Virus removal by ceramic membrane microfiltration with coagulation pretreatment

2003 ◽  
Vol 3 (5-6) ◽  
pp. 93-99 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y. Matsui ◽  
T. Matsushita ◽  
T. Inoue ◽  
M. Yamamoto ◽  
Y. Hayashi ◽  
...  

The performance and mechanism of virus removal by microfiltration with coagulation pretreatment were investigated. We confirmed the unexpectedly high performance of virus removal for two types of ceramic membrane system: a positive pressure-driven dead-end filtration with inside-out configuration and a vacuum pressure-driven dead-end immersed filtration with outside-in configuration. Virus removals by both systems were more than 7 logs, although the size of the tested Qβ virus (23 nm) was much smaller than the membrane nominal pore size of 100 nm. The virus inactivation by the addition of the coagulant (PACl) and the virus adsorption onto the floc retained on the membrane surface mainly contributed the virus removal. No virus accumulation in the retentate was observed, possibly due to the virus inactivation by the coagulant.

Membranes ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 213
Author(s):  
Stéphane Venne ◽  
Onita D. Basu ◽  
Benoit Barbeau

Membrane fouling in surface waters impacted by cyanobacteria is currently poorly controlled and results in high operating costs. A chemically enhanced backwash (CEB) is one possible strategy to mitigate cyanobacteria fouling. This research investigates the potential of using an ozone CEB to control the fouling caused by Microcystis aeruginosa in filtered surface water on a ceramic ultrafiltration membrane. Batch ozonation tests and dead-end, continuous flow experiments were conducted with ozone doses between 0 and 19 mg O3/mg carbon. In all tests, the ozone was shown to react more rapidly with the filtered surface water foulants than with cyanobacteria. In addition, the ozone CEB demonstrated an improved mitigation of irreversible fouling over 2 cycles versus a single CEB cycle; indicating that the ozone CEB functioned better as the cake layer developed. Ozone likely weakens the compressible cake layer formed by cyanobacteria on the membrane surface during filtration, which then becomes more hydraulically reversible. In fact, the ozone CEB reduced the fouling resistance by 35% more than the hydraulic backwash when the cake was more compressed.


2010 ◽  
Vol 62 (6) ◽  
pp. 1274-1280 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chi-Wang Li ◽  
Chun-Hao Chiu ◽  
Yu-Cheng Lee ◽  
Chia-Hao Chang ◽  
Yu-Hsun Lee ◽  
...  

In our previous publications, compressed air-assisted solvent extraction process (CASX) was developed and proved to be kinetically efficient process for metal removal. In the current study, CASX with a ceramic MF membrane integrated for separation of spent solvent was employed to remove and recover metal from wastewater. MF was operated either in crossflow mode or dead-end with intermittent flushing mode. Under crossflow mode, three distinct stages of flux vs. TMP (trans-membrane pressure) relationship were observed. In the first stage, flux increases with increasing TMP which is followed by the stage of stable flux with increasing TMP. After reaching a threshold TMP which is dependent of crossflow velocity, flux increases again with increasing TMP. At the last stage, solvent was pushed through membrane pores as indicated by increasing permeate COD. In dead-end with intermittent flushing mode, an intermittent flushing flow (2 min after a 10-min or a 30-min dead-end filtration) was incorporated to reduce membrane fouling by flush out MSAB accumulated on membrane surface. Effects of solvent concentration and composition were also investigated. Solvent concentrations ranging from 0.1 to 1% (w/w) have no adverse effect in terms of membrane fouling. However, solvent composition, i.e. D2EHPA/kerosene ratio, shows impact on membrane fouling. The type of metal extractants employed in CASX has significant impact on both membrane fouling and the quality of filtrate due to the differences in their viscosity and water solubility. Separation of MSAB was the limiting process controlling metal removal efficiency, and the removal efficiency of Cd(II) and Cr(VI) followed the same trend as that for COD.


2004 ◽  
Vol 50 (12) ◽  
pp. 317-325 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Yonekawa ◽  
Y. Tomita ◽  
Y. Watanabe

This paper is intended to clarify the characteristics unique to monolith ceramic membranes with pre-coagulation by referring to the behavior of micro-particles. Flow analysis and experiments have proved that monolith ceramic membranes show a unique flow pattern in the channels within the element, causing extremely rapid flocculation in the channel during dead-end filtration. It was assumed that charge-neutralized micro-particles concentrated near the membrane surface grow in size due to flocculation, and as a result, coarse micro-particles were taken up by the shearing force to flow out. As the dead end points of flow in all the channels are located near the end of the channels with higher filterability, most of the flocculated coarse particles are formed to a columnar cake intensively at the dead end point. Therefore cake layer forming on the membrane other than around the dead end point is alleviated. This behavior of particle flocculation and cake formation at the dead end point within the channels are unique characteristics of monolith ceramic membranes. This is why all monolith ceramic membrane water purification systems operating in Japan do not have pretreatment equipment for flocculation and sedimentation.


