The Moving Bed Biofilm Reactor (MBBR) process is an attached growth process that uses plastic carriers to provide a surface on which biofilm grows. The plastic carriers are kept suspended in an aeration tank by an aerator for an aerobic process or by mechanical mixing for anoxic or anaerobic processes. The plastic carriers are kept in the system by a sieve at the outlet of the tank. The MBBR process doesn’t require sludge recycle because the biomass remains in the system attached to the plastic carriers. MBBR can be used for BOD removal, biological nitrification, biological denitrification, and biological phosphorus removal.

This course provides discussion of and detailed examples of process design calculations for a single stage BOD removal MBBR system, a two-stage BOD removal MBBR system, a single stage tertiary nitrification MBBR system, a two-stage BOD removal/nitrification MBBR system a post-anoxic denitrification MBBR system and a pre-anoxic denitrification MBBR system.

Upon successful completion of this course, learners will be able to:

• Describe the differences between attached growth and suspended growth biological wastewater treatment processes
• Describe the components of and general configuration of an MBBR wastewater treatment process
• Calculate the loading rate of a wastewater constituent to an MBBR process (in lb/day and g/day) for a specified wastewater flow rate and concentration
• Calculate the required carrier surface area for an MBBR wastewater treatment process for a specified SALR and loading rate
• Calculate the required MBBR tank volume for  specified carrier surface area, carrier specific surface area, and the carrier fill %
• Calculate the liquid volume in an MBBR tank for known tank volume, carrier volume and carrier % void space
• Calculate the BOD, NH3-N, or NO3-N removal rate for known values of the surface area removal rate (SARR) and design carrier surface area
  
• Calculate an estimated effluent BOD, NH3-N, or NO3-M concentration based on known values of the appropriate loading rate, estimated removal rate, and design wastewater flow rate
• Carry out process design calculations for a post-anoxic denitrification MBBR process, including required tank sizes, estimated effluent concentrations, alkalinity requirement, and carbon source requirement
• Carry out process design calculations for a pre-anoxic denitrification MBBR process, including required tank sizes, estimated effluent concentrations, and alkalinity requirement