Ammonia removal by sweep gas membrane distillation

Wastewater containing low levels of ammonia (100 mg/L) has been simulated in experiments with sweep gas membrane distillation at pH 11.5. The effects of feed temperature, gas flow rate and feed flow rate on ammonia removal, permeate flux and selectivity were investigated. The feed temperature is a crucial operating factor, with increasing feed temperature increasing the permeate flux significantly, but reducing the selectivity. The best-performing conditions of highest temperature and fastest gas flow rate resulted in 97% removal of the ammonia, to give a treated water containing only 3.3 mg/L of ammonia.     

膜蒸馏技术现状及发展

详细介绍了膜蒸馏技术，包括基本原理，分类，性能评价标准等内容，并分别阐述了膜蒸馏技术在工业废水处理，海水淡化，纯水制备等领域的应用，指出膜蒸馏技术具有广阔应用前景。     

Removal of arsenic from contaminated groundwater by solar-driven membrane distillation using three different commercial membranes

Investigations on solar-driven membrane distillation (SDMD) were carried out for removal of arsenic from contaminated groundwater. Three different types of hydrophobic membranes made of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) and polypropylene (PP) with surface area of 120 × 10⁻⁴ m² were used as flat sheet in a direct contact membrane distillation (DCMD) set up in a cross flow module. Effects of initial arsenic concentration in the feed, feed velocity, feed temperature and distillate inlet temperature on arsenic removal efficiency and flux were studied where temperatures of feed and distillate were found to have significant effect on the flux. Almost 100% arsenic separation was achieved without wetting membrane pore even after 120 h of operation. The PTFE membrane with a flux of 49.80 kg/m² h was found to the best one out of the tested membranes. The study shows that solar-driven DCMD can effectively separate arsenic from groundwater using a cross flow membrane module with PTFE hydrophobic membrane.     

Treatment of dye solutions by vacuum membrane distillation

In this work, the vacuum membrane distillation (VMD) process has been applied to treat water containing different types of dyes. The influence of operating parameters, as feed temperature, feed flow rate, feed concentration, on the permeate flux and on rejection has been investigated. In all experimental tests, a complete rejection has been achieved and pure water has been recovered at the permeate side.Furthermore, experiments with water as feed have been carried out before and after the tests with dyes, in order to analyze the effect of fouling on the performance of the VMD. The water vapor fluxes immediately after the tests with dyes were higher than the values registered before the tests, probably due to an interaction with the polymeric membrane material which promotes a swelling of the membrane when in contact with the dye solutions. However, initial fluxes are recovered after prolonged cleaning with only water.     

Arsenic removal from an aqueous solution by a modified fungal biomass

Non-viable fungal biomass of Aspergillus niger, coated with iron oxide was investigated for its potential to remove arsenic from an aqueous solution. A. niger biomass coated with iron oxide showed maximum removal (approximately 95% of As(V) and 75% of As(III)) at a pH of 6. No strong relationship was observed between the surface charge of the biomass and arsenic removal.     

Vacuum membrane distillation of seawater reverse osmosis brines

Seawater desalination by Reverse Osmosis (RO) is an interesting solution for drinking water production. However, because of limitation by the osmotic pressure, a high recovery factor is not attainable. Consequently, large volumes of brines are discharged into the sea and the flow rate produced (permeate) is limited. In this paper, Vacuum Membrane Distillation (VMD) is considered as a complementary process to RO to further concentrate RO brines and increase the global recovery of the process. VMD is an evaporative technology that uses a membrane to support the liquid-vapour interface and enhance the contact area between liquid and vapour in comparison with conventional distillation. This study focuses on VMD for the treatment of RO brines. Simulations were performed to optimise the operating conditions and were completed by bench-scale experiments using actual RO brines and synthetic solutions up to a salt concentration of 300 g L⁻¹. Operating conditions such as a highly permeable membrane, high feed temperature, low permeate pressure and a turbulent fluid regime allowed high permeate fluxes to be obtained even for a very high salt concentration (300 g L⁻¹). For the membrane studied, temperature and concentration polarisation were shown to have little effect on permeate flux. After 6 to 8 h, no organic fouling or biofouling was observed for RO brines. At high salt concentrations, scaling occurred (mainly due to calcium precipitation) but had only a limited impact on the permeate flux (24% decrease for a permeate specific volume of 43L m⁻² for the highest concentration of salt). Calcium carbonate and calcium sulphate precipitated first due to their low solubility and formed mixed crystal deposits on the membrane surface. These phenomena only occurred on the membrane surface and did not totally cover the pores. The crystals were easily removed simply by washing the membrane with water. A global recovery factor of 89% can be obtained by coupling RO and VMD.     

