Effect of fabrication parameters on physical properties of metakaolin-based ceramic hollow fibre membrane (CHFM)

Ceramic hollow fibre membranes (CHFMs) are known to have superior characteristics including excellent thermal, mechanical, and chemical stability. Major limitations include their high cost and brittleness, traits which have hindered the commercial adoption of this technology. This paper studies the effects of three main fabrication parameters, i.e. ceramic content, bore fluid flowrate, and sintering temperature, on morphology and mechanical strength of low-cost CHFM from a well-known material in producing high strength concrete, i.e. metakaolin. The novel CHFM from metakaolin was prepared via a combined phase inversion and sintering technique. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and three-point bending strength were employed to examine the hollow fibre's morphology and mechanical strength. Response surface methodology (RSM) based on historical data design (HDD) was used to further verify experimental and predicted values for mechanical strength in terms of the three operating parameters mentioned above. The highest mechanical strength of 225.8 MPa was obtained with 37.5 wt% metakaolin content and 3 mL/min of BF flowrate at a sintering temperature of 1500 °C. The desirability of this work is 0.985, indicating that RSM is a suitable approach to validate the effects of fabrication parameters on the mechanical strength of metakaolin-based CHFM.     

超声对聚偏氟乙烯中空纤维超滤膜的清洗研究

文章探讨了超声清洗对聚偏氟乙烯(PVDF)中空纤维超滤膜的损坏及其通量的影响。实验表明,膜面的破坏随声强和处理时间的增加而增加,但声强在2 200 W/m2时,处理30 h膜面无损坏。新膜易被饱和CaC l2溶液污染,通量下降明显。清洗实验表明,超声和稀柠檬酸协同作用能较易地除去新膜表面的污垢,使其通量恢复到初始通量的81%,而仅用酸洗只能使膜通量恢复到初始通量的66.3%。对于污染较重的膜必须用稀酸浸泡,浸泡7 h后,超声和稀柠檬酸协同清洗可使通量恢复到初始通量的73.2%,明显高于无浸泡时的56.2%。     

3D printing of porous low-temperature in-situ mullite ceramic using waste rice husk ash-derived silica

The in-situ mullite (3Al₂O₃·2SiO₂) foams are fabricated by 3D printing (direct ink writing (DIW)) technique and utilize waste rice husk ash (RHA). The Al₂O₃-SiO₂ inks are prepared using an aqueous binder with α-alumina and two different silica sources, i.e., RHA extracted biogenic nano-silica (NS) and commercial silica (CS). The ink rheological features are first designed in terms of solid-to-liquid ratio and dispersant, and found that a higher amount of dispersant is needed for functionalization of NS-containing ink than CS (micro-sized) consisting of ink. Secondly, the DIW log-pile structures are fired at different temperatures (1200?1500 °C), and NS containing samples exhibited remarkable enhanced properties at a lower firing temperature than CS. At 1400 °C, alumina and RHA nano-silica entirely transformed into mullite and retained ～75 % porosity, ～8 MPa cold compressive strength, and thermal conductivity ～0.173 W/m·k that designate a simple and effective way to fabricate of mullite foamy structure.     

High-flux whisker layer ceramic membrane prepared by gel spin-coating method for low-pressure oil/water emulsion filtration

Insufficient permeability and membrane fouling significantly influence the efficiency of ceramic microfiltration (MF) membranes in oil/water emulsion treatment. In this study, a high-flux whisker layer ceramic MF membrane with super-hydrophilicity was successfully fabricated through gel-spin coating method and a low-temperature oxidation method, which was used to separate oil/water emulsion. The effects of the whisker layer and surface wettability were systematically investigated, and the mechanism of in-situ gelling and pore size distribution was proposed. The super-hydrophilic ceramic MF membrane with an average pore size of 250 nm exhibited a high gas flux of 934 m³/(m²·h·bar) and excellent pure water flux of 9754 L/(m² h bar). Even after a long-term circulating filtration process, the super-hydrophilic ceramic MF membrane still maintained a high water flux of over 50 L/(m²·h) at a transmembrane pressure of 5 KPa during the treatment of oil-in-water emulsion with a concentration of 1000 mg/L. Overall, the developed ceramic MF membrane demonstrated high permeability and excellent anti-fouling performance, making it a promising candidate for oil/water emulsion wastewater treatment.     

油田采出水处理中陶瓷膜表面水润湿性

陶瓷膜污染是制约陶瓷膜技术大规模应用的关键问题.膜表面水润湿性反映了膜的污染程度.作者分析了处理油田采出污水的陶瓷膜表面对水润湿角及水润湿角随时间的变化.从颜色观察膜芯各处污染程度不同,污染轻处膜面对水润湿角70.4°.污染重处膜面对水润湿角105.9°,由亲水性转变为亲油性,水渗透性变差.经灼烧处理后膜面均为亲水性,水渗透速率较处理前提高.灼烧分析陶瓷膜有机污染物量平均为膜质量的0.78％,酸洗分析无机垢占膜质量的0.28％,以钙盐和铁盐为主.热重分析证明膜污染重处较污染轻的位置有机污染物高约1.5％.     

