Projects

Membion projects

Giving things the time they need - Membion's sustainability and economic benefits are the result of intensive research and development work. Now the technology is ready for the market.

Building on 30 years of MBR experience of the founders, the operation of municipal MBR plants at the “proof of concept” stage has demonstrated the extraordinary customer benefits of the Membion MBR technology.

MBR Konzen
Piloting

  • Membion operates its own pilot plant for single-decker and double-decker modules at the Konzen MBR wastewater treatment plant of a water association called Wasserverband Eifel-Rur (WVER).
  • The pilot plant is operated with MBR sludge from the commercial MBR plant (MLSS: 8.0 – 10.0 g/l) without additional fine screening of the wastewater.
  • The existing screening equipment was not modified for Membion, so that the sludge has a high amount of hair and fibrous compounds.
  • Membion uses this pilot plant to develop and test all new product features on a pilot scale under real MBR conditions.
  • In winter, conditions are sometimes very harsh with sludge temperatures in the biology below 7 °C.
  • In 2016, the first prototype of Membion ran without JetSplash technology, funded by the German Federal Environmental Foundation (DBU – Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt). This already showed an energy saving potential of 30-50% compared to leading MBR systems.
  • Since 2019, the JetSplash technology has been running in this plant and demonstrates energy savings of 70-90% in 24/7 operation.

 

MBR Simmerath

  • To verify customer benefits on a larger scale, Membion operates an MBR demonstration plant at the Simmerath municipal wastewater treatment plant.
  • The MBR demonstration plant is operated parallel to the full-scale Simmerath plant. It is a fully equipped MBR plant that treats 5% (750 p.e.) of the incoming wastewater of the Simmerath wastewater treatment plant. It has its own bioreactor with a pre-treatment punshed hole screen with 3.0 mm hole diameter.
  • Two membrane tanks are installed in a building, each equipped with a 500 m² module.
  • The MBR demonstration plant is owned by WVER and leased to Membion.
  • Operating results demonstrate energy savings of 70-90% compared to leading MBR systems.
  • Here, too, the operating temperatures in the biology are sometimes below 7 °C in winter.

MBR Konzen

  • The positive results of the Membion piloting in Konzen and the verification of these results on a demonstration scale in Simmerath have prompted WVER to retrofit one membrane train of the MBR in Konzen using Membion (4 Membion Double-Decker modules with a total membrane area of 2880 m²).
  • The project is funded by the BMBF as part of the KMU-innovativ initiative under the project-name “Double-Membion”.
 
  • Due to the significantly higher packing density of the Membion modules, Membion requires for the installation of the same membrane area less than 25 % of the space compared to the previous double-decker plate modules.
  • The saved space provides more volume and flexibility for the biological process.
  • The Membion modules are operated without any additional pre-treatment (no fine screening).
  • The energy savings of the Membion modules compared to the previously installed plate modules are 87.9 %.
  • This allows the size and equipment of the blowers to be reduced, resulting in cost and space savings.

Membion aeration technology in sludge

AIX-Net-WWR

  • The “Aachen Network for Waste Water Reuse” is a network that wants to “give new life to wastewater” not only once but again and again.
  • The regional network AIX-Net-WWR, consisting of 12 companies, one start-up and 5 research institutes, bundles technical and entrepreneurial competences in wastewater treatment and reuse to enable a sustainable circular economy of different wastewater streams
  • In doing so, the network focuses on decentralized technologies for wastewater treatment and resource recovery in order to actively counter the effects of climate change.

project partners/funders