Membranes ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 334
Author(s):  
Aldo Bottino ◽  
Gustavo Capannelli ◽  
Antonio Comite ◽  
Camilla Costa ◽  
Raffaella Firpo ◽  
...  

The disposal of wastewater resulting from olive oil production (olive mill wastewater, OMW) is a major issue for olive oil producers. This wastewater is among the most polluting due to the very high concentration of organic substances and the presence of hardly degradable phenolic compounds. The systems proposed for OMW treatment are essentially based either on conventional chemical-physical, biological and thermal processes, or on membrane processes. With respect to conventional methods, membrane processes allow to separate different species without the use of chemicals or heat. This work deals with the use of the integrated pressure-driven membrane processes for the treatment of OMW. They consist of a first stage (microfiltration, MF) in which a porous multichannel ceramic membrane retains suspended materials and produces a clarified permeate for a second stage (reverse osmosis, RO), in order to separate (and concentrate) dissolved substances from water. Laboratory scale experiments with different small flat sheet RO membranes were first carried out in order to select the most appropriate one for the successive bench scale tests with a spiral wound module having a large membrane surface. The aim of this test was to concentrate the dissolved substances and to produce water with low salinity, chemical oxygen demand (COD), and reduced phytotoxicity due to a low content of phenolic compounds. The trend of the permeate flux and membrane retention as a function of the volume concentration ratio was investigated. The influence of OMW origin and its aging on the membrane performance was also studied.


2017 ◽  
Vol 68 (6) ◽  
pp. 1302-1305
Author(s):  
Ali A. A. Al Janabi ◽  
Oana Cristina Parvulescu ◽  
Bogdan Trica ◽  
Tanase Dobre

The paper aimed at studying the performances of pervaporation separation of isopropanol-water system using a Pervatech ceramic membrane at various values of feed mixture flow rate (F=1000 kg/hr), feed water mass fraction (xF=0.1-0.2), operation temperature (t=60-90 �C), permeate pressure (pP=1000-9000 Pa) and water separation degree (sW=0.9, 0.95). Membrane total flux and separation factor were predicted applying a second order response surface model with 3 factors, i.e., xF, t and pP. An algorithm for estimating the membrane surface area was presented. Membrane area increased with sW and xF and its lowest values (A=13 m2 for xF=0.1 and A=24 m2 for xF=0.2) were attained for t=60 �C and pP=9000 Pa. These findings could be applied for optimizing the process of isopropanol dehydration by pervaporation.


Biomedicines ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (7) ◽  
pp. 209 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lulu Wu ◽  
Athanasios Mantas ◽  
Simon Gustafsson ◽  
Levon Manukyan ◽  
Albert Mihranyan

This study is dedicated to the rapid removal of protein aggregates and viruses from plasma-derived human serum albumin (HSA) product to reduce the risk of viral contamination and increase biosafety. A two-step filtration approach was implemented to first remove HSA aggregates and then achieve high model virus clearance using a nanocellulose-based filter paper of different thicknesses, i.e., 11 μm (prefilter) and 22 μm (virus filter) at pH 7.4 and room temperature. The pore size distribution of these filters was characterized by nitrogen gas sorption analysis. Dynamic light scattering (DLS) and size-exclusion high performance liquid chromatography (SE-HPLC) were performed to analyze the presence of HSA aggregates in process intermediates. The virus filter showed high clearance of a small-size model virus, i.e., log10 reduction value (LRV) > 5, when operated at 3 and 5 bar, but a distinct decrease in LRV was detected at 1 bar, i.e., LRV 2.65–3.75. The throughput of HSA was also dependent on applied transmembrane pressure as was seen by Vmax values of 110 ± 2.5 L m−2 and 63.6 ± 5.8 L m−2 at 3 bar and 5 bar, respectively. Protein loss was low, i.e., recovery > 90%. A distribution of pore sizes between 40 nm and 60 nm, which was present in the prefilter and absent in the virus filter, played a crucial part in removing the HSA aggregates and minimizing the risk of virus filter fouling. The presented results enable the application of virus removal nanofiltration of HSA in bioprocessing as an alternative to virus inactivation methods based, e.g., on heat treatment.


Membranes ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 369
Author(s):  
Shengji Xia ◽  
Xinran Zhang ◽  
Yuanchen Zhao ◽  
Fibor J. Tan ◽  
Pan Li ◽  
...  

