Baffled membrane bioreactor (BMBR) for advanced wastewater treatment: easy modification of existing MBRs for efficient nutrient removal

In this study, a novel membrane bioreactor (MBR) in which nitrification and denitrification simultaneously proceed in a single reaction chamber is proposed for advanced municipal wastewater treatment. Anoxic/aerobic environments are alternatively created in the proposed MBR by inserting baffles inside the membrane chamber. The performance of the proposed baffled membrane bioreactor (BMBR) was examined at an existing municipal wastewater treatment facility based on long-term operation. Although the procedure was simple, insertion of the baffles actually created the alternative anoxic/aerobic environments in the chamber at a constant interval and showed a great improvement in the nutrient removal. The insertion did not cause any adverse effect on membrane permeability. In this study, almost complete elimination of NH4+-N was observed while around 8mg/L of NO3−-N was detected in the treated water. The modification proposed in this study can immediately be applied to most existing MBRs and is highly recommended for more efficient wastewater treatment.