Economical evaluation of the fluoride removal by nanofiltration

Economic evaluation was carried out for a plant of fluoride removal by nanofiltration having a capacity of 2400 m³/d (100 m³/h) corresponding to a water consumption for 50.000 capita following the Moroccan considerations in rural medium. The design of this plant was carried out for the predetermined optimized conditions corresponding to a recovery rate of 84%, a fluoride rejection of 97.8% and a pressure pump of 10 bar. The capital cost was estimated to 748,003 € and the calculated operating cost to 0.212 €/m³. These costs were briefly compared to other ones.     

Application of reverse osmosis to reduce pollutants present in industrial wastewater

Reverse osmosis (RO) is increasingly used as a separation technique in chemical and environmental engineering; desalination, selective separation and wastewater treatment are well established examples. Treatment by RO reduces high levels of dissolved salts but has certain limitations in the removal of organics from chemical industry effluents. We describe a comparative study of four different polyamide membranes that were tested for their ability to reduce the concentrations of pollutants in a synthetic effluent stream containing acrylnitrile and three inorganic species (sulphate, ammonium and cyanide). The pH value of the solution plays an important role in the ionization of the different species and, subsequently, in their rejection. The membranes were checked using a 3×10⁻³ m² flat cell where the permeated and concentrated currents were recirculated to the feed reservoir. In a preliminary set of experiments the pH of the feeding solution was 9.0. The rejection percentage of sulphate ion was high in all the membranes tested (96% to 99.4%) regardless of the working pressure. Ammonium rejection values were between 72.3% and 83.9%, while acrylnitrile rejection was low (10.5% to 28.8%) compared with the results obtained for the other pollutants. Cyanide rejection was negative for all membranes tested except for HR95PP, which produced a rejection percentage of 16.5%. The same membrane also produced higher rejection percentages for cyanide and acrylnitrile than the other membranes. Finally, this membrane was selected to study the influence of the feed stream pH on the rejection of ammonium and cyanide ions. The study concluded that cyanide and ammonium could not be acceptably eliminated in a single step operation when they are simultaneously present in industrial wastewater. The results pointed to the need to carry out several steps at different pH values to reduce the level of both pollutants in the studied wastewater.     

Spiral-wound membrane reverse osmosis and the treatment of industrial effluents

Reverse osmosis (RO) is increasingly used as a separation technique in chemical and environmental engineering where desalination, selective separation and wastewater treatment are well established examples. Treatment by RO reduces high levels of dissolved salts but has certain limitations when used for the removal of organic compounds from effluents of the chemical industry. The spiral-wound membrane element is the most widely used membrane device because it has a high membrane surface area to volume ratio, it is easy to replace and can be manufactured from a wide variety of materials. This work forms part of a wider research project aimed at recovering products and reducing the concentration of pollutants in wastewater by using membrane process. The synthetic effluent stream that was treated contained an organic product (acrylnitrile) and four inorganic species (sulphate, ammonium, cyanide and sodium). It was found that the pH value ofthe solution plays an important role in the ionization of the different species and, subsequently, in their retention. The object of this study was to reduce the concentration of pollutants to the levels of mentioned regulations concerning discharges, using a pilot plant with a spiral-wound membrane element (0.56 m² surface area) and a polyamide membrane, which was previously selected. The RO measurements were carried out in a closed-loop controlled-pressure system, with the solution being constantly fed through the spiral-wound membrane. The rejection percentage of sulphate ion was high in the two treatments assayed, regardless ofthe operational pH and sequence of steps followed. The degree to which NH₄⁺ and CN⁻ were eliminated was strongly dependent on the pH of the feed stream. Ammonium ion, too, was strongly eliminated regardless ofthe sequence ofthe steps, while the best results with CN⁻ were obtained when the first step had a nearly neutral pH and the second a pH of 11.0. Acrylnitrile showed low rejection percentages in all the steps carried out.     

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.     

