Environmental impact of submerged anaerobic MBR (SAnMBR) technology used to treat urban wastewater at different temperatures

The objective of this study was to assess the environmental impact of a submerged anaerobic MBR (SAnMBR) system in the treatment of urban wastewater at different temperatures: ambient temperature (20 and 33 °C), and a controlled temperature (33 °C). To this end, an overall energy balance (OEB) and life cycle assessment (LCA), both based on real process data, were carried out. Four factors were considered in this study: (1) energy consumption during wastewater treatment; (2) energy recovered from biogas capture; (3) potential recovery of nutrients from the final effluent; and (4) sludge disposal. The OEB and LCA showed SAnMBR to be a promising technology for treating urban wastewater at ambient temperature (OEB = 0.19 kW h m−3). LCA results reinforce the importance of maximising the recovery of nutrients (environmental impact in eutrophication can be reduced up to 45%) and dissolved methane (positive environmental impact can be obtained) from SAnMBR effluent.