MBBR - Moving bed biofilm reactor

MBBR (moving bed biofilm reactor) is a common name for the biological purification process that professor Halvard Odegaard invented in Trondheim in the late 1980s.

It is an aerobic or anoxic process of biofilm. Microorganisms grow as a biofilm on a protected surface of carriers. This makes it possible to obtain a highly adapted microflora and to ensure degradation of toxic and/or persistent substances. It can also be operated with high organic load where only part of organic matter or under nutrient-restricted conditions is degraded. This is a common solution in combination with the activated sludge process. This process may also be thermophilic. Carriers are suspended in the bioreactor either by aeration or by mechanical stirrers. Outlet sieve keeps the carriers in the reactor, excess biomass is drained and discharged with water. Stirring of carriers ensures transport of substrate, nutrients and oxygen into biofilm and removes metabolites.

MBBR can often be used in existing reservoirs. Growth of biofilm depends on the type of wastewater to be treated and the correct choice of carriers.

HYDROTECH supplies carriers the choice of which depends on the requirements of the particular project.