Optimization of PACl dose to reduce RO cleaning in an IMS

In order to ensure stable treated water quality and to reduce chemical costs in any treatment plant it is necessary to study and optimize the coagulant dosing control (CDC). This research focused on the affects of coagulant in the integrated membrane (UF & RO) system employed for industrial water production. The dose of coagulant (PACl) might be associated (partly) with the frequency of cleaning in the RO units, and a value of 20 abs/m in the UF permeate is the control of the dosage process. This could suggest that organic fouling is directly and indirectly (inducing biofouling as well) the cause of fouling of the RO membranes. Nevertheless, high doses of PACl could produce scaling of aluminium and, in this work minimizing PACl to prevent operational problems in RO membranes was focused.

The approach involved the study of the treatment processes, determination of the optimum dose of coagulant, evaluation of the removal efficiency of UV and DOC by coagulation. The available data, which comprised monthly/weekly measurements for a period of six years of operation, was studied and analyzed and an attempt was made to draw some conclusions for the plant regarding the coagulant dosage and the link with UV absorbance as control.

The study of the coagulant dosing control revealed that the use of simple and robust online sensors like UV measurement allows an automatic dosing control although this parameter is not found to be sufficient to fully characterize nor predict fouling during membrane operation and there is no link between UV after the UF and the cleaning frequency of the RO. Parameters, as the added value allowed to verify the doses efficiencies in UV and DOC removal. Coagulant dose depends on the level of UV absorbance in the UF permeate and it should never be higher than 20 abs/m to ensure a RO cleaning frequency as long as possible. However, it was found that the target value of 20 abs/m produced substantial over dose of coagulant — 90% of the time – when UV removal is considered only. In the same way, for coagulant doses in excess of 5 mg/L, the additional removal of UV is less than 2.5% per mg coagulant/L, which suggests that the current dose is on the high side.

Furthermore, a coagulant dose in excess of 5 mg/L did not produce significant additional UV removal, and thus a reduction from 14 mg/L (2005 dose) to ca. 7 mg/L could be considered.     

Role of membrane pore size in tertiary flocculation/adsorption/ultrafiltration treatment of municipal wastewater

Flocculation, adsorption onto powered activated carbon (PAC), and ultrafiltration (UF), alone and in combination, were tested for tertiary treatment of the secondary effluent from municipal wastewater treatment at the Ashkelon plant (in southern Israel). Encouraging and reliable results of total organic carbon (TOC) of <3 mg/l were achieved with a combination of 130 mg/l FeCl₃, 0.6 g/l PAC and UF. The relative contribution of the UF membrane to the reduction of TOC changed with the molecular weight cut-off (MWCO) of the membrane, from a negligible 2.9% for a 100-kDa-MWCO membrane to 17% for 10- and 2-kDa membranes. The latter membranes, however, developed significant fouling, with a 35% drop in flux during first 30 min of the filtration cycle. The flux drop for the 50- and 100-kDa membranes was in the low range of 3%. The optimal MWCO interval of 20- to 50-kDa in combination with flocculation/PAC pretreatment gave a significant reduction in organic content with minimal membrane fouling. Detailed GC–MS analysis showed that the combined treatment gave very efficient retention of organic compounds with molecular weights below 800 Da, with the consequent absence of harmful compounds in the tertiary effluent. It was therefore concluded that the recommended flocculation/adsorption protocol constitutes an effective pretreatment for UF and that the obtained tertiary effluent can be used for unrestricted irrigation.     

