Commercial use in municipal and industrial wastewater reuse systems is envisioned in 2018. Mitsubishi Electric says 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. In the conventional activated-sludge process, treated water is separated from activated sludge by sedimentation, which requires a large surface area and produces water quality not suitable for reuse. In the case of conventional MBRs, a sodium hypochlorite solution is commonly used to clean the membrane filtration, but oxidation power is relatively weak so high flux is not possible. Also, the process requires a large number of membrane filters. Mitsubishi Electric will continue working toward commercial application of its Eco-MBR in municipal and industrial water-reuse systems, aiming at playing an important role in the effort to achieve water sustainability worldwide. Mitsubishi Electric is jointly developing the Eco-MBR with professor Hiroshi Nagaoka of Tokyo City University’s Faculty of Engineering.
