scholarly journals Membrane-integrated hybrid bioremediation of industrial wastewater: a continuous treatment and recycling approach

2013 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 26-38 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ramesh Kumar ◽  
Parimal Pal

A new membrane-integrated hybrid treatment system was investigated to turn highly hazardous coke wastewater reusable. This could protect both air and surface water bodies from toxic contaminants such as ammonia, phenol, cyanide, thiocyanate and other carcinogenic aromatic compounds which are normally released into the environment during discharge of coke wastewater and during quenching of coke by wastewater. Apart from these hazardous substances, oil, grease, other organics and even trace elements could be very effectively removed from wastewater by logical sequencing of chemical, biological and finally nanomembrane-based treatments in an integrated hybrid plant. After almost 99% removal of highly toxic cyanide compounds in a well-optimized Fenton's treatment unit, subsequent biological treatment units could be very effective. All these pretreatments helped achieve microbial nitrification and denitrification of more than 98% of ammonia. Composite nanofiltration membranes selected through investigation could separate ionic trace contaminants from water with a high degree of purification permitting recycling and reuse of the treated water. A selected cross flow membrane module allowed long hours of largely fouling-free operation under a reasonably low transmembrane pressure of only 15 bars while yielding an industrially acceptable flux of 80 L of pure water per hour per square meter of membrane surface.

2016 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-27 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kamran Ghasemzadeh ◽  
Mostafa Jafari ◽  
Amir sari ◽  
Ali A. Babalou

Abstract The main purpose of this work is the numerical investigation of PEBX membrane performance for natural gas sweeting. Hence, a single-stage process for PEBX membrane was considered in various flow patterns, namely, cocurrent, cross flow and countercurrent to separate a typical natural gas mixture. To this target, a black box numerical model was extended for the ASPEN HYSYS commercial package and also its validation was realized by litterature experimental data. The validation results indicated a good agreement between thoritical results and experimental data. After model validation, the effect of the some significant operating parameters (pressure gradient, stage cut and membrane area) on the performance of PEBX membrane was analysed in terms of acid gases removal percentage. The simulation results presented a noticeable performance of PEBX membrane to produce high purity CH4. In particular, concerning the stage cut effect, it was found that the CO2 and H2S compositions in the permeate side were decreased through the enhancment of stage cut from 0.005 to 0.03, whereas the CH4 composition increased for whole the flow patterns. Moreover, a similar effect was achived for membrane surface area. On the other hand, the transmembrane pressure effect was positive on the PEBX membrane performance during natural gas sweeting.


Membranes ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 555
Author(s):  
Sebastian Osterroth ◽  
Christian Neumann ◽  
Michael Weiß ◽  
Uwe Maurieschat ◽  
Alexandra Latnikova ◽  
...  

In this study, the attachment of microcapsules on the membrane surface and its influence on the flow field for a cross-flow membrane setup are investigated. The microcapsules were placed on the top layer of the membrane. The overall purpose of this modification was the prevention of membrane biofouling. Therefore, in a first step, the influence of such a combination on the fluid flow was investigated using computational fluid dynamics (CFD). Here, different properties, which are discussed as indicators for biofouling in the literature, were considered. In parallel, different fixation strategies for the microcapsules were experimentally tested. Two different methods to add the microcapsules were identified and further investigated. In the first method, the microcapsules are glued to the membrane surface, whereas in the second method, the microcapsules are added during the membrane fabrication. The different membrane modifications were studied and compared using CFD. Therefore, virtual geometries mimicking the real ones were created. An idealized virtual geometry was added to the comparison. Results from the simulation were fed back to the experiments to optimize the combined membrane. For the presented setup, it is shown that the glued configuration provides a lower transmembrane pressure than the configuration where microcapsules are added during fabrication.


BioResources ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 5593-5615
Author(s):  
Wenjie Zhao ◽  
Zhongyu Du ◽  
Ning Kuang ◽  
Hao Wang ◽  
Benliang Yu ◽  
...  

This paper investigated the filtration of black liquor with blade cross-flow by membrane. The lignin content in black liquid filtered by the nanofiltration membrane (NP010) is high under the transmembrane pressure of 0.5 bar, 1 bar, 1.5 bar, and 2 bar at 300 rpm and 800 rpm. In this regard, the tangential velocity on the nanofiltration membrane surface and the pressure variation on the blade in the process of filtration are simulated and analyzed with Fluent software. The tangential flow velocity on the nanofiltration membrane surface and the dynamic pressure on the blade, as well as the law of change under different rotation speed and transmembrane pressure are obtained. The comparison between experimental and simulated results have validated the numerical model of the filtration of black liquid by the blade dynamic cross-flow. According to the experimental and simulated results, the optimized filtration conditions are obtained when the blade dynamic cross-flow uses 1 kDa nanofiltration membrane to filter black liquor.