Heavy-metal removal from aqueous solution by fungus Mucor rouxii

Biosorption of lead, cadmium, nickel and zinc by live and dead Mucor rouxii biomass treated with NaOH was studied over a range of pH. In the case of dead biomass, low pH resulted in a decrease in the biosorption capacity. At pH 3.0 or less, the inhibition of biosorption of metal ions took place. At pH 4.0 or higher, the biosorption of metal ions increased sharply. Ho's pseudo-second-order model described the biosorption kinetics better than the Lagergren model. Live biomass had high biosorption capacity, i.e. 35.69, 11.09, 8.46 and 7.75 mg/g at pH 5.0 for Pb(2+), Ni(2+), Cd(2+) and Zn(2+), respectively. The dead biomass adsorbed metal ions in the order of Pb(2+), Zn(2+), Cd(2+) and Ni(2+), with the biosorption capability of 25.22, 16.62, 8.36 and 6.34 mg/g at pH 5.0, respectively. At pH 6.0, the capacity of the dead biomass increased to 53.75, 53.85, 20.31 and 20.49 mg/g, respectively. For bi- or multi-metal ion adsorption, biosorption capacity of individual metal ion was reduced in the presence of other metal ions, but the total biosorption capacity increased, indicating the capability of M. rouxii biomass in adsorbing multi-metal ions. In addition, M. rouxii biomasses cultured with different media exhibited the same level of capacity to bind metal ions. Metal ions adsorbed by the biomass could be eluted effectively with HNO(3), while distilled water demonstrated negligible metal elution capability. Regeneration of the biomass with NaOH regained or enhanced the biosorption capacity even after five cycles of adsorption-elution-regeneration.     

Phenol removal from aqueous solutions by peroxidase-catalyzed reaction using additives

Peroxidase-catalyzed phenol removal, in which phenol is polymerized to form insoluble precipitates, was investigated in order to reduce the amount of peroxidase required. Apparent inactivation of peroxidase during phenol polymerizing reaction was found to be mainly caused by adsorption of peroxidase by polymerized phenol. Additives, such as gelatin and polyethylene glycol, suppressed this adsorption, allowing a reduction in the amount of peroxidase to 1/200. The method using gelatin as an additive was applicable to solutions containing up to 30 g/l phenol and it was successfully used to dephenolize actual wastewater containing phenol, 2-propanol and 2-butanone.     

Ammonia removal from wastewater by ion exchange in the presence of organic contaminants

The scope of this study was the removal of ammonium by ion exchange from simulated wastewater. The study looks at the effect of organics upon ammonium ion exchange equilibrium uptake. The ion exchangers included a natural zeolite clinoptilolite, and two polymeric exchangers, Dowex 50w-x8, and Purolite MN500. The organic compounds studied included citric acid and a number of proteins. The traditional method for removal of ammonium and organic pollutants from wastewater is biological treatment, but ion exchange offers a number of advantages including the ability to handle shock loadings and the ability to operate over a wider range of temperatures. The results show that in most of the cases studied, the presence of organic compounds enhances the uptake of ammonium ion onto the ion exchangers.     

As(III) removal by hydrous titanium dioxide prepared from one-step hydrolysis of aqueous TiCl4 solution

Hydrous titanium dioxide (TiO₂·xH₂O) nanoparticles were synthesized by a low-cost one-step hydrolysis process with aqueous TiCl₄ solution. These TiO₂·xH₂O nanoparticles ranged from 3 to 8 nm and formed aggregates with a highly porous structure, resulting in a large surface area and easy removal capability from aqueous environment after the treatment. Their effectiveness on the removal of As(III) (arsenite) from water was investigated in both laboratory and natural water samples. The adsorption capacity on As(III) of these TiO₂·xH₂O nanoparticles reached over 83 mg/g at near neutral pH environment, and over 96 mg/g at pH 9.0. Testing with a As(III) contaminated natural lake water sample confirmed the effectiveness of these TiO₂·xH₂O nanoparticles in removing As(III) from natural water. The high adsorption capacity of the TiO₂·xH₂O nanoparticles is related to the high surface area, large pore volume, and the presence of high affinity surface hydroxyl groups.     

