Membrane Technology and Engineering for Water Purification, 2nd Edition

3.5 MBR Sewage and Wastewater Treatment

3.5.1 Membrane bioreactor systems

Membrane bioreactors (MBR) are used to treat sewage and wastewaters and achieve purification with respect to biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), chemical oxygen demand (COD), total suspended solids (TSS), ammonia (${{\mathrm{NH}}_4}^{+}$-N), total nitrogen (N) and total phosphorous (P). The MBR technology combines an activated sludge process with biomass separation by membrane filtration. Thus, the MBR process combines a bioreactor with a membrane module each with a specific function; biological degradation of organic pollution is carried out in the bioreactor by adapted microorganisms, and ...