Study of performance of sequencing batch membrane aerated biofilm reactor for simultaneous nitrogen and phosphorus removal

A sequencing batch membrane aerated biofilm reactor (SBMABR) was developed to treat nitrogenous and phosphorous municipal wastewater. Tests were conducted to investigate the feasibility of simultaneous nitrogen and phosphorus removal. The results showed that simultaneous anoxic phosphate uptake and biological denitrification with good performance could be obtained in SBMABR operated in steady state. NH4+-N, total phosphorus (TP) and chemical oxygen demanding (COD)removal efficiency could be maintained at 90%, 84.5% and 87%, respectively, under the conditions of intra-membrane pressure of 0.025 MPa, hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 8 h and one cycle of 2.5 h (anaerobic phase of 1 h and membrane aeration phase of 1.5 h), and the accumulation of nitrite and nitrate was not observed clearly.