Construction strategies of self-cleaning ceramic composite membranes for water treatment

Ceramic membranes have received much popularity due to their high mechanical strength, satisfactory acid/alkali resistance, and long-term stability. However, ceramic membranes are also inevitably fouled by contaminates during the membrane separation process. Therefore, construction strategies of anti-fouling ceramic membranes are a main topic in current research. In this work, we review a better anti-fouling ceramic membrane, which is named “self-cleaning” membrane and membrane process. Date to now, there are four main strategies to construct self-cleaning ceramic membranes: 1) porous piezoelectric ceramic membranes; 2) photo-catalytic ceramic membrane; 3) electrochemical ceramic membranes and 4) self-cleaning ceramic membrane surface. Self-cleaning ceramic membranes can in-situ remove and decompose the pollutants on the membrane surface and recover the water permeance that exhibits a great potential to treat industrial wastewater without backwashing or other methods. The detailed membrane fabrication period, mechanism and important case studies are reported in this review. Self-cleaning ceramic membrane is expected to be next-generation anti-fouling ceramic membrane material for continuous water treatment. It is a first review work that systematically concluded all the strategies for self-cleaning ceramic membranes that can be an important reference in ceramic or membrane fields.     

结合陶瓷微滤膜处理高硬度深井水的研究

采用碱处理剂(Na2CO3)并结合现代陶瓷微滤膜分离技术对四川彭山地区深井水(水中Ca^2 质量浓度为250．400mg／L)进行处理,观测了不同压差、不同温度下通量的变化,并采用超声波对污染后的陶瓷膜进行了清洗。结果表明,加入碱处理剂(Na2CO3)能有效降低深井水的硬度,合适的温度和较高的压差有利于提高通量,用超声波对污染后的陶瓷微滤膜清洗效果显著。     

陶瓷膜在水处理中的发展与应用

介绍了无机陶瓷膜的结构、原理及特性;综述了陶瓷分离膜技术的发展过程及其国内外发展现状;分类介绍了其在给水处理、海水淡化、废水处理等方面的应用研究及进展;最后讨论了陶瓷膜在水处理应用中存在的问题及发展趋势,指出其在水处理中具有良好的应用前景.     

Fabrications and applications of low cost ceramic membrane from kaolin: A comprehensive review

The application of low cost ceramic membrane from kaolin has attracted much interest due to its excellent mechanical stability, chemical and thermal resistivity and most importantly, because it is cost effective, in some cases, compared to polymeric membranes. The advantage of kaolin based ceramic membrane is its thermal properties that allow sintering at much lower temperature than alumina. Although many studies have been made on the application of kaolin based ceramic membranes, detailed discussions were scarcely made and the information on the fabrication of ceramic membrane from kaolin is very limited. This article is aimed to make a comprehensive review on ceramic membrane from kaolin for its fabrication methods and applications. An attempt is also made to show the future direction of the R and D on the kaolin based ceramic membrane.     

相转化法制备氧化钇稳定氧化锆中空纤维陶瓷膜

采用相转化和烧结相结合的方法制备了氧化钇稳定氧化锆(YSZ)中空纤维陶瓷膜，研究了铸膜液中YSZ粉末含量和烧结温度对中空纤维陶瓷膜的微观结构和性能的影响。结果表明，YSZ中空纤维陶瓷膜的不对称结构包含指状结构和海绵状结构，YSZ含量会影响两种结构的比例，烧结则会引起微观结构的致密化。在铸膜液配比为m(YSZ):m(PSF):m(NMP)=5.0:1:4，烧结温度为1200 ℃的条件下制备出性能良好的中空纤维陶瓷膜，其纯水通量为2.33 m3/(m2·h·MPa)，抗弯强度为134.5 MPa。     

An analytical index for evaluating manufacturing cost and performance of low-pressure hollow fibre membrane systems

Water and waste-water treatment through the use of the membrane filtration technology is one of the processes utilized currently to meet the growing demand for water. While new technologies can harness water from various non-traditional sources such as oceans, there remains the possibility of making drinking water more expensive through the use of costly water treatment equipment. To prevent this and ensuing catastrophes in the world, the water industry needs a strategy that keeps the price of water and price of products aiding the treatment of water controlled in to the future.     

