Moving Bed Biofilm Reactor Technology-Experience and Performance with the First Installation in North Carolina

Today many wastewater treatment facilities are being expanded to provide additional capacity but have limited space. As a result, processes, such as the Moving Bed Biofilm Reactor (MBBR) continue to be developed to address the site constraints faced by municipal and industrial wastewater treatment facilities. The MBBR process incorporates the benefits provided by both fixed film and activated sludge processes.Grifols Therapeutics located in Clayton, North Carolina is one of the largest blood plasma fraction facilities in the world and required the need to expand their WWTP, as a result of increased production. The MBBR process enabled the plant to treat twice the organic loading provided by their existing 3785 m3 aeration basin on a land locked site, This paper provides a discussion on the MBBR process and provides our experience with the implementation and performance of the first MBBR process installed in the State of North Carolina.