The membrane separation process is being widely used in water treatment. It is very important to control membrane fouling in the process of water treatment. This study was conducted to evaluate the efficiency of a pre-oxidation-coagulation flat ceramic membrane filtration process using different oxidant types and dosages in water treatment and membrane fouling control. The results showed that under suitable concentration conditions, the effect on membrane fouling control of a NaClO pre-oxidation combined with a coagulation/ceramic membrane system was better than that of an O3 system. The oxidation process changed the structure of pollutants, reduced the pollution load and enhanced the coagulation process in a pre-oxidation-coagulation system as well. The influence of the oxidant on the filtration system was related to its oxidizability and other characteristics. NaClO and O3 performed more efficiently than KMnO4. NaClO was more conducive to the removal of DOC, and O3 was more conducive to the removal of UV254.


Processes ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (8) ◽  
pp. 124 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin Hinkle ◽  
Xiaoyu Wang ◽  
Xuehong Gu ◽  
Cynthia Jameson ◽  
Sohail Murad

In this report we have discussed the important role of molecular modeling, especially the use of the molecular dynamics method, in investigating transport processes in nanoporous materials such as membranes. With the availability of high performance computers, molecular modeling can now be used to study rather complex systems at a fraction of the cost or time requirements of experimental studies. Molecular modeling techniques have the advantage of being able to access spatial and temporal resolution which are difficult to reach in experimental studies. For example, sub-Angstrom level spatial resolution is very accessible as is sub-femtosecond temporal resolution. Due to these advantages, simulation can play two important roles: Firstly because of the increased spatial and temporal resolution, it can help understand phenomena not well understood. As an example, we discuss the study of reverse osmosis processes. Before simulations were used it was thought the separation of water from salt was purely a coulombic phenomenon. However, by applying molecular simulation techniques, it was clearly demonstrated that the solvation of ions made the separation in effect a steric separation and it was the flux which was strongly affected by the coulombic interactions between water and the membrane surface. Additionally, because of their relatively low cost and quick turnaround (by using multiple processor systems now increasingly available) simulations can be a useful screening tool to identify membranes for a potential application. To this end, we have described our studies in determining the most suitable zeolite membrane for redox flow battery applications. As computing facilities become more widely available and new computational methods are developed, we believe molecular modeling will become a key tool in the study of transport processes in nanoporous materials.


Membranes ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 711
Author(s):  
Wan Fan ◽  
Dong Zou ◽  
Jingrui Xu ◽  
Xianfu Chen ◽  
Minghui Qiu ◽  
...  

Support is a necessary foundation for ceramic membranes to achieve high performance. Finding the optimum balance between high performance and low cost is still a significant challenge in the fabrication of ceramic supports. In this study, low-cost fly ash-based ceramic supports with enhanced performance were prepared by the addition of bauxite. The pore structure, mechanical strength, and shrinkage of fly ash/bauxite supports could be tuned by optimizing the bauxite content and sintering temperature. When the sintering temperature and bauxite content were controlled at 1300 °C and 40 wt%, respectively, the obtained membrane supports exhibited a high pure water permeance of approximately 5.36 m3·m−2·h−1·bar−1 and a high bending strength of approximately 69.6 MPa. At the same time, the optimized ceramic supports presented a typical mullite phase and excellent resistance to acid and alkali. This work provides a potential route for the preparation of ceramic membrane supports with characteristics of low cost and high performance.


2010 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 193-200 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wuthikorn Saikaew ◽  
Supatpong Mattaraj ◽  
Ratana Jiraratananon

Nanofiltration performance (i.e. rejection and flux decline) of lead solutions was investigated using a dead-end test cell at room temperature. An aromatic polyamide NF-90 membrane was chosen to determine the impacts of solution chemistry. The experimental results revealed that solution flux decline was dependent on solution pH, ionic strength, and type of lead solutions. Solution flux conducted with different types of lead solutions (i.e. PbCl2 and Pb(NO3)2) decreased with increased solution pH. Solutions having high pH exhibited greater flux decline than those having low solution pH, while lead ion rejections were relatively high. Increased ionic strengths resulted in a greater flux decline, while lead ion rejections decreased with decreasing solution pH and increasing ionic strengths. Such results were related to low solution pH, suggesting an increase in fixed charge of proton (H+), decreasing electrical double layer thickness within membrane, thus allowing increased lead concentration passing through the membrane surface. Solution flux and rejection decreased further at higher ionic strengths, which caused a reduced negatively charged membrane, and thus decreased rejections. It was also found that lead ion for PbCl2 solution exhibited higher rejections than that of Pb(NO3)2 solution.


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