Journal of Water and Wastewater Science and Engineering

Journal of Water and Wastewater Science and Engineering

Comparison of the Performance of Moving Bed Bioreactor (MBBR) and Integrated Fixed-Film Activated Sludge (IFAS) for CNP Removal from Faraman Industrial Estate Wastewater

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
Azar Asadi 1
Ali Fuzi 2
1 Associate Professor, Department of Applied Chemistry, Faculty of Gas and Petroleum, Yasouj University, Kogiloyeh and Boyerahmad, Iran.
2 B.Sc. Student, Department of Applied Chemistry, Faculty of Gas and Petroleum, Yasouj University, Kogiloyeh and Boyerahmad, Iran.
10.22112/jwwse.2025.511958.1448
Abstract
Since wastewater treatment is a primary and vital goal for environmental protection, this study compares the wastewater treatment of Faraman industrial parks located in Kermanshah province in two bioreactors operated under identical conditions. The studied bioreactors included a Moving Bed Biofilm Reactor (MBBR) and an Integrated Fixed-film Activated Sludge (IFAS) reactor. The performance of these two systems was compared by examining three operational parameters, including Hydraulic Retention Time (HRT), Aeration Flow Rate (AFR), and Filling Ratio (FR), for the removal of carbon and nitrogen content from the wastewater. Using Design Expert 20 software, various experimental conditions were designed, and seven responses were studied, including the population of microorganisms attached to the carriers, carbon content removal, effluent turbidity, and nitrogen removal, which itself included nitrite and nitrate removal. According to the results obtained, although the growth of attached microorganisms was higher in the MBBR system, the IFAS system demonstrated a higher ability to remove carbon and nitrogen content under all operating conditions. The turbidity of the IFAS system was also reported to be lower than that of the MBBR. In fact, the obtained results indicate the positive effect of integrating suspended and attached microorganisms on the treatment efficiency of biological systems.
Keywords
Moving Bed Biofilm Reactor
Integrated Fixed-film Activated Sludge
Industrial Wastewater
Hydraulic Retention Time
Air Flow Rate
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Journal of Water and Wastewater Science and Engineering
Volume 10, Issue 4
Winter 2026
Pages 3-14

  • Receive Date 15 March 2025
  • Revise Date 28 July 2025
  • Accept Date 20 August 2025