Membrane Distillation Bioreactor (MDBR) – A lower Green-House-Gas (GHG) option for industrial wastewater reclamation

• MDBR as a lower GHG wastewater reclamation option is evaluated.
• Conditions when GHG emission potential of MDBR < MBR–RO are discussed.
• Wastewater reclamation performance of MDBR and MBR–RO are comparable.
• Fouling is an issue in MDBR and MD but can be mediated.

A high-retention membrane bioreactor system, the Membrane Distillation Bioreactor (MDBR) is a wastewater reclamation process which has the potential to tap on waste heat generated in industries to produce high quality product water. There are a few key factors which could make MDBR an attractive advanced treatment option, namely tightening legal requirements due to increasing concerns on the micropollutants in industrial wastewater effluents as well as concerns over the electrical requirement of pressurized advanced treatment processes and greenhouse gas emissions associated with wastewater reclamation. This paper aims to provide a consolidated review on the current state of research for the MDBR system and to evaluate the system as a possible lower Green House Gas (GHG) emission option for wastewater reclamation using the membrane bioreactor–reverse osmosis (MBR–RO) system as a baseline for comparison. The areas for potential applications and possible configurations for MDBR applications are discussed.