net liquid volume displacement
(see Boltz, Morgenroth, deBarbadillo, Dempsey, McQuarrie, Ghylin, Harrison, and Nerenberg
[2010] for definitions). The bulk-liquid volume displacement resulting from plastic bio-film
carriers is in the range 0.10 to 0.15 (0.15 is typical). The bulk specific surface area is based on
100% carrier fill, is characteristic of a specific plastic bio-film carrier, and is reduced
proportionately to the carrier fill. For example, a plastic biofilm carrier with a 500-m2 / m3 bulk
specific surface area has a net specific surface area of 250 m2 /m3 at 50% carrier fill. The net
liquid volume displacement at 50% carrier fill is 0.0725 for a 0.15-bulk-liquid volume
displacement.

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 FIG- 3.1 ACTIVATED CARBON

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4.1 ACTIVATED CARBON BIO-FILM CARRIER RETENTION SCREENS

Plastic bio-film carriers are retained by cylindrical or flat-panel screens. The screens and their
supporting structural assemblies typically are constructed of stainless steel. In aerated MBBRs,
cylindrical screens typically extend horizontally from a concrete wall into an upward air flow. In
anoxic MBBRs, wall screens typically are bracket-mounted to the concrete wall that separates the
pre-denitrification MBBR from the downstream treatment step. The brackets extend outward from
the wall and createapproximately a 0.15- to 0.30-m space between the screen and wall. A wall is
used to separate denitrification (anoxic) and BOD5/nitrification (aerobic) MBBRs to provide
structural support for the screen brackets and panels, and promote a completely mixed bulk-
liquid.An air-sparge header is used to periodically scour the vertical screen and remove debris.
The frequency and duration of air sparging may be controlled manually or by timer. A typical
scouring airflow rate is approximately 170 Nm3 /h (100 scfm). The stainless-steel screens are
fabricated of wedge-wire or perforated plates.

4.2 AERATION SYSTEM

Low-pressure airflow enters an aerobic MBBR through down pipes, a network of air piping, and
a grid of diffusers that are attached to the tank bottom. Multiple drop pipes equipped with flow-
control valves are connected to a diffuser grid that is configured to promote the rolling water
circulation pattern, which uniformly distributes plastic bio-film carriers. Historically, process
oxygen requirements and the distribution of plastic bio-film carriers in MBBRs have been achieved
with coarse.

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 REFERENCE

1. Bruce E.Rittmann Environmental Biotechnology in Water and Wastewater

Teatment Journal Environmental Engineering Vol.136(2010) 348-353 .

2. Chen, S.; Sun, D.; Chung, J-S (2008) Simultaneous removal of COD and
ammonium from landfill leachate using an anaerobic-aerobic moving-bed
biofilm reactor system. Waste Management, 28,339-346.

3. Daniel Vieira Minegatti De Olivrira, Marcio Dias Rabelo, Yuri Nascimento

Nariyoshi:- Evaluation of a MBBR (moving bed biofilm reactor) pilot plant
for treatment of pulp and paper mill wastewater”, International Journal Of
Environmental Monitoring And Analysis 2014; 2(4): 220-225 .

4. Ge H.; Jensen, P. D.; Batstone, D. J. (2011) Temperature phased anaerobic

digestion increases apparent hydrolysis rate for waste activated sludge. Water
Research.
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5. Hallvard Ødegaard “ Advanced compact waste treatment based on

coagulation and moving bed biofilm processes”, faculty of civil and
environmental, Norway University of science and technology (NTNU),N-
7491 Trondheim,norway

6. H. Ødegaard “ The Moving Bed Biofilm Reactor”, Water Environmental

engineering And Reuse of Water Hokkaido press P 250-3.5 .

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 7. K.Vaidhegil P. Sandhiya M. Santhiya “ Moving Bed Biofilm Reactor- Anew
Perspective In Pulp and Paper”, waste Water Treatment K.Vaidhegiet al. int.
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Issue 6,(Part-4) June2016, pp.09-13 .

8. Pal Shailesh R, Dr. Dipak S.Vyas , Arti N Pamnani “ study the efficiency
of moving bed biofilm reactor (mbbr) for dairy wastewater treatment “, voi-
2 issue -3 2016 ijariie-issn(0)-2395-4396.

9. PICULELL,M.A.R.I.A.(2016). “ New Dimensions Of Moving Bed

Biofilm Carriers: Influence of biofilm thickness and control possibilities”,
Lund: Department Of Chemical Engineering, Lund University.

10. Waste Water Engineering (Treatment , Disposal & Reuse )-Metcalf &
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