Simultaneous removal of COD and nitrogen using a novel carbon-membrane aerated biofilm reactor

A membrane aerated biofilm reactor is a promising technology for wastewater treatment. In this study, a carbon-membrane aerated biofilm reactor (CMABR) has been developed, to remove carbon organics and nitrogen simultaneously from one reactor. The results showed that CMABR has a high chemical oxygen demand (COD) and nitrogen removal efficiency, as it is operated with a hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 20 h, and it also showed a perfect performance, even if the HRT was shortened to 12 h. In this period, the removal efficiencies of COD, ammonia nitrogen (NH4+-N), and total nitrogen (TN) reached 86%, 94%, and 84%, respectively. However, the removal efficiencies of NH4+-N and TN declined rapidly as the HRT was shortened to 8 h. This is because of the excessive growth of biomass on the nonwoven fiber and very high organic loading rate. The fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) analysis indicated that the ammonia oxidizing bacteria (AOB) were mainly distributed in the inner layer of the biofilm. The coexistence of AOB and eubacteria in one biofilm can enhance the simultaneous removal of COD and nitrogen.