Reactive Red 120 dye removal from aqueous solution by adsorption on nano-alumina

The adsorption of Reactive Red 120 dye from aqueous solutions by using nano-alumina has been investigated. The batch adsorption studies were carried out to determine the impact of pH, contact time, concentration of dye, and the adsorbent dose on adsorption process. The maximum adsorption efficiency was observed at pH 3. However with an increase of the adsorbent dose, the dye removal efficiency increased, while the amount of dye adsorbed per unit mass (mg/g) decreased. A pseudo-second-order model best described the adsorption kinetics of the specified dye onto nano-alumina. In this case the Langmuir isotherm model appeared to be most suitable. Findings of the present study reveal that nano-alumina can be an effective adsorbent for the removal of Reactive Red 120 from aqueous solutions.     

Hexavalent chromium removal from aqueous solution by adsorption on aluminum magnesium mixed hydroxide

A series of sols consisting of aluminum magnesium mixed hydroxide (AMH) nanoparticles with various Mg/Al molar ratios were prepared by coprecipitation. The use of AMH as adsorbent to remove Cr(VI) from aqueous solution was investigated. Adsorption experiments were carried out as a function of the Mg/Al molar ratio, pH, contact time, concentration of Cr(VI) and temperature. It was found that AMH with Mg/Al molar ratio 3 has the largest adsorption efficiency due to the smallest average particle diameter and the highest zeta potential; AMH was particularly effective for the Cr(VI) removal in a pH range from acid to slightly alkaline, even though the most effective pH range was between 2.5 and 5.0. The adsorption of Cr(VI) on AMH reached equilibrium within 150 min. The saturated adsorption capacities of AMH for Cr(VI) were 105.3-112.0 mg/g at 20-40 °C. The interaction between the surface sites of AMH and the Cr(VI) ions may be a combination of both anion exchange and surface complexation. The pseudo-second-order model best described the adsorption kinetics of Cr(VI) onto AMH. The results showed that AMH can be used as a new adsorbent for Cr(VI) removal which has higher adsorption capacity and faster adsorption rate at pH values close to that at which pollutants are usually found in the environment.     

Assessment of thermally treated sphagnum peat moss sorbents for removal of phenol red,bromothymol blue and malachite green from aqueous solution

Nine thermally treated sphagnum sorbents were investigated for dye removal of phenol red, bromothymol blue and malachite green from aqueous solutions. These sorbents were analysed for dye removal applying the optimum adsorption conditions with respect to shaking speed, equilibrium contact times and solution pH. The analysis applied the non-treated sphagnum sample. Furthermore, these sorbents were analysed by thermogravimetric analysis and infrared spectroscopy. Hence, sphagnum sorbents of mild or no thermal treatment were shown to remove very well both cationic and anionic dyes. This experiment has fortunately identified an economic method of low energy consumption for the treatment of dye effluents by sphagnum.     

不同产地粉末状沸石去除水中低浓度氨氮性能比较

通过静态试验比较了不同产地粉末状沸石去除水中低浓度氨氮的性能。结果表明，不同产地粉末状沸石对氨氮的吸附性能差别较大，按吸附容量由高到低依次为：缙云沸石≈阜新沸石〉信阳沸石〉赤峰沸石；不同产地的粉末状沸石对氨氮的去除率达到最大时的pH值不同，缙云沸石和阜新沸石在pH值为6时对氨氮的去除率最高，信阳沸石和赤峰沸石则在pH值分别为8和10时最高。对沸石吸附前、后水中离子浓度的测定结果表明，沸石吸附氨氮不会增加水中有害离子的浓度，用于对饮用水的处理是可行的。     