The use of RO to remove emerging micropollutants following CAS/UF or MBR treatment of municipal wastewater

The removal of various organic micropollutants (OMPs), including six antibiotics (ERY, ROX, CLA, SMX, SMZ, and TMP), three pharmaceuticals (ibuprofen, salicylic acid, and diclofenac), one industrial product (BPA), and one hormone (cholesterol), was investigated in two pilot plants treating the same raw sewage of the Tel-Aviv WWTP. The effluent production by CAS-UF was 45 m³/h while that of MBR was 40 L/h. Each system's effluent constituted the feed for its RO, which comprised three RO steps after the CAS/UF and a semi-batch RO system after the MBR. Despite significant molecular differences between the selected OMPs, high removal rates were achieved after the RO stage (> 99% for macrolides, pharmaceuticals, cholesterol, and BPA, 95% for diclofenac, and > 93% removal of sulfonamides). However, low antibiotics concentrations and 28–223 ng/L residuals of ibuprofen, diclofenac, salicylic acid, cholesterol, and BPA in the MBR/RO and CAS-UF/RO permeates showed that although RO is an efficient removal solution, it cannot serve as an absolute barrier to OMPs. Therefore, additional treatment techniques should be considered to be incorporated aside the RO to ensure complete removal of such substances.     

双膜法在瑞源水厂处理氟化物和硫酸盐中的应用

武城县瑞源水厂以南水北调东段末端调蓄水库大屯水库为水源,原水中氟化物和硫酸盐超标,采用常规处理+臭氧-活性炭工艺并不能去除氟化物和硫酸盐,此次水厂升级改造采用超滤-反渗透双膜法对活性炭滤池出水进行深度处理。膜车间出水与活性炭池出水以1∶2勾兑后,氟化物浓度≤1 mg/L,硫酸盐浓度≤250 mg/L,水质达标,运行稳定。通过对工艺设计参数及运行效果现状分析,总结了双膜法在工艺设计及水厂运行方面的经验,建议工程设计处理氟化物和硫酸盐时采用双膜法,运行时加强数据监控,及时进行清洗护理工作,以延长膜组件使用寿命,降低水厂运行成本。     

混凝+UF作为RO进水前处理的适用性研究

本文采用混凝＋UF作为RO进水的前处理,以颖河河水为原水进行了中试实验研究,考察了混凝剂投加量、曝气量、不同抽滤时间对超滤系统的影响.结果表明：混凝剂（PAC）投加量为14mg/L,曝气量为7.08L/s时,超滤对原水浊度的平均去除率为99.2%,出水SDI平均值为1.26,完全达到反渗透进水的水质要求,且水质稳定,混凝和超滤膜联用作为RO前处理是完全适用的.     

Control of residual aluminum from conventional treatment to improve reverse osmosis performance

Soluble aluminum (Al³⁺) may react with both ambient silica and antiscalant components to form colloidal foulants during reverse osmosis (RO) treatment. Whereas conventional treatment (coagulation/filtration/sedimentation/dual-media filtration) was being used prior to RO, aluminum sulfate (alum) and polyaluminum chloride (PACl) coagulants were evaluated at ambient pH (pH 7.8–7.9) and suppressed pH (pH 6.7) in an effort to lower the total aluminum to below 50 μg/L — a level previously observed to prevent RO membrane fouling. Additional tests were conducted with 5 mg/L citric acid added to the RO influent to chelate the soluble aluminum fraction. All tests were conducted with 1.5–2.5 mg/L chloramines present. Testing of a RO process fed with optimized alum- or PACl-coagulated water showed that PACl outperformed alum regardless of pH. Alum coagulation at ambient pH resulted in 184–273 μg/L total aluminum passing through the filtration process. Only by lowering the mean influent water pH to 6.7 was the mean soluble aluminum residual (45 μg/L) for alum coagulation reduced to below the 50 μg/L aluminum goal. Regardless of pH, for alum-coagulated waters, the higher aluminum carryover resulted in severe RO membrane fouling within 500 h of operation. Only when a chelating agent (citric acid) was added to the RO feed was the loss in productivity and selectivity arrested. However, PACl consistently met the 50-μg/L goal for both total and soluble aluminum for all pH levels tested, which resulted in more stable membrane performance over time. Further research on the compatibility of PACl and polyamide membranes in the presence of chloramines is needed as data from this project suggest PACl coagulation may facilitate membrane oxidation.     

