A moving bed membrane bioreactor pilot plant for carbon and nutrient removal

The paper reports the main results of an experimental gathering campaign carried out on a moving bed membrane bioreactor pilot plant conceived for carbon and nutrients removal according to a University of Cape Town scheme. Organic carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus removal, biokinetic/stoichiometric constants, membrane fouling tendency and sludge dewaterability have been assessed during experiments. The achieved results showed that pilot plant was able to guarantee very high carbon removal, with average efficiency of 98%. In terms of nitrification, the system showed an excellent performance, with efficiencies higher than 98% for most of the experiments. This result might be related to the pres…