Author(s):  
Nathan P. Sullivan ◽  
John E. Wentz ◽  
John P. Abraham

Metalworking fluids are a vital part of modern machining processes but have significant negative economic, health, and environmental impacts. In-process purification of these fluids by microfiltration has been shown to reduce these impacts. This research uses a two-stage computational modeling methodology to investigate how particles within the membrane are transported from the turbulent flow within the center of the tubular membrane to the laminar sub-layer near the membrane wall and finally into the membrane pores. A macro-model of the complete flow within the tubular membrane is used to determine the steady-state flow profile within 25 microns of the membrane surface. This flow profile is then used to develop a micro-model of the flow at the membrane wall using a flat-plate assumption. The micro-model includes individual pores randomly located and sized based on statistical analysis of alumina membrane surfaces. A 23 full factorial design of experiments was used with variables of cross-flow velocity, transmembrane pressure, and membrane resistance. The responses of effective filtration region and total mass flowing through the pores were analyzed. Based on the simulation results, recommendations are made for future membrane design to provide the most efficient transport of particles from the bulk into the pores.


2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (11) ◽  
pp. 2012-2028
Author(s):  
Nurul Hainiza Abd-Razak ◽  
M. N. Zairossani ◽  
Y. M. John Chew ◽  
Michael R. Bird

Abstract This study describes the use of regenerated cellulose (RCA) membranes with molecular weight cut-off (MWCO) values of 10, 30, and 100 kDa, respectively, to separate phytosterols from orange juice for possible nutraceutical production. A desirable membrane separation rejects protein whilst transmitting phytosterols and other low molecular mass compounds such as sugars. The ultrafiltration was performed in a cross-flow membrane system with a total filtration area of 336 cm2. Total phytosterol analysis was carried out by using a Liebermann-Buchard-based method. Protein concentration was quantified by the Bradford method. The effects of three different membranes upon the rejection of total phytosterol content, proteins, sugar, and antioxidant activity were studied. Of the membranes tested, the 10-kDa membrane displayed the highest concentration of phytosterols in the permeate. The 30-kDa and 100-kDa membranes gave comparatively higher phytosterol rejection. The membrane surface roughness and corresponding pure water flux values varied as a function of MWCO such that RCA30 > RCA100 > RCA10. Membranes with rougher surfaces displayed higher fouling than those with smoother surfaces. Hydrophobicity and surface roughness both influenced filtration performance, by controlling the development of the protein-based foulant which modified membrane selectivity.


2005 ◽  
Vol 5 (5) ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
K.Y. Choi ◽  
B.A. Dempsey

The objective of the research was to evaluate in-line coagulation to improve performance during ultrafiltration (UF). In-line coagulation means use of coagulants without removal of coagulated solids prior to UF. Performance was evaluated by removal of contaminants (water quality) and by resistance to filtration and recovery of flux after hydraulic or chemical cleaning (water production). We hypothesized that coagulation conditions inappropriate for conventional treatment, in particular under-dosing conditions that produce particles that neither settle nor are removed in rapid sand filters, would be effective for in-line coagulation prior to UF. A variety of pre-treatment processes for UF have been investigated including coagulation, powdered activated carbon (PAC) or granular activated carbon (GAC), adsorption on iron oxides or other pre-formed settleable solid phases, or ozonation. Coagulation pre-treatment is often used for removal of fouling substances prior to NF or RO. It has been reported that effective conventional coagulation conditions produced larger particles and this reduced fouling during membrane filtration by reducing adsorption in membrane pores, increasing cake porosity, and increasing transport of foulants away from the membrane surface. However, aggregates produced under sweep floc conditions were more compressible than for charge neutralization conditions, resulting in compaction when the membrane filtration system was pressurized. It was known that the coagulated suspension under either charge-neutralization or sweep floc condition showed similar steady-state flux under the cross-flow microfiltration mode. Another report on the concept of critical floc size suggested that flocs need to reach a certain critical size before MF, otherwise membranes can be irreversibly clogged by the coagulant solids. The authors were motivated to study the effect of various coagulation conditions on the performance of a membrane filtration system.


Membranes ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 461
Author(s):  
Fu Yang ◽  
Zhengkun Huang ◽  
Jun Huang ◽  
Chongde Wu ◽  
Rongqing Zhou ◽  
...  

