正渗透膜污染的影响因素及清洗效果研究

为研究正渗透(FO)浓缩过程中的膜通量衰减规律,本文以牛血清白蛋白(BSA)为特征污染物,研究了正渗透过程中原料液的离子强度及BSA浓度、膜方位等参数不同时FO膜的污染规律,以提高膜通量和截留率为目标,对驱动液的种类、浓度,料液流速进行了优化,并优化了适宜的膜清洗方案.结果表明:原料液中离子强度越大,FO膜的初始通量越...     

Performance of forward (direct) osmosis process: membrane structure and transport phenomenon

The performance of a forward (direct) osmosis (FO) process was investigated using a laboratory-scale unit to elucidate the effect of membrane structure and orientation on waterflux. Two types of RO membrane and a FO membrane were tested using ammonium bicarbonate, glucose, and fructose as the draw solution to extract water from a saline feed solution. The FO membrane was able to achieve higher water flux than the RO membranes under the same experimental conditions while maintaining high salt rejection of greater than 97%. Increasing operating temperature increased the water flux in FO process. To investigate the effect of membrane orientation on water flux, the FO membrane was tested normally (dense selective layer facing draw solution) and reversely (dense selective layer facing feed solution). Explanations on transport phenomenon in FO process were proposed which explain the observation that the FO membrane, when used in the normal orientation, performed better due to lesser internal concentration polarization. This study suggests that an ideal FO membrane should consist of a thin dense selective layer without any loose fabric support layer.     

Boric acid permeation in forward osmosis membrane processes: modeling, experiments, and implications

Forward osmosis (FO) is attracting increasing interest for its potential applications in desalination. In FO, permeation of contaminants from feed solution into draw solution through the semipermeable membrane can take place simultaneously with water diffusion. Understanding the contaminants transport through and rejection by FO membrane has significant technical implications in the way to separate clean water from the diluted draw solution. In this study, a model was developed to predict boron flux in FO operation. A strong agreement between modeling results and experimental data indicates that the model developed in this study can accurately predict the boron transport through FO membranes. Furthermore, the model can guide the fabrication of improved FO membranes with decreased boron permeability and structural parameter to minimize boron flux. Both theoretical model and experimental results demonstrated that when membrane active layer was facing draw solution, boron flux was substantially greater compared to the other membrane orientation due to more severe internal concentration polarization. In this investigation, for the first time, rejection of contaminants was defined in FO processes. This is critical to compare the membrane performance between different membranes and experimental conditions.     

Adverse impact of feed channel spacers on the performance of pressure retarded osmosis

This article analyzes the influence of feed channel spacers on the performance of pressure retarded osmosis (PRO). Unlike forward osmosis (FO), an important feature of PRO is the application of hydraulic pressure on the high salinity (draw solution) side to retard the permeating flow for energy conversion. We report the first observation of membrane deformation under the action of the high hydraulic pressure on the feed channel spacer and the resulting impact on membrane performance. Because of this observation, reverse osmosis and FO tests that are commonly used for measuring membrane transport properties (water and salt permeability coefficients, A and B, respectively) and the structural parameter (S) can no longer be considered appropriate for use in PRO analysis. To accurately predict the water flux as a function of applied hydraulic pressure difference and the resulting power density in PRO, we introduced a new experimental protocol that accounts for membrane deformation in a spacer-filled channel to determine the membrane properties (A, B, and S). PRO performance model predictions based on these determined A, B, and S values closely matched experimental data over a range of draw solution concentrations (0.5 to 2 M NaCl). We also showed that at high pressures feed spacers block the permeation of water through the membrane area in contact with the spacer, a phenomenon that we term the shadow effect, thereby reducing overall water flux. The implications of the results for power generation by PRO are evaluated and discussed.     

正渗透技术浓缩苹果汁过程中反向溶质扩散的研究

反向渗透扩散（RSF）是正渗透技术中的一大挑战,本实验立足于研究正渗透技术浓缩苹果汁性能以及功能性汲取液（乙酸钠、碳酸氢钠、柠檬酸钠溶液）的溶质扩散规律。首先,利用NaCl溶液为汲取液研究正渗透膜的基础特性,通过改变NaCl溶液浓度、进水流速以及膜操作模式,探究正渗透体系的水通量、反向溶质扩散及截留率,分析对去离子水和苹果汁的浓缩能力及溶质扩散规律;其次,对比不同功能性汲取液对苹果汁浓缩的效果和对RSF的影响,以期达到将RSF化弊为利的目的。结果表明,汲取液浓度和膜操作模式影响浓缩效率和RSF;采用压力延迟渗透（PRO）模式,苹果汁浓缩倍数和RSF均比正渗透（FO）模式高,PRO模式下,5 mol·L?1 NaCl汲取液RSF达87.34±6.32 g·m?2·h?1;不同种类功能性汲取液浓缩苹果汁的能力不同,汲水能力:碳酸氢钠>氯化钠>乙酸钠>柠檬酸钠。RSF:乙酸钠>碳酸氢钠>氯化钠>柠檬酸钠。2 mol·L?1柠檬酸钠汲取液的RSF为29.61±2.19 g·m?2·h?1,仅为同浓度NaCl汲取液的一半,与传统的NaCl汲取液相比,柠檬酸钠汲取液可有效控制RSF。     