Preparation and characterization of mesoporous bioactive glass from agricultural waste rice husk for targeted anticancer drug delivery

Mesoporous bioactive glass (MBG) possesses excellent biocompatibility and an important material used for bone regeneration and drug delivery. The aim of this study is to synthesize MBG from low-cost agricultural waste rice husk (rMBG) using a sol-gel process. We show that rMBG has typical characteristics of the well-ordered hexagonal mesostructure of MBG and can be grafted with folic acid (FA) and then loaded with anticancer drugs for targeting cancer cells. By loading rMBG-FA with camptothecin (CPT, a water-insoluble anticancer drug) we formed rMBG-FA/CPT, which killed cancer cells by being selectively and efficiently taken in via the cells’ FA receptors (FRs). We found that rMBG-FA/CPT showed a higher cytotoxicity to FR-overexpressed HeLa cells than to FR-deficient L929 cells. Our results indicate that low-cost rMBG offers a potentially practical medical application that can replace highly valuable MBG as well as reduce environmental pollution caused by agricultural waste.     

Fabrication of low-cost ceramic ultrafiltration membrane made from bentonite clay and its application for soluble dyes removal

This work reports the preparation and the characterization of low-cost ultrafiltration bentonite membrane deposited on ceramic perlite support. The bentonite layer was obtained by spin-coating process of colloidal solution with different bentonite contents ranging from 0.25 to 1.50 wt.%, followed by sintering at 500 °C. It was confirmed that optimized membrane prepared with 0.75 wt.% of bentonite is homogeneous and exhibits a good adhesion on perlite support. Furthermore, the membrane has a thickness of 6 μm, a pore size of 13 nm and a permeability of 30 L/h.m².bar. In addition, the filtration performance of bentonite membrane was evaluated by tangential filtration of Direct Red 80 and Rhodamine B solutions under pressure of 4 bar. The effect of filtration time and initial feed concentration on flux and rejection was studied and showed that the rejection of Direct Red 80 and Rhodamine B could achieve value of 97.0 and 80.1 % respectively.     

Fabrication of low thermal conductivity yttrium silicate ceramic flat membrane for membrane distillation

This paper reports on the successful fabrication of γ-Y₂Si₂O₇ membranes with low thermal conductivity, which is an important membrane property for achieving high performance in membrane distillation process. Single-phase γ-Y₂Si₂O₇ powder was first synthesized by calcination of SiO₂ and Y₂O₃ powders, with 3 wt% LiYO₂ as a sintering aid. The membrane was produced by tape-casting of a suspension of this powder. After sintering at 1300 °C for 4 h, a flat membrane was obtained, which had a thickness of 0.5 mm, 49% porosity, 0.9 μm pore diameter, and low thermal conductivity of 0.497 W/m⋅K at 32 °C, and 0.528 W/m⋅K at 100 °C. The obtained membrane presented hydrophobic features (water contact angle was 132°) after surface modification, which resulted in formation of a strongly adhered robust hydrophobic SiNCO nanoparticle layer on its surface. The resultant hydrophobic membrane was tested in water desalination experiments using a sweeping gas membrane distillation (SGMD) device. High water flux of 10.07 L⋅ m⁻²⋅ h⁻¹ was achieved for a 20 wt% NaCl feeding solution and a temperature at the feed of 90 °C. Stable water flux and rejection rates were recorded in long-term experiments (>400 h).     

Combination of a Two-Zone Fluidized Bed Reactor with a Pd hollow fibre membrane for catalytic alkane dehydrogenation

The combination of a Pd hollow fibre membrane with a Two-Zone Fluidized Bed Reactor (TZFBR) is described for catalytic dehydrogenation of propane. This configuration aims to combine the in situ catalyst regeneration provided by the TZFBR with the increased conversion that can be achieved with a Pd membrane, which removes hydrogen from the reactor, thus enhancing the reaction rate and in theory allowing even higher than equilibrium conversion. The experiments show that the Pd hollow fibre membrane acts effectively removing hydrogen from the reaction media and that with a Pt–Sn/Al₂O₃ catalyst the TZFBR can achieve steady state operation in spite of the increased coking of the catalyst. However, with this catalyst the quicker coke formation caused by the removal of hydrogen outweighs the beneficial effect of hydrogen removal and the yield achievable for a given feed is lower in the presence of the membrane. A conclusion from these results is that a catalyst with lower coke tendency is needed to apply this combination of Pd membrane and TZFBR.     

One-step dip-coating method for preparation of ceramic nanofiber membrane with high permeability and low cost

Ceramic nanofiber membrane (CNM) based on attapulgite (APT) without any intermediate layer neither any cracks was fabricated by a one-step dip-coating method. The effects of sintering temperature and dip-coating time on the physicochemical properties and performances of prepared CNMs were investigated. The increase of the sintering temperature up to 700 °C reduced the bending strength, porosity and chemical stability of APT-based CNMs. Meanwhile, with the dip-coating time increased, the membrane thickness increased thereafter reduced. The APT-based CNM fabricated at a sintering temperature of 600 °C and with a dip-coating time of 15 s had an average pore size of 20.4 nm, high porosity (above 60 %), good permeability of 118 L/m² h bar and a rejection of 96.6 % polymers with a molecule weight of 600 kDa. All these properties clearly suggest the practicability of the one-step dip-coating method to prepare ceramic nanofiber membranes.     