Processing of biscuit industrial effluent using thin film composite nanofiltration membranes

Nanofiltration (NF) is a membrane-based separation process having significant potential for the treatment of industrial effluents to enable water reuse. It has the ability to remove low molecular weight trace contaminants from water, which cannot be separated by conventional treatment methods. In the present investigation, a thin film composite polyamide membrane was synthesized by interfacial polymerization technique and evaluated for the treatment of biscuit industrial effluent. The synthesized membrane was characterized using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, thermogravimetric analysis, and scanning electron microscopy to elucidate structure and intermolecular interactions, crystallinity, thermal stability and cross-sectional morphology, respectively. The influence of operating parameters such as feed pressure 0–21 kg/cm² and total dissolved solids (TDS) of 3160 ppm on water flux and impurity rejection was determined. An average flux of 11.63 L/m² h was obtained at a constant pressure of 21 kg/cm². The TDS, chemical oxygen demand (COD), and biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) rejections were found to be 53.62, 80, and 74%, respectively, at a water recovery of 65%. A statistical mechanical model was used to validate the experimental data. Based on this study, a detailed economic estimation for processing biscuit effluent of 1 m³/h feed capacity using commercial NF system is presented. The study revealed that the synthesized NF membrane could be an effective alternative for the treatment of various industrial effluents as well as to reduce the load on reverse osmosis process for desalination of seawater and effluent treatment through high degree of COD and BOD separation.     

Energy advantages of reverse osmosis in seawater desalination

The very rapid increase in energy costs during the past three years is causing a change in the preferred process technology for seawater desalination. The phase changes, evaporation, and condensation, required in the distillation processes make them more energy intensive than the ambient temperature liquid separation that occurs in the reverse osmosis (RO) process. This paper describes the RO process and how to calculate its energy consultation.The RO process requires only 5–7 KWh/m³ of product water compared to 15–16 KWh/m³ required by the most efficient distillation process. The productivity of a large dual purpose electricity/RO water plant is compared to the productivity of a commercially purchased state-of-the-art dual purpose electric/distillation water plant that is currently under construction. The RO potable water productivity is about 2X the distillate flow at the same fuel rate     

An advanced treatment of high-strength opium alkaloid processing industry wastewaters with membrane technology: pretreatment, fouling and retention characteristics of membranes

This paper presents the results of the laboratory and pilot-scale membrane experiments of opium alkaloid processing industry effluents. Different types of ultrafiltration (UF), nanofiltration (NF) and reverse osmosis (RO) membranes were evaluated for membrane fouling, permeate flux and their suitability in separating COD, color and conductivity. Experiments demonstrated that membrane treatment is a very promising advanced treatment option for pollution control for opium alkaloid processing industry effluents. Almost complete color removal was achieved with NF and RO membranes. COD and conductivity removals were also greater than 95% and met the current local standards. Nevertheless, pretreatment was an important factor for the NF and RO membrane applications. Membrane fouling occurred with direct NF membrane applications without UF pretreatment. The total estimated cost of the UF and NF treatment system was calculated as $0.96/m³, excluding the concentrate disposal cost.     

Two seawater reverse osmosis plants operating at high pressure and 50% conversion

At the Second World Congress on Desalination and Water Re-Use (Bermuda) an evaluation was made on a Reverse Osmosis (RO) plant operating at high pressures (1100-1500 psig) using Middle East conditions; it was concluded that such an RO plant could obtain 50 percent conversion of the feedwater and incur lower capital and operating costs.Two RO seawater plants using DuPont B-10T hollow fiber permeators were studied; these plants, one a 400m³/day facility and the other a 115m³/day facility, were designed for 50% conversion at a maximum 1200 psig operating, pressure. The plants used direct one to one brine staging and have operated at 1140 psig since their start-up.These plants have continually exceeded design specifications for both productivity and salt rejection. Both the first and second stage permeators combined have maintained 50% conversion with a TDS of the product water less than 350 ppm. These hollow fiber aramid permeators have maintained excellent performance at high pressure despite the fact that the feedwater possessed a very high concentration of organics (humic acid).The capital and operating costs of this plant have been significantly less than that of a comparable RO plant using lower pressure (900 psig). The performance data and cost analysis of this high pressure RO plant support the hypothesis that high pressure RO can provide excellent performance at a lower cost.     

