AnoxKaldnes™ Z-MBBR
Veolia Water Technologies AnoxKaldnes has launched a new generation of biofilm carriers for moving bed biofilm reactors: AnoxKaldnes Z-MBBR. The new carrier is the result of two decades of development work.
A different approach to carrier development
Traditionally, carrier development has aimed for larger protected surface area, but has allowed for a more or less uncontrolled growth of the biofilm.
This lack of control of biofilm thickness is a major uncertainty for process design based on carrier surface area, and also limits the applications for which the MBBR can be a competitive solution.
Z-MBBR – The new dimension
The new carrier design is covered with a grid of defined height, allowing the biofilm to grow on the outside of the carrier in a protected environment.
Due to scouring from other carriers, the biofilm cannot grow higher than the grid height, and so biofilm thickness is controlled.
Benefits of biofilm control
- By precisely controlling the thickness of the biofilm it is possible to develop an environment that will favor selected bacteria.
- It eliminates variations in performance due to changes in biofilm thickness and removes limitations associated with clogging of the carriers.
- Z-MBBR delivers all the conventional advantages of MBBR; small footprint, stability, low maintenance and robust treatment while offering the ability to customize unique solutions.
Scope of Application
As all process limitations related to uncontrolled growth of biofilm and clogging of carriers are eliminated with the Z-carriers, they are especially useful in applications where the biofilm tends to grow thick, such as nitrification at higher organic loads. Z-carriers with different biofilm thicknesses have been evaluated for different applications, with very interesting results. As for example, extremely thin biofilms have shown to open for a new, more efficient application of mainstream ANITA Mox.
