The polyurethane porous bio-filler is a high-porosity biological carrier designed and manufactured by our company, utilizing polyurethane (PU) foam material. This product leverages the unique open-cell foam structure of polyurethane to provide a three-dimensional habitat with high spatial utilization and excellent biocompatibility for microbial attachment and growth. It facilitates the enrichment of high-concentration biomass in biofilm-based wastewater treatment processes, potentially enhancing the system's treatment efficiency and stability.
- Structure and Working Principle
- Core structural composition
The filler is a porous foam block with regular or irregular shapes, and its core structure lies in its interior:
- Open-cell foam network: A three-dimensional interconnected pore structure formed by hydrophilic polyurethane through a specific foaming process. The pore size can be controlled during production, resulting in multi-level porosity ranging from micrometer to millimeter scales.
- Overall configuration: Typically processed into cubic, rectangular, cylindrical, or custom-shaped block units for easy installation and stacking. The surface may be rough or multi-faceted to increase the effective contact area.
- Support frame (optional): For specific applications, multiple polyurethane foam blocks can be assembled into lightweight plastic or corrosion-resistant metal frames, forming modular units for easy hoisting and installation.
- Working Principle
- Biofilm habitat: As wastewater flows through the packing material, the water and its nutrients, along with microorganisms, can penetrate into the well-developed porous network. Microorganisms readily adhere and proliferate on the high-surface-area pore walls, forming a complex biofilm system.
- Mass transfer and reaction: The interconnected pores form numerous microscopic water flow channels, facilitating the diffusion and transport of substances (oxygen, organic compounds, metabolites). The pore structure provides a certain physical protective effect on biofilms.
- Biodiversity: The filler may form a dissolved oxygen gradient ranging from aerobic to facultative and even anaerobic, providing a microenvironment for coexistence of different functional microbial populations (e.g., nitrifying bacteria, denitrifying bacteria), which may promote compound reactions such as simultaneous nitrification-denitrification.
- Core technical features
- Ultra-high porosity and specific surface area: The inherent open-cell structure of polyurethane foam endows it with exceptional porosity (typically>90%) and a vast theoretical specific surface area, creating ample space for microbial colonization. This results in potentially higher biomass capacity per unit volume.
- Excellent biocompatibility: The hydrophilic polyurethane material surface properties facilitate initial microbial adhesion and immobilization, resulting in relatively rapid biofilm formation initiation.
- Modular and flexible installation: The modular units can be flexibly assembled or installed into the module frame, accommodating various pool configurations. Installation methods include suspended, fixed, or stacked configurations to meet diverse process flow requirements.
- Durability and chemical stability: High-quality polyurethane materials exhibit excellent corrosion resistance and aging resistance, maintaining structural integrity under typical wastewater pH conditions and organic environments.
- The potential integrated treatment effect: Its multi-level pore structure and the possible formation of internal microenvironment enable it to achieve simultaneous removal of organic matter and partial denitrification and phosphorus removal within a single reactor.
- Main technical parameters
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Parameter item
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Description / Typical range example
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Appearance
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Cubes and cuboids, with common dimensions such as 100×100×100mm and 200×200×200mm.
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aperture （PPI）
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Common range: 10– 40 PPI (holes per inch), indicating the pore size.
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porosity
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≥ 90% (determined by optical density method)
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specific theoretical surface area
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Closely related to aperture, common range 10000–30000 m²/m³ (estimated value)
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material quality
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Hydrophilic polyurethane foam with open-cell structure
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applicable pH range
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Long-term use is generally recommended within the range of 6.0 to 9.0 to optimize the filler lifespan.
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applicable temperature
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The recommended long-term operating temperature should not exceed 60°C.
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- Typical Application Fields
This filler is suitable for various biofilm treatment processes, particularly for scenarios requiring high biomass concentration and denitrification efficiency.
- Municipal wastewater treatment: The advanced denitrification unit in domestic sewage treatment plants (e.g., post-denitrification filter), bioaffinity filter (BAF), or as a carrier for contact oxidation tanks.
- Industrial wastewater treatment: biochemical treatment of medium and low concentration organic wastewater from food processing, brewing, and certain chemical industries, as well as nitrification treatment of high ammonia nitrogen wastewater such as aquaculture effluent and landfill leachate.
- Micro-polluted water purification: Ecological restoration projects for landscape water bodies and river channels, serving as biofilm attachment substrates for continuous water quality purification.
- Pre-treatment of reclaimed water: As a biological pretreatment unit, it removes organic matter and ammonia nitrogen.
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