Economical treatment of reverse osmosis reject of textile industry effluent by electrodialysis–evaporation integrated process

Membrane separation methods such as electrodialysis (ED) can reduce the volume load on evaporators by facilitating further concentration of rejects from reverse osmosis (RO) plants. ED studies were carried out on a bench-scale system using five membrane cell pairs to obtain a textile effluent concentrate containing approximately 6 times the quantity of salts present in the RO reject. The limiting current densities were determined to be in the range 2.15–3.35 amp/m² for feed flow rates varying from 18 to 108 L/h. Apart from feed rate, the influence of volume of concentrate and current on membrane performance was evaluated to optimize current utilization. An estimation of energy requirement of an integrated process constituting ED and evaporation for concentration of inorganics present in textile effluent from 4.35% to 24% was made and found to be approximately one eighth of the operating cost incurred by evaporation alone. Detailed design of a commercial ED system revealed that a membrane area of 13.1 m² was required to treat a feed rate of 1500 L/h. The payback period to recover capital investment was found to be 110 days.     

New chlorine‐resistant polyamide reverse osmosis membrane with hollow fiber configuration

New asymmetric hollow fiber reverse osmosis (RO) membrane was developed from a new chlorine‐resistant copolyamide [4T‐PIP(30)] with a piperazine moiety by a conventional phase‐separation method. The new 4T‐PIP(30) hollow fiber membrane has the same low‐pressure RO performance as cellulose triacetate hollow fiber membrane (FR = 205 L/m² day, Rj = 99.6%) and superior chlorine resistance as well as pH resistance to conventional aramid RO membranes. Structural analysis and viscoelastic study revealed that the new hollow fiber consisted of a top skin, dense layer, and microporous layer, and that it began to decrease its elasticity at 80°C in water, which is possibly related to its good and stable RO performance around room temperature. Several kinds of RO modules were made from the new hollow fiber membranes, for which RO performances were stable for 2 years in chlorinated feed water desalination (the free residual chlorine ranged from 0.l to 1.1 mg/L). © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 79: 517–527, 2001     

Membrane separation process modeling for CO2 partial removal in prepurification of air separation units

A novel membrane/adsorption hybrid system was proposed for air prepurification in large scale air separation units. Mathematical models were established for cocurrent and countercurrent flow patterns with crude nitrogen as purge stream to describe the membrane separation performance. The experimental and predicted results are in good agreement confirming the validity of the mathematical models. Effects of membrane properties and operation parameters on O₂ recovery, N₂ recovery, and membrane area requirement were investigated. For countercurrent flow pattern, O₂ recovery and N₂ recovery were larger than 98 and 99%, respectively, and membrane area requirement was less than 0.25?m²/m³?h^?1 with feed side pressure of 0.6?MPa and the purge gas/feed gas ratio of 0.2.     

Preparation of self‐standing polyaniline‐based membranes: Doping effect on the selective ion separation and reverse osmosis properties

The selective ion transport of aqueous salt solutions including mono‐, di‐, trivalent cations across both doped and undoped polyaniline (PAni) membranes was described. PAni‐based asymmetric membranes were prepared by the phase inversion method from the casting solution containing N‐methyl pyrrolidone. It was found that the permeation rates (P_R) decline in the sequence of P_R(NaCl) > P_R(MgCl₂) > P_R(LaCl₃). HCl‐doped PAni membrane exhibited higher permeation rates for the salts than undoped one due to its more hydrophilic nature. In reverse osmosis (RO) applications, it was observed no water permeation through undoped PAni due to less permeable and hydrophobic nature, under even at 40 bar pressure. Concerning HCl‐doped PAni, this membrane showed very low water flux (J_w) and it was found as 1.01 L m^?2 h^?1 under 40 bar pressure. On the other hand, the J increased linearly with the applied pressure. Furthermore, typical separation factor (α)values calculated from permeation rate ratios were found to be as 6.3 and 39 for Na⁺/Mg²⁺ and Na⁺/La³⁺ for HCl‐doped PAni, respectively. Especially, HCl‐doped PAni membrane can be used for removing rare‐earth metal salts due to its high separation efficiency in high temperature applications. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2007     

Possibilities for the use of membrane processes for the pre-treatment of wastewater from the production of dried potato purée

Our research focused on the membrane separation of wastewater resulting from the production of dried potato purée. Our aim was to investigate possibilities for recycling obtained retentate back to the actual production process, and, consequently, for reducing wastewater pollution. This paper describes trials of MF and RO membrane filtration of starch wastewater. The treated water contained starch, in either granulated or gelatinized form, and solids (fine pieces of potato skins). The trials were conducted in either one or two stages. We used a pilot plant equipped with a ceramic membrane with a filtration area of 0.35 m² and pore sizes of 500 and 100 nm. We also tested an organic RO membrane (7410) in the laboratory.High permeate flux above 100 l/(m² h) was measured for the 100 nm membrane, but with considerable fouling. Filtration through this membrane resulted in high COD and BOD₅ rejection (approximately 60%), an effect which was increased by the subsequent RO filtration. The content of soluble carbohydrate, 0.011% in permeate (with 0.44% dry substance), was analyzed using high-performance anion-exchange chromatography coupled with pulsed amperometric detection.     

