• Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.157-175
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• 2007

The membrane biofilm reactor (MBfR) creates a natural partnership of a membrane and biofilm, because a gas-transfer membrane delivers a gaseous substrate to the biofilm that grows on the membrane's outer wall. $O_2$-based MBfRs (called membrane aerated biofilm reactors, or MABRs) have existed for much longer than $H_2$-based MBfRs, but the $O_2$-based MBfR is a versatile platform for reducing oxidized contaminants in many water-treatment settings: drinking water, ground water, wastewater, and agricultural drainage. Extensive bench-scale experimentation has proven that the $H_2$-based MBfR can reduce many oxidized contaminant to harmless or easily removed forms: e.g., ${NO_3}^-$ to $N_2$, ${ClO_4}^-$ to $H_2O$ and $Cl^-$, ${SeO_4}^{2-}$ to $Se^0$, and trichloroethene (TCE) to ethene and $Cl^-$. The MBfR has been tested at the pilot scale for ${NO_3}^-$ and ${ClO_4}^-$ and is now entering field-testing for many of the oxidized contaminants alone or in mixtures. For the MBfR to attain its full promise, several issues must be addressed by bench and field research: understanding interactions with mixtures of oxidized contaminants, treating waters with a high TDS concentration, developing modules that can be used in situ to augment pre-denitrification of wastewater, and keeping the capital costs low.