A two stage membrane treatment of secondary effluent for unrestricted reuse and sustainable agricultural production

Field experiments are in progress for secondary wastewater upgrading for unrestricted use for irrigation and sustainable agricultural production. The integrative treatment system for the secondary effluent polishing is based on implementing in series of two main treatment stages: ultrafiltration (UF) and reverse osmosis (RO) membrane treatment. The pilot system has the capacity of around 8 m³/h. The UF effluent is used to feed the RO membrane stage. Different mixtures of UF and RO permeates are subsequently applied for drip irrigation of various agriculture crops. The field results indicate the importance of the UF component in the removal of the organic matter and the pathogens that are still contained in the secondary effluent (the secondary effluent is obtained from a waste stabilization pond treatment system). Under specific conditions, when the dissolved solids content is relatively low, the UF effluent can be applied directly for unrestricted irrigation. In the successive RO stage most nutrients are removed, allowing applying the effluent without jeopardizing the soil fertility and the aquifers. Preliminary economic assessment indicates that the extra cost for effluent polishing via the UF stage only is in the range of 8–12 US cents/m³. The extra cost for the RO stage is as well assessed at 8–12 US cents/m³. The additional treatment expenses depend to a large extent on the quality of the incoming raw secondary effluent and local requirements at the command agricultural production sites.     

集成膜技术深度回用处理精对苯二甲酸废水研究

近两年来,膜法回用石化废水备受重视,利用集成膜技术对炼油和乙烯化工废水进行深度回用处理,目前已有相对成熟的经验,但集成膜技术用于精细化工产品精对苯二甲酸废水回用处理的研究尚少。在试验基本工况为超滤系统采用全量过滤方式,运行周期30min,内压式超滤运行通量不大于75L/(m2.h),超滤系统前加入絮凝剂PAC(投加量为5mg/L),低污染反渗透膜运行通量不大于19L/(m2.h),试验中系统回收率为70%,反渗透进水的COD含量小于40mg/L的条件下,精对苯二甲酸达标废水深度回用处理稳定运行,产水水质稳定可靠。     

炼油厂含盐污水的臭氧处理

采用10 L/min的臭氧氧化装置进行了炼油厂含盐污水处理试验,中试试验结果表明,在设计条件下,含盐污水经臭氧氧化处理后,能够去除污水中67%的石油类物质、66%的氨氮、47%的CODCr,同时经臭氧处理后污水的BOD5/CODCr比由处理前的0.11提高到0.23。根据中试试验结果建立一个污水处理能力为200 m3/h的臭氧氧化工业处理装置,从炼油厂收集的高浓度含盐污水经过处理后,CODCr能从1100 mg/L降低到43 mg/L,装置出水能够达到地方一级排放标准,满足了生产需要。     

Application of ultrafiltration hybrid membrane processes for reuse of secondary effluent

This study evaluates the factors affecting pretreatment conditions for hybrid UF membrane processes for reuse of secondary effluent from the sewage treatment plant. The experimental results obtained from the ultrafiltration (UF) membrane process showed that the particles of the size range between 0.2 and 1.2 μm caused a significant impact on membrane fouling in all cases even with or without the coagulation process. As pretreatment of UF membrane process, the coagulation significantly improved the permeate flux. Optimal flux improvement was seen at an alum dose of 50 mg/L. In addition, it was found that the permeate flux was least declined under the coagulation condition of charge neutralization (pH 5.0). Also, the powdered activated carbon (PAC) adsorption enhanced the permeate flux. Application of the direct filtration as a pretreatment of UF membrane process was also very effective in reducing the UF membrane fouling.     

