Abstract
This report:
- Analyzes the membrane and biological components of Membrane Bioreactors
(MBRs)
- Examines system configurations and typical MBR performance
- Analyzes cost and system applications
- Examines companies active in the market, market share, and industry
structure
- Provides quantitative evaluations for the major market segments, both
historically and with forecasts
- Identifies the global scope of the MBR market within four major
geographical regions with information on regional economics, water needs, MBR
experience, and proposed projects
STUDY GOAL AND OBJECTIVES
This comprehensive market opportunity report evaluates the global market
membrane bioreactors (MBRs) used for wastewater treatment. Existing and
potential markets for MBRs on the global stage are identified. The goals are
to provide meaningful information, unbiased analysis, and an assessment of the
roles that MBR systems can play now and in the future of wastewater treatment
technology. Twenty-eight countries' water needs are evaluated in four global
regions.
REASONS FOR DOING THE STUDY
The need for pure water is a problem of global proportions. In the earth' s
hydrologic cycle, fresh water supplies are fixed and constant, while global
water demand is growing. With each passing year, the quality of the planet' s
water measurably deteriorates, presenting challenges for the major users: the
municipal, industrial, and environmental sectors. Water treatment has become
an area of global concern as individuals, communities, industries, countries,
and their national institutions strive for ways to keep this essential
resource available and suitable for use. MBRs have emerged over the past 10
years as an effective solution to transforming various wastewaters into high
quality effluent suitable for discharge to the environment and increasingly
into a reusable product.
intended readership
This report is designed to be as comprehensive as possible and to be useable
by a broad audience of business, technical, and regulatory practitioners on a
global scale. The document is an information source on the industry, a
reference manual on an advanced technology and its system components, and a
resource that provides information to decision makers who need to stay abreast
of the state of the art.
This report presents analysis and forward-thinking knowledge that will be of
advantage to manufacturers, suppliers, and to local, state and the federal
government as well as foreign governments. Engineers, utilities, and corporate
planners will benefit in accessing the global demand for membrane bioreactors.
SCOPE of report
The study is divided into chapters dealing with the membrane component of
MBRs, the biological component, system configurations, typical MBR
performance, cost analyses, system applications, companies active in the
market, market share, and industry structure. Quantitative evaluations are
given for the major market segments, historically and for a 5-year horizon.
The global scope of the MBR market is identified within four major
geographical regions with information on regional economics, water needs, MBR
experience, and proposed projects.
The MBR market in this study is centered on biological/membrane wastewater
treatment for the municipal, industrial, and environmental sectors. The
evaluated market does not include catalytic membrane reactors or enzymatic
membrane reactors.
METHODOLOGY
Research for this report began with a re-analysis of the available technical
and business literature, as well as an evaluation of the personal records of
the water treatment industry available to the author. Conversations with
industry experts and company representatives and a review of their published
works provide the backbone for an evaluation of the water treatment equipment
industry. Other sources of information include product literature from system
suppliers, patent information, annual reports, and BCC Research' s monthly
newsletter Membrane & Separation Technology News.
Growth rates of MBR systems are not the same for all world regions and are not
increasing from the same base. Common to all regions, however, is the fact
that sales of the technology are growing faster than the GDPs of countries
installing the systems and more rapidly than the industries that use them.
Forecasts in this report are based on announced projects and anticipated
capacity additions over the next 5 years.
MBR costs are based on published data and interviews with industry
participants. MBR "systems" include headworks (screens, pumps, grit chamber)
and other pretreatment systems, membrane units, reactor vessels, and other
process tanks. Site costs, system installation costs, piping, instrumentation,
and electrical/electronic controls are not included in the cost analysis.
The capital cost of a 50,000 gpd (gallons per day) plant is estimated at
$350,000, a 100,000 gpd plant at $500,000, and a 500,000 gpd plant at $2
million. For systems 1 mgd (million gallons per day) and larger, capital costs
start at $3.5 million. The largest percentage of new system installations,
93%, will continue to fall into the 5,000 gpd to 500,000 gpd range (most of
those, 57%, will have capacities of less than 25,000 gpd), 2% of installations
will range from 0.5 mgd to 1 mgd, and 5% will be larger than 1 mgd.
Currency conversions are normalized in so far as possible. Much of the
historic information is from BCC data.
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