Integrating forward osmosis into microbial fuel cells for wastewater treatment, water extraction and bioelectricity generation

A novel osmotic microbial fuel cell (OsMFC) was developed by using a forward osmosis (FO) membrane as a separator. The performance of the OsMFC was examined with either NaCl solution or artificial seawater as a catholyte (draw solution). A conventional MFC with a cation exchange membrane was also operated in parallel for comparison. It was found that the OsMFC produced more electricity than the MFC in both batch operation (NaCl solution) and continuous operation (seawater), likely due to better proton transport with water flux through the FO membrane. Water flux from the anode into the cathode was clearly observed with the OsMFC but not in the MFC. The solute concentration of the catholyte affected both electricity generation and water flux. These results provide a proof of concept that an OsMFC can simultaneously accomplish wastewater treatment, water extraction (from the wastewater), and electricity generation. The potential applications of the OsMFC are proposed for either water reuse (linking to reverse osmosis for reconcentration of draw solution) or seawater desalination (connecting with microbial desalination cells for further wastewater treatment and desalination).     

Synthesis and characterization of novel forward osmosis membranes based on layer-by-layer assembly

Forward osmosis (FO) has received considerable interest for water- and energy-related applications in recent years. FO does not require an applied pressure and is believed to have a low fouling tendency. However, a major challenge in FO is the lack of high performance FO membranes. In the current work, novel nanofiltration (NF)-like FO membranes with good magnesium chloride retention were synthesized using layer-by-layer (LbL) assembly. The membrane substrate was tailored (high porosity, finger-like pores, thin cross-section, and high hydrophilicity) to achieve a small structural parameter of 0.5 mm. Increasing the number of polyelectrolyte layers improved the selectivity of the LbL membranes while reducing their water permeability. The more selective membrane 6#LbL (with 6 polyelectrolyte layers) had much lower reverse solute transport compared to 3#LbL and 1#LbL. Meanwhile, the FO water flux was found to be strongly affected by both membrane water permeability and solute reverse transport. Severe solute reverse transport was observed for the active-layer-facing-draw-solution membrane orientation, likely due to the suppression of Donnan exclusion as a result of the high ionic strength of the draw solution. In contrast, the active-layer-facing-feed-solution orientation showed remarkable FO performance (15, 20, and 28 L/m2.h at 0.1, 0.5, and 1.0 M MgCl?, respectively, for membrane 3#LbL using distilled water as feed solution), superior to other NF-like FO membranes reported in the literature. To the best of the knowledge of the authors, this is the first work on the synthesis and characterization of LbL based FO membranes.     

High performance thin-film composite forward osmosis hollow fiber membranes with macrovoid-free and highly porous structure for sustainable water production

The development of high-performance and well-constructed thin-film composite (TFC) hollow fiber membranes for forward osmosis (FO) applications is presented in this study. The newly developed membranes consist of a functional selective polyamide layer formed by highly reproducible interfacial polymerization on a polyethersulfone (PES) hollow fiber support. Using dual-layer coextrusion technology to design and effectively control the phase inversion during membrane formation, the support was designed to possess desirable macrovoid-free and fully sponge-like morphology. Such morphology not only provides excellent membrane strength, but it has been proven to minimize internal concentration polarization in a FO process, thus leading to the water flux enhancement. The fabricated membranes exhibited relatively high water fluxes of 32-34 LMH and up to 57-65 LMH against a pure water feed using 2 M NaCl as the draw solution tested under the FO and pressure retarded osmosis (PRO) modes, respectively, while consistently maintaining relatively low salt leakages below 13 gMH for all cases. With model seawater solution as the feed, the membranes could display a high water flux up to 15-18 LMH, which is comparable to the best value reported for seawater desalination applications.     