A combined photocatalytic slurry reactor–immersed membrane module system for advanced wastewater treatment

Photocatalysis with titanium dioxide semiconductor catalyst can effectively degrade recalcitrant organic pollutants present in biologically treated sewage effluents. Focusing on process efficiency and sustainability within a broader program, this study presents results obtained with a bench-scale hybrid treatment system. The process train comprised of a slurry (suspension) type continuous photocatalytic (CP) system and an immersed hollow fibre membrane micro-ultrafilter (MF/UF) unit. The CP reactor charged with 1 g/L P-25 catalyst removed 63% dissolved organic carbon (DOC) from a synthetic wastewater (representing biologically treated sewage effluent). The addition of 0.05 g/L of powdered activated carbon (PAC) increased DOC removal up to 76%. The start-up times to achieve 60% DOC removal were 31 min and 15 min, respectively. These results show a 16 times improvement in volumetric load over a comparable batch reactor system used in previous studies by our group.Slurry type photocatalytic reactors need subsequent particle separation to retain the catalyst in the system and allow the discharge of treated effluent. The immersed membrane module accomplished this without prior slurry settling step. Membrane feed pre-treatment with pH adjustment and particle charge neutralisation with aluminium chloride coagulant led to improved critical membrane fluxes, 15.25 L/m² h and 19.05 L/m² h, respectively. In each experiment MF/UF produced near zero turbidity permeate, completely retained the photocatalyst, and flocculation also improved the efficiency of DOC removal. Membrane fouling was controlled by particle aggregation rather than feed DOC levels, but the latter had significant impact on coagulant demand. The complete treatment train achieved up to 92% DOC reduction with 12 mg/L AlCl₃ dosage using in-line coagulation conditions. The results show that in-line coagulation offers a simple yet effective means to improve the performance of slurry type photocatalytic–MF/UF hybrid systems for advanced water and wastewater treatment applications.     

Reverse osmosis to achieve water control and recycle

A 648,000 GPD reverse osmosis (RO) facility at ERDA's Rocky Flats Plant near Golden, Colorado will convert tertiary sewage plant effluent for recycle as cooling tower makeup to reduce external water demand and achieve “zero discharge” off-site of tertiary sewage effluent.

Design parameters for the facility, determined by three years of pilot plant testing, include 98% feedwater recovery, 100 ppm T.D.S. product water, and minimum brine production for evaporation to dryness.

Pretreatment consists of RO feed attenuation in a large pond, chlorination, sand filtration, softening, diatomaceous earth filtration, feed-water heating and pH adjustment. The RO plant will have three 150 GPM trains, each with a combination of HFF modules producing about 90% of the permeate, followed by SW modules producing the final 10%. Permeate from the SW modules can be combined with permeate from the HFF modules or returned to the RO feed stream.

Unique design considerations include heating the 40–70°F fee to 77°F by means of heat recovery from the permeate and supplemental steam heating, recycling of pretreatment backwash streams wherever possible to reduce the volume of brine, and precautions to avoid silica scaling of the modules.     

Pilot study for reclamation of secondary treated sewage effluent

A pilot study for reclamation of secondary treated sewage effluent in Singapore was conducted using a MF/RO system with the capacity of 20 m³/d. A 0.1 μm MF membrane from Asahi and RE-4040-FL RO membrane from Saehan were used in this study. The pilot plant consists of six spiral-wound RO elements. The RO train was configured in single stage. The pilot plant was designed with automatic control system and it was operated continuously (24 h) during the study. Trial runs on various flux rates of the RO membrane at different operating pressures were conducted over 3 months. The pilot results showed that the optimal operation flux rate of the RO membrane ranged from 10 to 15 gal/f²/d (GFD) for this application. The normalized flux after CIP was 97% of the initial one. At a flux rate of 10 GFD and water recovery of 50%, the average operating pressure of 57 psi was noted corresponding to a high normalized flux of 38 L m⁻² h⁻¹ MPa⁻¹ at 25°C. Rejections of the RO membrane in terms of conductivity, TOC, ammonium and nitrate were higher than 96%,97%,90% and 85%, respectively. It was concluded that the RO permeate quality in terms of conductivity, turbidity, TOC, ammonium, nitrate, hardness, total bacteria and total coliform matched the quality of high-grade water (NEWater) for use in the electronics industry.     