Adsorption behavior of fluoride ions using a titanium hydroxide-derived adsorbent

The removal behavior of fluoride ions was examined in aqueous sodium fluoride solutions using a titanium hydroxide-derived adsorbent. The adsorbent was prepared from titanium oxysulfate (TiOSO₄·xH₂O) solution, and was characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, thermogravimetry-differential thermal analysis, Fourier transform infrared spectrum and specific surface area. Batchwise adsorption test of prepared adsorbent was carried out in aqueous sodium fluoride solutions and real wastewater containing fluoride ion. The absorbent was the amorphous material, which had different morphology to the raw material, titanium oxysulfate, and the specific surface area of the adsorbent (96.8 m²/g) was 200 times higher than that of raw material (0.5 m²/g). Adsorption of fluoride on the adsorbent was saturated within 30 min in the solution with 200 mg/L of fluoride ions, together with increasing pH of the solution, due to ion exchange between fluoride ions in the solution and hydroxide ions in the adsorbent. Fluoride ions were adsorbed even in at a low fluoride concentration of 5 mg/L; and were selectively adsorbed in the solution containing a high concentration of chloride, nitrate and sulfate ions. The adsorbent can remove fluoride below permitted level (< 0.8 mg/L) from real wastewaters containing various substances. The maximum adsorption of fluoride on the adsorbent could be obtained in the solution at about pH 3. After fluoride adsorption, fluoride ions were easily desorbed using a high pH solution, completely regenerating for further removal process at acidic pH. The capacity for fluoride ion adsorption was almost unchanged three times after repeat adsorption and desorption. The equilibrium adsorption capacity of the adsorbent used for fluoride ion at pH 3 was measured, extrapolated using Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models, and experimental data are found to fit Freundlich than Langmuir. The prepared adsorbent is expected to be a new inorganic ion exchanger for the removal and recovery of fluoride ions from wastewater.     

Separation of some light monocarboxylic acids from water inbinary solutions in a reverse osmosis pilot plant

The separation of formic (C₁), acetic (C₂), propionic (C₃), and n-valeric (C₅) acids in binary water solutions has been studied using a reverse osmosis (RO) membrane pilot plant operating at different temperatures and pressures (usually 21 °C and 1.72 MPa). The RO membrane, which is composite, polyamide and spiral-wound, having a surface area of 2.6 m², was fed by a solution of 0.5 M of C₁, C₂ and C₃ acids and 0.146 M of C₅. The pilot plant was used to simulate a cascade series of RO modules by recycling the permeate flux at the end of each semi-batch run. The influence on the retention coefficient, R, of molecular weight and molar volume, pK_a of the different acids was determined. For acetic acid the influence of temperature (T) and transmembrane pressure (ΔP) was also studied, obtaining an inverse and direct good linear correlation for R vs. T and R vs. ΔP, respectively. The results are particularly interesting for acetic acid-water separation, which is an open question in industrial applications.     

Membrane bioreactor with nonwoven fabrics as solid–liquid separation media for wastewater treatment

A nonwoven fabric module was utilized as a solid–liquid separation medium in a membrane bioreactor (MBR) for treating wastewater. The experimental results indicated that nonwoven fabrics had lower filtration resistance than microporous membranes in MBR applications. The optimal aeration intensity was approximately 0.01m³/m² s. The effect of mixed liquor suspended solid concentration on filtration resistance was not significant at an operating flux of under 0.8m³/m² d in the study range. The performance of nonwoven fabrics in a MBR application was further demonstrated in a pilot test. Chemical oxygen demand (COD) and suspended solids (SS) in the effluent were maintained under 60 and 10 mg/L, respectively, whereas influent COD varied from 800 to 1800mg/L. The transmembrane pressure was maintained below 5 kPa at a permeation flux of 0.18m³/m² d. The experimental results demonstrated that nonwoven fabrics maintained stable operation in MBR applications under appropriate operating conditions.     

