Cyclic bioreactors - a discussion on technology application and possible future developments

Wastewater treatment systems based on cyclic reactors started to be applied more widely in Asia about two decades ago. A number of variants have been introduced but the focus of this paper is on the intermittent feed-intermittent decant variant, the SBR. Based on the basic SBR concept, specific reactor configurations which have been introduced include the pretreatment anaerobic reactor (anSBR), the aerobic reactor (aeSBR), and the sludge digester (SBD). This paper discusses some of the issues around the argument for selecting the SBR - particularly the aeSBR, equipment which are unique to this cyclic reactor, the concerns around such equipment selection, operating difficulties, and the possible future developments with this reactor concept.