A pilot study for reclamation of a combined rinse from a nickel-plating operation using a dual-membrane UF/RO process

A pilot study for reclamation of a combined rinse from a nickel-plating operation was conducted using a dual-membrane UF/RO process. The pilot plant has a product capacity of 1.5 m³/h. The OF unit, as a pre-treatment, was operated at 90% water recovery. The RO unit was operated with a 2:1 configuration in a feed-and-bleed mode with recirculation. Trial runs on various operating pressures and water recoveries were conducted and effect of feed pH on RO permeate quality was studied. Finding a critical pH value was explored to design the feed pH for RO process to treat this particular wastewater. A long-term run for the RO unit with an optimized 75% water recovery was later carried out to study the stability of the product and the fouling tendency of membranes. The cleaning-in-place methods were investigated for both OF and RO units. The pilot plant had successfully operated for 6 months at the time of reporting, consistently producing a high-quality product water (<95 μS/cm) at an overall water recovery of 67.5%. The quality of reclaimed water was better than town water used at the factory. The product water from the pilot plant was used as a substitute for town water for in-process rinsing at the factory with no detrimental effects for 3 months. The study has successfully developed a process for recycling a combined rinse water with conductivity up to 1700 μS/cm. The design data for a full-scale plant were obtained. An economic evaluation shows that a payback within 32 months is feasible at a treatment capacity of 20 m³/h.     

Water Quality Improvement by Combined UF,RO, and Ozone/Hydrogen Peroxide System (HiPOx) in the Water Reclamation Process

Conventional water reclamation processes, such as membrane bioreactors, are not always effective in removal of pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs), endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) and/or N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA), even with the reverse osmosis (RO) membrane process. A study was conducted, at a NEWater factory in Singapore, to compare a conventional ultrafiltration (UF) membrane /RO treatment process with a treatment train having the HiPOx unit, an advanced oxidation process (AOP), which was installed between the UF and the RO unit operations. By incorporating the HiPOx into the UF/RO treatment process, following results were observed; 1) increased removal of PPCPs, EDCs and NDMA, 2) improvement in ultraviolet transmission (UVT) of the RO permeate, 3) enhanced removal of TOC and color, and increased UVT of the RO brine, 4) suppression of the increase in the RO transmembrane pressure by organic fouling.     

Development of an artificial neural network model for prediction of cell voltage and current efficiency in a chlor-alkali membrane cell

This paper presents the development of an artificial neural network (ANN) model for the prediction of cell voltage and caustic current efficiency (CCE) versus various operating parameters in a lab scale chlor-alkali membrane cell. In order to validate the model predictions, the effects of various operating parameters on the cell voltage and current efficiency of the membrane cell were experimentally studied. The membrane cell incorporated a standard DSA/Cl₂ electrode as the anode, a nickel electrode as the cathode and a Flemion 892 polymer film as the membrane. Each of the six process parameters including anolyte pH (2–5), operating temperature (25–90 °C), electrolyte velocity (2.2–5.9 cm/s), brine concentration (200–300 g/L), current density (1–4 kA/m²), and run time were thoroughly studied at four levels and low caustic concentrations (5–22 g/L). The predictions of ANN model as well as those from other statistical methods were evaluated versus the measured values of cell voltages.

The developed ANN model is not only capable to predict the cell voltage and caustic current efficiency but also to reflect the impacts of process parameters on the same functions. The predicted cell voltages and current efficiencies using ANN modeling were found to be close to the measured values, particularly at higher current densities.     