Ultrafiltration is a promising, environment-friendly alternative to the current physicochemical-based tannery wastewater treatment. In this work, ultrafiltration was employed to treat the tanning wastewater as an upstream process of the Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD) system in the leather industry. The filtration efficiency and fouling behaviors were analyzed to assess the impact of membrane material and operating conditions (shear rate on the membrane surface and transmembrane pressure). The models of resistance-in-series, fouling propensity, and pore blocking were used to provide a comprehensive analysis of such a process. The results show that the process efficiency is strongly dependent on the operating conditions, while the membranes of either PES or PVDF showed similar filtration performance and fouling behavior. Reversible resistance was the main obstacle for such process. Cake formation was the main pore blocking mechanism during such process, which was independent on the operating conditions and membrane materials. The increase in shear rate significantly increased the steady-state permeation flux, thus, the filtration efficiency was improved, which resulted from both the reduction in reversible resistance and the slow-down of fouling layer accumulate rate. This is the first time that the fouling behaviors of tanning wastewater ultrafiltration were comprehensively evaluated, thus providing crucial guidance for further scientific investigation and industrial application.


Membranes ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 380
Author(s):  
Yan Chen ◽  
Huiping Li ◽  
Weihai Pang ◽  
Baiqin Zhou ◽  
Tian Li ◽  
...  

Nanofiltration (NF) is a promising post-treatment technology for providing high-quality drinking water. However, membrane fouling remains a challenge to long-term NF in providing high-quality drinking water. Herein, we found that coupling pre-treatments (sand filtration (SF) and ozone–biological activated carbon (O3-BAC)) and NF is a potent tactic against membrane fouling while achieving high-quality drinking water. The pilot results showed that using SF+O3-BAC pre-treated water as the feed water resulted in a lower but a slowly rising transmembrane pressure (TMP) in NF post-treatment, whereas an opposite observation was found when using SF pre-treated water as the feed water. High-performance size-exclusion chromatography (HPSEC) and three-dimensional excitation–emission matrix (3D-EEM) fluorescence spectroscopy determined that the O3-BAC process changed the characteristic of dissolved organic matter (DOM), probably by removing the DOM of lower apparent molecular weight (LMW) and decreasing the biodegradability of water. Moreover, amino acids and tyrosine-like substances which were significantly related to medium and small molecule organics were found as the key foulants to membrane fouling. In addition, the accumulation of powdered activated carbon in O3-BAC pre-treated water on the membrane surface could be the key reason protecting the NF membrane from fouling.


Membranes ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. 401
Author(s):  
Noresah Said ◽  
Ying Siew Khoo ◽  
Woei Jye Lau ◽  
Mehmet Gürsoy ◽  
Mustafa Karaman ◽  
...  

In this work, several ultrafiltration (UF) membranes with enhanced antifouling properties were fabricated using a rapid and green surface modification method that was based on the plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD). Two types of hydrophilic monomers—acrylic acid (AA) and 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) were, respectively, deposited on the surface of a commercial UF membrane and the effects of plasma deposition time (i.e., 15 s, 30 s, 60 s, and 90 s) on the surface properties of the membrane were investigated. The modified membranes were then subjected to filtration using 2000 mg/L pepsin and bovine serum albumin (BSA) solutions as feed. Microscopic and spectroscopic analyses confirmed the successful deposition of AA and HEMA on the membrane surface and the decrease in water contact angle with increasing plasma deposition time strongly indicated the increase in surface hydrophilicity due to the considerable enrichment of the hydrophilic segment of AA and HEMA on the membrane surface. However, a prolonged plasma deposition time (>15 s) should be avoided as it led to the formation of a thicker coating layer that significantly reduced the membrane pure water flux with no significant change in the solute rejection rate. Upon 15-s plasma deposition, the AA-modified membrane recorded the pepsin and BSA rejections of 83.9% and 97.5%, respectively, while the HEMA-modified membrane rejected at least 98.5% for both pepsin and BSA. Compared to the control membrane, the AA-modified and HEMA-modified membranes also showed a lower degree of flux decline and better flux recovery rate (>90%), suggesting that the membrane antifouling properties were improved and most of the fouling was reversible and could be removed via simple water cleaning process. We demonstrated in this work that the PECVD technique is a promising surface modification method that could be employed to rapidly improve membrane surface hydrophilicity (15 s) for the enhanced protein purification process without using any organic solvent during the plasma modification process.


Author(s):  
Laslo Šereš ◽  
Ljubica Dokić ◽  
Bojana Ikonić ◽  
Dragana Šoronja-Simović ◽  
Miljana Djordjević ◽  
...  

Cross-flow microfiltration using ceramic tubular membrane was applied for treatment of steepwater from corn starch industry. Experiments are conducted according to the faced centered central composite design at three different transmembrane pressures (1, 2 and 3 bar) and cross-flow velocities (100, 150 and 200 L/h) with and without the usage of Kenics static mixer. For examination of the influence of the selected operating conditions at which usage of the static mixer is justified, a response surface methodology and desirability function approach were used. Obtained results showed improvement in the average permeate flux by using Kenics static mixer for 211 % to 269 % depending on experimental conditions when compared to the system without the static mixer. As a result of optimization, the best results considering flux improvement as well as reduction of specific energy consumption were obtained at low transmembrane pressure and lower feed cross-flow rates.


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