Modification and ionic stimulation of hollow fiber membrane by electric field for water treatment

Hollow fiber membrane (HF) is considered one of the prevalent materials for water treatment; its effectiveness is controlled by permeation and mechanical characteristics. In this study, HF membrane surface was stimulated using electrochemical technique, where binary system of stainless steel cylinder and graphite rod electrodes was used into electrolytic solution of sodium acetate 0.1 M as electrolyte. Two pH of acidic medium (pH = 3.5) and alkaline medium (pH = 8.5) were prepared and different potential between 2 and 10 V were applied. EDX analysis of HF membrane surface revealed the formation of sodium ions on the surface of HF membrane with maximum content of Na⁺ ions 1.84%. Also, HF membrane surface showed variation of roughness (R _a) as, HF membrane surface may undergo distortion by using aggressive conditions of high electric potential (7.5–10 V), The measured raw HF membrane (R _a) was 34.8 nm, while, after electrochemical modification in alkaline medium R _a showed higher values 36, 37, and 41 nm using 2, 2.5, and 5 V, respectively. While, after electrochemical modification in acidic medium (R _a) showed 35, 39, 42, 49, 52 nm for 2, 2.5, 5, 7.5, and 10 V, respectively. Moreover, tensile strength Young's modulus, break stress and break strain were measured after electrochemical modification in both acidic and alkaline mediums and maximum porosity value 76.84% was observed after 30 min in acidic medium.     

A filtration model for prediction of local flux distribution and optimization of submerged hollow fiber membrane module

A filtration mathematical model was developed on the basis of complete mass balance and momentum balance for the local flux distribution prediction and optimization of submerged hollow fiber membrane module. In this model, the effect of radial permeate flow on internal flow resistance was considered through a slip parameter obtained from the local flux experiments. The effects of fiber length, inside diameter, and average operating flux on local flux distribution were investigated using this model. The predicted results were in good agreement with the experimental data obtained from literature. It was also found that the asymmetry distribution of local flux could be intensified with the increase of average operating flux and fiber length, but slowed down with the increase of fiber inside diameter. Furthermore, the simulation coupled with energy consumption analysis could efficiently predict and illustrate the relationship between fiber geometry and water production efficiency. © 2015 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 61: 4377–4386, 2015     

Synthesis and characterization of superoleophobic fumed alumina nanocomposite coated via the sol-gel process onto ceramic-based hollow fibre membrane for oil-water separation

Oily wastewater treatment is a global challenge due to the substantial amount of effluent resulted from many industrial and domestic activities. To overcome the challenge of using existing treatment approach and fouling, superoleophobic coatings were fabricated. In this study, a superoleophobic membrane surface was obtained using the sol-gel technique with perfluorooctanoate (PFO), poly (diallyl dimethylammonium chloride) (PDADMAC), and nanoparticles as complex-polymer nanocomposites. The effects of coating cycles on the surface structure, chemical properties, surface chemistry, and oleophobicity of the surface were examined using field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and oil contact angle measurement. The results showed that the coated layer successfully adhered to the substrate surface. However, the chemical stability with respect to oil contact angle (OCA) revealed a decline at pH 7 and pH 9 and maintained stability at pH 3. Besides, oil flux at 63.0 L/m². h was achieved for PDADMAC-Al₂O₃/44 wt% PFO and the highest separation efficiency of 98% was obtained. Furthermore, the oil rejection decreases as the oil concentration increases from 1 to 3 g/L. OCA of 155° was obtained after 5 coating cycles. Apart from mitigating substrate fouling, the superoleophobic and superhydrophilic coating can be applied to a ceramic-based hollow fibre membrane and efficiently used for the separation of oil from oily wastewater.     

Evaluation of the fouling potential of ceramic membrane configurations designed for the treatment of oilfield produced water

During the treatment of oilfield produced water (PW) with ceramic membranes, process efficiency is primarily characterized by the specific permeate flux and the oil separation performance. In addition to membrane properties, the increase in total filtration resistance (fouling) and the decline in permeate flux are strongly dependent on the constituents of the PW as well as process conditions such as trans-membrane pressure and cross-flow velocity. The extensive study presented herein describes the characterization, application and performance of various ceramic membrane filtration technologies designed and developed for the efficient treatment of PW generated from tank dewatering and several oily model systems.