Toray Membrane USA is showing its New High Performance membrane bioreactor (NHP MBR) module at IDA World Congress 2017.
The new module is part of the Membray MBR series. It features thin membrane flat sheets packed densely into interchangeable cassettes, enabling a higher packing density than originally thought possible for flat plate designs. The highly flexible thin membranes allow for more movement, resulting in increased vibrations during aeration, which helps to dislodge sludge and improve cleaning efficiency, using less energy.
“The new module has 50 per cent increased capacity at the same footprint and lower total air scour requirement, compared to our MBR module using flat panel technology,” said Toray Membrane USA product manager for ultrafiltration, microfiltration, and MBR, Sean Carter.
“The lower air scouring results from the increased physical movement of the semi-flexible plates. This new design gives the NHP similar packing density to hollow fiber MBR products, while keeping the benefits of a flat plate MBR module, namely physical strength, simple cleaning, and the option to run at very high mixed liquor and suspended solid concentrations,” Carter added.
Further benefits of the new module compared to flat panel modules including up to 70 per cent lower weight, simple retrofit owing to the similar dimensions to existing modules, and the ability to stack two units on top of each other.