Colloidal organic matter fouling of UF membranes: role of NOM composition & size

The aim of this study was to fractionate pre-filtered surface water using a 3.5 and a 10 kDa dialysis membrane, and to compare the rate of fouling and the fouling reversibility/irreversibility of the NOM fractions. Trial dialyses (3.5 and 10 kDa) were carried out for 6 and 21 days with pre-filtered surface water using synthetic surface water as dialysate. The aim of the trials was to optimize the dialysis process for NOM fractionation. DOC, Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺, soluble silica and bacteria were monitored at intervals during the dialysis process. Thereafter, the various NOM fractions (with low and high Ca²⁺) were fed to a miniature UF system operated at a constant flux of 138.5 L/m2 h, filtration cycle times of 31.5 min and backwash duration of 1.75 min. A PES/PSV hollow fiber UF membrane (MWCO 100 kDa) with a surface area of 0.0125 m² was employed for the filtration tests (X-Flow). Transmembrane pressure (TMP) and UF feed and permeate (LC-OCD) were monitored at regular intervals. For a dialysate recirculation of 95 L/h, sample to dialysate ratio of 5.2:80 L and a dialysate change frequency of 3 times per 24 h, the shortest duration of dialysis was about 6–7 days for both 3.5 and 10 kDa dialyses membranes. The removal of organic carbon (OC) increased with dialysis duration and MWCO of the bags. The biopolymer fraction increased from 120% to 240% when the duration of dialysis was increased from 6 days (1.1 mg DOC/L, 151 mg Ca/L) to 21 days (0.82 mg DOC/L, 133 mg Ca/L) with the 10 kDa dialysis membrane. The increased biopolymer fraction in the NOM sample that was dialyzed for 21 days resulted in a doubling of the fouling rate from 3.5 to 6.6 mbar/min per mg DOC/L. The other NOM fractions (humics and building blocks) and the Ca/DOC ratio was more or less the same in both NOM samples suggesting that biopolymers were the major cause of UF fouling.     

超滤和反渗透联用处理玉米浸渍水

对玉米浸渍水的膜分离过程进行了研究，开发出超滤和反渗透联用的分离方法。反渗透浓缩液中蛋白质的截留率为99．77％，反渗透透过液中COD值降到1000左右，可用作工艺回用水，反渗透浓缩液中可提取乳酸等有用物质，超滤浓缩液可浓缩成玉米浆。     

Membrane processes for water reuse from the effluent of industrial park wastewater treatment plant: a study on flux and fouling of membrane

Both the relationship between the flux and the fouling mechanism of ultrafiltration (UF) membrane and the effects of pretreatment before reverse osmosis (RO) process on the treatment of the effluent of industrial park wastewater treatment plant (IPWTP) were investigated to examine the application of membrane processes on the water reuse treatment. For the former, the flux data was first fitted to the Hermia model to give the implication of the fouling mechanism. Then, the fouling mechanism was further identified with the aid of the SEM morphology of membrane surfaces. For the latter, the changes of both water characteristics (turbidity, TOC, conductivity, particle size distribution, and organic solute molecular weight) and membrane properties (surface zeta potential and surface morphology) before and after the treatment of membrane processes were measured. It was found that the major blocking mechanisms of UF membrane process at initial and final stage were standard blocking of pore (causing from colloid materials) and cake blocking of pore (causing from suspended particles), respectively. On the other hand, it was concluded that the permeate from 1 μm/UF/RO process was suitable for the reuse of cooling water and low pressure boiler water.     

陶瓷膜短流程工艺处理重金属废水

针对电镀行业重金属废水常规处理方法存在的药剂投加量大、污泥产量多、水质波动影响大等不足,本文提出了一种新工艺-陶瓷膜短流程处理工艺,即废水通过调节pH值使重金属离子形成相应的氢氧化物絮体后,直接进入陶瓷膜组件过滤,同时辅以曝气缓解膜污染。通过实验室小试研究了pH值、重金属质量浓度和曝气量等因素对重金属(Cu²⁺、Cr³⁺和Ni²⁺)去除效果以及陶瓷膜跨膜压差的影响,并进行现场中试验证。试验结果表明:pH=10时,Cu²⁺、Cr³⁺和Ni²⁺的去除率分别达到99.8%、99.7%和99.9%,耐冲击负荷强,原水重金属离子质量浓度为500mg/L时出水也能满足要求。气水体积比值为15时,能在保证出水水质的前提下显著缓解膜污染。该工艺中陶瓷膜的污染主要为可逆污染,可以通过水力反冲洗去除。在pH=10、气水体积比值为15和膜通量为80L/(m²·h)时,现场中试工艺出水中Cu²⁺、Cr³⁺和Ni²⁺的质量浓度分别低于0.15mg/L、0.3mg/L和0.1mg/L,而且跨膜压差保持稳定。