Forward osmosis concentration of high viscous polysaccharides of Dendrobium officinale: Process optimisation and membrane fouling analysis

Polysaccharides of Dendrobium officinale (DOP) need to be dehydrated and concentrated after extraction for further application. They are usually concentrated by thermal evaporation which consumes great energy. However, high viscosity of DOP makes the concentration more difficult even using non-thermal membrane technologies such as nanofiltration (NF) or reverse osmosis (RO). In this study, effects of process conditions, such as membrane orientations, draw solutions and their concentrations, and flowrate on forward osmosis (FO) concentration of viscous DOP were studied. Active layer to feed solution mode, cross flowrate at 240 mL min⁻¹, and draw solution of 3 m NaCl have been found as the optimal conditions. Foulants on the membrane surface with loose structure could be easily cleaned and removed by hydraulic flushing. DOP concentrated by FO achieved almost 1.3 times at the same time compared with that in NF and RO. DOP could be further concentrated for 1.5 folds at longtime without significant decrease in water flux. In addition, slight reverse solutes in FO process could reduce the viscosity of high viscous DOP, which was good for concentration. Accordingly, FO is a potential technology for concentration of high viscous polysaccharides such as DOP.     

Emerging forward osmosis and membrane distillation for liquid food concentration: A review

As emerging membrane technologies, forward osmosis (FO) and membrane distillation (MD), which work with novel driving forces, show great potential for liquid food concentration, owing to their low fouling propensity and great driving force. In the last decades, they have attracted the attention of food industry scientists in global scope. However, discussions of the FO and MD in liquid food concentration advancement, membrane fouling, and economic assessment have been scant. This review aims to provide an up-to-date knowledge about liquid food concentration by FO and MD. First, we introduce the principle and applications of FO and MD in liquid food concentration, and highlight the effect of process on liquid food composition, membrane fouling mechanism, and strategies for fouling mitigation. Besides, economic assessment of FO and MD processes is reviewed. Moreover, the challenges as well as future prospects of FO and MD applied in liquid food concentration are proposed and discussed. Comparing with conventional membrane-based or thermal-based technologies, FO and MD show outstanding advantages in high concentration rate, good concentrate quality, low fouling propensity, and low cost. Future efforts for liquid food concentration by FO and MD include (1) development of novel FO draw solution (DS); (2) understanding the effects of liquid food complex compositions on membrane fouling in FO and MD concentration process; and (3) fabrication of novel membranes and innovation of membrane module and process configuration for liquid food processing.     

Removal of natural steroid hormones from wastewater using membrane contactor processes

Growing demands for potable water have strained water resources and increased interest in wastewater reclamation for potable reuse. This interest has brought increased attention to endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) as emerging water contaminants. The effect of EDCs, and in particular natural steroid hormones, on humans is of heightened interest in the study of wastewater reuse in advanced life support systems (e.g., space missions) because they are excreted in urine and have high endocrine-disrupting potencies. Direct contact membrane distillation (DCMD) and forward osmosis (FO) are being investigated for wastewater treatment in space. Retention of two natural steroid hormones, estrone and 17beta-estradiol, by these two processes was evaluated in the current investigation. DCMD provided greater than 99.5% hormone rejection; DCMD also provided constant flux, greater than 99.9% urea and ammonia rejection, and high water recovery. FO provided from 77 to 99% hormone rejection depending on experiment duration and feed solution chemistry.     

Performance limiting effects in power generation from salinity gradients by pressure retarded osmosis

Pressure retarded osmosis has the potential to utilize the free energy of mixing when fresh river water flows into the sea for clean and renewable power generation. Here, we present a systematic investigation of the performance limiting phenomena in pressure retarded osmosis--external concentration polarization, internal concentration polarization, and reverse draw salt flux--and offer insights on the design criteria of a high performance pressure retarded osmosis power generation system. Thin-film composite polyamide membranes were chemically modified to produce a range of membrane transport properties, and the water and salt permeabilities were characterized to determine the underlying permeability-selectivity trade-off relationship. We show that power density is constrained by the trade-off between permeability and selectivity of the membrane active layer. This behavior is attributed to the opposing influence of the beneficial effect of membrane water permeability and the detrimental impact of reverse salt flux coupled with internal concentration polarization. Our analysis reveals the intricate influence of active and support layer properties on power density and demonstrates that membrane performance is maximized by tailoring the water and salt permeabilities to the structural parameters. An analytical parameter that quantifies the relative influence of each performance limiting phenomena is employed to identify the dominant effect restricting productivity. External concentration polarization is shown to be the main factor limiting performance at high power densities. Enhancement of the hydrodynamic flow conditions in the membrane feed channel reduces external concentration polarization and thus, yields improved power density. However, doing so will also incur additional operating costs due to the accompanying hydraulic pressure loss. This study demonstrates that by thoughtful selection of the membrane properties and hydrodynamic conditions, the detrimental effects that limit productivity in a pressure retarded osmosis power generation process can be methodically minimized to achieve high performance.     