Polyvinylidene fluoride and polyetherimide hollow fiber membranes for CO2 stripping in membrane contactor

Porous polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) and polyetherimide (PEI) hollow fiber membranes incorporating polyethylene glycol (PEG) were prepared via spinning process for CO₂ membrane stripping. CO₂ loaded diethanolamine solution was used as liquid absorbent while N₂ was used as a strip gas. The characterization study of the fibers was carried out in terms of permeation test, contact angle measurement and liquid entry pressure (wetting pressure). Performance study via membrane contactor stripping was carried out at specific operating condition. The experimental results showed that PVDF membrane have high gas permeation, effective surface porosity and contact angle despite having lower liquid entry pressure in comparison with PEI membrane. PVDF-PEG membrane showed the highest stripping flux of 4.0 × 10⁻² mol m⁻² s⁻¹ at 0.7 ms⁻¹ compared to that of PEI membrane. Although the stripping flux for PEI-PEG membranes was slightly lower than PVDF membrane (e.g. 3.5 × 10⁻² mol m⁻² s⁻¹ at liquid velocity of 0.85 ms⁻¹), the membrane wetting pressure of PEI membrane is higher than hydrophobic PVDF membrane. Long term performance of both membranes showed severe flux reduction but started to level-off after 30 h of operation.     

Rheological evaluation of the influence of polymer concentration and molar mass distribution on the formation and performance of asymmetric gas separation membranes prepared by dry phase inversion

Asymmetric gas separation membranes were prepared by the dry-casting technique from PEEKWC, a modified amorphous glassy poly(ether ether ketone). The phase inversion process and membrane performance were correlated to the properties of the polymer and the casting solution (molar mass, polymer concentration, solution rheology and thermodynamics). It was found that a broad molar mass distribution of the polymer in the casting solution is most favourable for the formation of a highly selective membrane with a dense skin and a porous sub-layer. Thus, membranes with an effective skin thickness of less than 1 μm were obtained, exhibiting a maximum O₂/N₂ selectivity of 7.2 and a CO₂/CH₄ selectivity of 39, both significantly higher than in a corresponding thick dense PEEKWC membrane and also comparable to or higher than that of the most commonly used polymers for gas separation membranes. The CO₂ and O₂ permeance were up to 9.5×10⁻³ and 1.8×10⁻³ m³/(m² h bar) (3.5 and 0.67 GPU), respectively.     

Fibrous ceramic membrane constructed by mullite whiskers for the treatment of oil-in-water emulsions

Ceramic membranes with high porosity and excellent separation efficiency are necessary for the efficient treatment of large-scale wastewaters. However, the conventional ceramic membranes are usually prepared by particles-packing, which inhibits the advances of separation efficiency because of the low porosity and connectivity. Here, a fibrous ceramic membrane with mullite whiskers-interlocked structure was prepared by gas-solid reaction. The effects of aluminum fluoride (AlF₃) on the formation and growth of mullite whiskers, and then the permeability and selectivity of the ceramic membranes were investigated. With the increase of AlF₃ contents, the mullite phase evolved from needle-like, rod-like to flake-like structure, thus the catalyst accelerated the growth of mullite whiskers in the diameter direction. For the ceramic membrane sintered at 1400°C, the porosity increased from 58% to 76% while the average pore sizes increased from 0.65 to 3.93 μm because of the whisker-constructed structures. For the ceramic membrane sintered at 1450°C, the emulsion flux increased stably from 295 L/(m²·h) to 992 L/(m²·h) with the increase of trans-membrane pressure, and the oil rejection exceeded 98%. Thus, this study provides a feasible strategy for the preparation of ceramic membranes with high porosity and excellent separation performances.     

Reverse Osmosis Separation of Radiocontaminants from Ammonium Diuranate Effluents

Abstract

A reverse osmosis process has been found to be effective for the separation of radiocontaminants from ammonium diuranate effluents in a uranium metal plant. Pilot-plant-scale experiments were conducted using cellulosic membranes in a plate module system and actual plant effluents containing more than about 40,000 ppm of ammonium and nitrate species and having radiocontaminants corresponding to specific activities of about 10^?3 Ci/m³ beta/gamma emitters. The results indicated that more than 95% by volume of the treated effluents were within disposal limits, while the remaining contained the concentrate, which can be treated for possible containment.