The removal of chromium(VI) from dilute aqueous solution by activated carbon

The removal of chromium(VI) by activated carbon, filtrasorb 400, is brought by two major interfacial reactions: adsorption and reduction. Chemical factors such as pH and total Cr(VI) that affect the magnitude of Cr(VI) adsorption were investigated. The adsorption of Cr(VI) exhibits a peak value at pH 5–6. The particle size of carbon and the presence of cyanide species do not change the magnitude of chromium removal. The reduced Cr(VI), e.g. Cr(III) is less adsorbable than Cr(VI).The free energy of specific chemical interaction, ΔG^chem was computed by the Gouy-Chapman-Stern-Grahame model. The average values of ΔG^chem are −5.57 RT and −5.81RT, respectively, for Cr(VI) and CN. These values are significant enough to influence the overall magnitude of Cr(VI) and CN adsorption. Results also indicate that HCrO⁻₄ and Cr₂O²⁻₇ are the major Cr(VI) species involved in surface association.     

Adsorptive removal of phosphate from aqueous solutions using iron oxide tailings

This study explored the feasibility of utilizing industrial waste iron oxide tailings for phosphate removal in laboratory experiments. The experimental work emphasized on the evaluation of phosphate adsorption and desorption characteristics of the tailing material. The adsorption isotherm, kinetics, pH effect and desorption were examined in batch experiments. Five isotherm models were used for data fitting. The three-parameter equations (Redlich-Peterson and Langmuir-Freundlich) showed more applicability than the two-parameter equations (Freundlich, Langmuir and Temkin). A modified equation for calculation of the separation factor using the Langmuir-Freundlich equation constants was developed. The initial phosphate adsorption on the tailings was rapid. The adsorption kinetics can be best described by either the simple Elovich or power function equation. The phosphate adsorption on the tailings tended to decrease with an increase of pH. A phosphate desorbability of approximately 13-14% was observed, and this low desorbability likely resulted from a strong bonding between the adsorbed PO(4)(3-)and iron oxides in the tailings. Column flow-through tests using both synthetic phosphate solution and liquid hog manure confirmed the phosphate removal ability of the tailings. Due to their low cost and high capability, this type of iron oxide tailings has the potential to be utilized for cost-effective removal of phosphate from wastewater.     

The removal of mercury(II) from dilute aqueous solution by activated carbon

The results of preliminary screening tests comparing the total Hg(II) removal capacity of 11 different brands of commercial activated carbon indicated that a very high percent (99–100%) total Hg removal was attained by all types of activated carbon especially at pH 4–5; the percent total Hg(II) removal decreased with pH's 4–5 except activated carbons Nuchar SA and SN which maintained a relatively high percent (>90%) total Hg(II) removal capacity at all pH values. Experiments were then conducted to reveal the mechanisms of Hg(II) removal by Nuchar SA (a powdered carbon). The results show that total Hg(II) removal was brought by two mechanisms: the adsorption and reduction. In order to investigate the kinetics of these two reactions, volatilization by bubbling N₂ gas at high flow rate was used to remove the Hg(g) product of the reduction reaction. It was noted that both the adsorption and the reduction/volatilization reactions were highly pH-dependent; at pH approx. <3–4 or > approx. 9–10 the extent of reduction/volatilization reaction superceded the adsorption reaction; whereas in the mid-pH region adsorption reaction dominated the total Hg(II) removal. The rate of adsorption reaction is very fast, reaching equilibrium in a few minutes; the rate of reduction/volatilization follows a linear √t expression. The reduction reaction is more significant with Filtrasorb 400 (H-type carbon) than Nuchar SA (L-type carbon). In the presence of strong chelating agent, ethylenediaminetetraacetate (EDTA), the total Hg(II) removal decreases due partly to the formation of less adsorbably mercuric(II)-EDTA complexes.     

The removal of phenol from aqueous solutions by means of a photocatalytic membrane reactor

We have investigated the process of effective removal of phenol from aqueous solutions using a photocatalytic membrane reactor of a successive type. We have investigated the influence of the catalyst (Ce(OH)₃OOH), the oxidant (H₂O₂, O₂), the time of ultraviolet radiation, the type of a membrane on the degree of aqueous solutions purification of phenol. It has been shown that under optimal conditions phenol is removed virtually completely.