Baihuipu Builds Leachate Membrane Bioreactor and NF/RO Train

Baihuipu has built a leachate membrane bioreactor coupled to nanofiltration and reverse osmosis for a regional waste transfer station, where available land was too tight for the conventional clarifier and sand-filter layout the original consultant had drawn. The system went into service in September after a nine-week build. It treats 120 m3/d of leachate at up to 15,000 mg/L COD, with the MBR holding biomass at roughly 8,000 mg/L mixed liquor suspended solids so the nitrifiers stay dense enough to oxidize the ammonia even when the feed spikes. Nanofiltration and RO behind the MBR take the permeate from a cloudy brown to a clear stream below 80 mg/L COD, and the packaged layout occupies about a third of the area a gravity clarifier train would have needed.

Key Features and Benefits

Why a Membrane Bioreactor Suits Leachate

Leachate biology is slow because the ammonia load is high and the carbon is hard to degrade, so a conventional activated sludge plant needs very long retention and large tanks. Immersing the membranes inside the bioreactor lets us hold far more biomass in the same volume, which shortens the tank footprint and keeps the nitrifiers present in numbers that survive the weekend dips in flow. If your site also runs this kind of duty, baihuipu completes boiler feed water treatment train covers the cost side of the decision in more depth.

We set out the wider process route in advanced oxidation refractory COD.

The membrane also does the solid-liquid separation that a clarifier would, so there is no secondary settling basin to sludge up or wash out during a storm event. The permeate leaves the bioreactor already filtered to a few NTU, which protects the downstream NF from loading up on fines. Much of this mirrors the situation set out in Baihuipu Upgrades Integrated MBR Sewage Treatment Unit.

NF and RO Set Up for the Refractory Tail

The MBR removes most ammonia and biodegradable COD, but humic colour and the refractory organic fraction pass straight through, so the membranes behind it are doing polishing work rather than primary removal. A 100-micron guard and cartridge set sit ahead of the NF, and the NF is run at about 85 percent recovery before the RO tightens the permeate to the discharge number. For the reuse angle specifically, Baihuipu Supplies Sidestream Filtration for Cooling Circuits goes further than we can here.

We kept the RO element count deliberately generous so the operating pressure stays mid-range rather than near the manufacturer ceiling. That margin slows the fouling rate and means a single fouled element can be pulled without taking the train off line.

Measured Results from Plants We Built

For comparison, our 2022 project in Chengdu, Sichuan ran at 76 m³/day with influent COD near 2,000 mg/L and treated water around 300 mg/L. That is 85% removal in practice, not on paper.

Figures are site-measured values from commissioned plants, not modelled estimates.

Operation the Local Crew Can Own

The skid logs permeate flow, conductivity, transmembrane pressure and ammonia by the hour, and the panel alarms on a transmembrane pressure trend rather than only on a high-limit trip. The station operator was trained on membrane relaxation cycles, CIP sequencing and what a creeping conductivity means before handover.

Spares for a year of cartridges, an NF element and an RO element were left on site, along with the cleaning chemicals dosed to the measured foulant. The client reports the plant holds its numbers with roughly one operator visit per shift.

Technical Specifications

Measured performance across the first month of continuous operation:

Why Choose Baihuipu as Your Manufacturer

Choosing a manufacturer here comes down to one question: who is still accountable once the commissioning team flies home. Our answer is that we build and programme our own equipment, then stand behind it for the life of the plant.

Own Factory, Real Capacity

Tanks, skids, control panels and membrane housings are built in our own Guangdong facility. Nothing critical is subcontracted, which is why we can commit to delivery dates and hold quality across a batch instead of hoping the shop floor gets it right.

Two Decades of Field Data

Food and beverage, chemicals, electroplating, textile dyeing, mining, municipal work — we have commissioned across all of them. The useful part is not the project count, it is having seen how plants fail in year seven and designing those failures out.

Complete System Responsibility

One supplier, one process guarantee. We take the plant from preliminary screening through to membrane separation, evaporation and brine management, with process, mechanical, electrical and controls engineering handled internally.

Spares, Service and Commissioning

Membranes, dosing pumps, diffusers, instrumentation and blowers are stocked for the systems we sell. Our control systems support remote diagnostics, and we can put an engineer on site for commissioning, training or an unplanned shutdown.

Getting Started

Send us a water analysis and your production profile and we will tell you honestly what the process should look like and roughly what it costs to build and run. Reach our engineering team on WhatsApp: +86 13631765076 or via hkbhp.com.

WhatsApp: +86 13631765076

Customer FAQs

What does an MBR add to a leachate treatment train?

It combines biological treatment and solid-liquid separation in one tank by immersing membranes in the bioreactor. That lets you hold more biomass in less space and removes the clarifier, which is why it fits sites where land or tank volume is limited.

Does the MBR alone meet discharge limits for leachate?

Rarely. The MBR removes ammonia and biodegradable COD well, but colour and refractory organics usually remain above limit, so nanofiltration and RO are still needed behind it for most discharge consents.

How is an MBR different from a conventional leachate SBR?

A sequencing batch reactor settles the sludge in the same tank between fill and draw cycles, while an MBR filters continuously through immersed membranes. The MBR gives a steadier permeate and a smaller footprint but costs more in membrane replacement and aeration.

What shortens membrane life in leachate MBRs?

Inorganic scaling from the high calcium and phosphate in leachate, and irreversible fouling if relaxation and CIP intervals slip. Keeping the guard filters changed and relaxing the membranes on schedule has held element life near the three-year estimate here. The operating detail behind this sits in petrochemical wastewater treatment.

For adjacent technical angles, Baihuipu Expands Membrane CIP Field Service covers the same equipment from a different duty.