Mitsubishi Electric has developed a compact membrane bioreactor (Eco-MBR) that recycles municipal and industrial wastewater with low-energy consumption and dramatically increases the quantity of permeated water per membrane filter surface area (flux) by cleaning the filter with ozonated water. The Eco-MBR achieves a high flux of 1.6 m3/m2/day and cuts the required number of membrane filters by intermittently cleaning the filters with ozonated water to efficiently remove organic substances for increased permeability.
The Eco-MBR also features a compact footprint and reduces energy consumption by lowering the air flow rate that the blower uses to clean the membrane surface with bubbles. Commercial use in municipal and industrial wastewater reuse systems is envisioned in 2018. Mitsubishi Electric is jointly developing the Eco-MBR with Professor Hiroshi Nagaoka of Tokyo City University’s Faculty of Engineering.