Polyelectrolyte-promoted forward osmosis-membrane distillation (FO-MD) hybrid process for dye wastewater treatment

Polyelectrolytes have proven their advantages as draw solutes in forward osmosis process in terms of high water flux, minimum reverse flux, and ease of recovery. In this work, the concept of a polyelectrolyte-promoted forward osmosis-membrane distillation (FO-MD) hybrid system was demonstrated and applied to recycle the wastewater containing an acid dye. A poly(acrylic acid) sodium (PAA-Na) salt was used as the draw solute of the FO to dehydrate the wastewater, while the MD was employed to reconcentrate the PAA-Na draw solution. With the integration of these two processes, a continuous wastewater treatment process was established. To optimize the FO-MD hybrid process, the effects of PAA-Na concentration, experimental duration, and temperature were investigated. Almost a complete rejection of PAA-Na solute was observed by both FO and MD membranes. Under the conditions of 0.48 g mL(-1) PAA-Na and 66 °C, the wastewater was most efficiently dehydrated yet with a stabilized PAA-Na concentration around 0.48 g mL(-1). The practicality of PAA-Na-promoted FO-MD hybrid technology demonstrates not only its suitability in wastewater reclamation, but also its potential in other membrane-based separations, such as protein or pharmaceutical product enrichment. This study may provide the insights of exploring novel draw solutes and their applications in FO related processes.     

PPESK复合纳滤膜在核苷酸溶液脱盐中的应用研究

核苷酸是DNA、RNA的组成单元,是一类在代谢上极为重要的生化物质,在食品、医药、农业、精细化工中有着广泛的应用。研究了采用高分子分离膜技术处理核苷酸的可能性,考察了操作压力、料液浓度、料液流速、运行时间等条件对膜分离性能的影响。结果表明,纳滤膜对核苷酸有很好的截留性能,对无机盐杂质有很好的透过效果。膜的渗透通量以及对核苷酸和无机盐离子的截留性能,随操作压力和进料流量的提高而上升,并且随进料浓度的上升而下降。在0.6MPa下,对核苷酸的截留率达到90%以上,对无机盐的截留率在50%,在实验的运行时间内膜性能基本稳定。     

Experimental study of water and salt fluxes through reverse osmosis membranes

Water flux and salt rejection rate, which are the two most important parameters in evaluating the performance of a reverse osmosis membrane process, are desirable to be directly related to the membrane properties and operating conditions. However, the membrane transport theories in their general forms are unable to describe the membrane performance satisfactorily. In this study, water and salt fluxes through reverse osmosis membranes were carefully examined with a cross-flow filtration cell under various operating conditions. Experimental results showed that a notable permeate flux was detected when the driving pressure was smaller than the feed osmotic pressure. Water flux increased with the driving pressure nonlinearly before approaching a linear relation with the pressure. In addition, salt transport was highly dependent on both operating pressure and feed salt concentration. A power relationship between salt flux and concentration was correlated well with the experimental data. The equations for water and salt fluxes obtained from this work would provide a facile and accurate means for predicting the membrane performance in design and optimization of reverse osmosis processes.     

Comprehensive bench- and pilot-scale investigation of trace organic compounds rejection by forward osmosis

Forward osmosis (FO) is a membrane separation technology that has been studied in recent years for application in water treatment and desalination. It can best be utilized as an advanced pretreatment for desalination processes such as reverse osmosis (RO) and nanofiltration (NF) to protect the membranes from scaling and fouling. In the current study the rejection of trace organic compounds (TOrCs) such as pharmaceuticals, personal care products, plasticizers, and flame-retardants by FO and a hybrid FO-RO system was investigated at both the bench- and pilot-scales. More than 30 compounds were analyzed, of which 23 nonionic and ionic TOrCs were identified and quantified in the studied wastewater effluent. Results revealed that almost all TOrCs were highly rejected by the FO membrane at the pilot scale while rejection at the bench scale was generally lower. Membrane fouling, especially under field conditions when wastewater effluent is the FO feed solution, plays a substantial role in increasing the rejection of TOrCs in FO. The hybrid FO-RO process demonstrated that the dual barrier treatment of impaired water could lead to more than 99% rejection of almost all TOrCs that were identified in reclaimed water.     

