The effect of bubble plume on oxygen transfer for moving bed biofilm reactor

The movement of the bubble plume plays an important role in the operation of a moving bed biofilm reactor (MBBR), and it directly affects the contact and the mixture of the gas-liquid-solid phases in the aeration tank and also the oxygen transfer from the gas phase to the liquid phase. In this study, the velocity field is determined by a 4-frame PTV as well as the time-averaged and time-dependent velocity distributions. The velocity distribution of the bubble plume is analyzed to evaluate the operating efficiency of the MBBR. The results show that the aeration rate is one of the main factors that sway the velocity distribution of the bubble plumes and affect the operating efficiency of the reactor.