Secondary wastewater polishing with ultrafiltration membranes for unrestricted reuse: fouling and flushing modeling

The effects of operating parameters such astransmembrane pressure, retentate, and recirculation volumetric flow rates on the productivity of an ultrafiltration membrane were studied using field data and development of a management model. Correlation equations for predicting the volumetric permeate flow rates were derived from general membrane blocking laws and experimental data. The experimental data were obtained from a pilot study carried out in the Arad wastewater treatment system (a pilot plant operating in feed and bleed operation mode) located several kilometers west of the City of Arad, Israel. Correlation predictions were confirmed with the independent experimental results. The results enabled us to develop a mathematical expression accurately describing the decline in flux due to fouling.     

膜分离技术在氨基葡萄糖生产中的应用

以氨基葡萄糖发酵液为实验料液,采用膜分离技术对其进行过滤处理,对氨基葡萄糖发酵液中的可溶蛋白进行去除,以通量和对可溶蛋白截留率为评价指标进行效果评估。结果表明,采用8 nm陶瓷膜对该发酵液进行过滤,设定操作压力为0.26 MPa,膜面流速控制为4.5 m/s,物料温度为50～55 ℃,物料pH为3.5～4.0,浓缩倍数为3倍,透析水浓缩液质量3.3倍,可使该物料收率达到97%以上,对发酵液中的杂蛋白截留率达49%,处理后的浓缩液可用于动物饲料的制备,因此在氨基葡萄糖过滤领域陶瓷膜值得大力推广。     

Bidirectional permeation of electrolytes in osmotically driven membrane processes

Osmotically driven membrane processes (ODMP) are emerging water treatment and energy conversion technologies. In this work, we investigated the simultaneous forward and reverse (i.e., bidirectional) solute fluxes that occur in ODMP. Numerous experiments were conducted using ternary systems (i.e., systems containing three distinct ions) and quaternary systems (i.e., systems containing four distinct ions) in conjunction with a membrane in a forward osmosis orientation. Ten different combinations of strong electrolyte salts constitute the ternary systems; common anion systems studied included KCl-NaCl, KBr-NaBr, KNO(3)-NaNO(3), KCl-CaCl(2), and KCl-SrCl(2); and common cation systems explored were KCl-KH(2)PO(4), NaCl-NaClO(4), NaCl-Na(2)SO(4), NaCl-NaNO(3), and CaCl(2)-Ca(NO(3))(2). For each combination, two experiments were conducted with each salt being used once in the draw solution and once in the feed solution. Quaternary systems studied were NaCl-KNO(3), NaCl-MgSO(4), MgSO(4)-KNO(3), and NaCl-K(2)SO(4). Experimental fluxes of the individual ions were quantified and compared to a set of equations developed to predict bidirectional electrolyte permeation for ODMP in a forward osmosis orientation. Results demonstrate that ion fluxes from the draw solution to the feed solution are well predicted; however, ion fluxes from the feed solution to the draw solution show slight deviations from the model that can be rationalized in terms of the electrostatic interactions between charged ions. The model poorly predicts the flux of nitrate containing solutions; however, several unique mass transfer mechanisms are observed with implications for ODMP process design.     

PROCESSING OF CRUDE PALM OIL WITH CERAMIC MICROFILTRATION MEMBRANE

Membrane separation technology offers a potential application in the processing of crude palm oil. Ceramic membranes with different pore diameters (0.45 and 0.2 micron) were used to conduct the study on micromembrane process. Quality parameters of membrane-processed oils examined included free fatty acid (FFA), carotene, fatty acid composition (FAC), phosphorus and iron contents. The effect of operating parameters such as transmembrane pressure, feed flow and time on permeate flux were evaluated. It was found that 'Ceraflo'ceramic membrane with a pore size of 0.45 micron was only able to reject 14% of phosphorus from the crude oil. Ceramic membrane with pore size of 0.2 micron showed a better phosphorus rejection of 56.8%. The permeate was found to contain 7.13 ppm of phosphorus. The 0.2 micron membrane was also able to remove more than 80% of the iron from crude palm oil. Pore sizes for both membranes were not small enough to remove other components such as FFA, and carotene. Both membranes showed a similar trend in which the permeate flux increased with transmembrane pressure and feed flow until a certain limit where the flux declined with increasing pressure and feed flow. The limits in transmembrane pressures for membrane with pore sizes of 0.45 and 0.2 micron were 1.65 and 1.25 bar, respectively. Whereas the limits in feed flow for 0.45 micron and 0.2 micron membranes were 9.2 and 9.8 L/min