Effect of coagulant types on textile wastewater reclamation in a combined coagulation/ultrafiltration system

A combination of coagulation and ultrafiltration (UF) processes for textile wastewater reclamation was investigated using various types of coagulating chemicals such as polyamine, alum, polyaluminum chloride (PACl), and ferric salts. The potential of the combined system was evaluated to replace the existing treatment processes which are composed of a flotation tank (primary step) and a series of filtration beds including sands, granular carbons, and diatomaceous powders. Regardless of the type and dosage of the coagulants, the UF system achieved substantial colloidal particle removal (>97% of turbidity was removed), but membrane fouling was mitigated in a different manner. The degree of fouling reduction was highly dependent upon the type of coagulants used, even though the turbidity and organics removal efficiencies were nearly the same. The polymeric coagulant aggravated membrane fouling, whereas the inorganic coagulants always helped reduce fouling. A residue of the coagulating polymer, which was added in the primary step and its concentration in the effluent was at an immeasurable level, was found to cause serious membrane fouling. The use of polymeric coagulants should be prevented or minimized if UF is considered for textile wastewater reclamation. Polymerized aluminum was found to be the most effective among the coagulants tested, although ferric salt was better than alum in controlling fouling. In particular, it seemed that the characteristics of coagulation chemistry and the coagulated particles had a great impact upon membrane fouling.     

Optimizing the coagulant dose to control membrane fouling in combined coagulation/ultrafiltration systems for textile wastewater reclamation

Optimal coagulation conditions need to be re-examined when coagulation is coupled to membrane filtration for wastewater treatment. This work focused on the optimization of coagulant dosing in order to control membrane fouling in ultrafiltration (UF), following coagulation for the reclamation of textile wastewater. The effects of pore size and coagulant types and dosages on flux decline were investigated using a stirred-cell UF unit. The flux was greatly enhanced for the UF membrane when a coagulant was added, whereas for the microfiltration (MF) membrane the flux decreased. This could be attributed to changes in the size of coagulated particles and their interaction with membrane pores. At a low dosage (e.g., 0.0371 mM as Al), the polyaluminum chloride (PACl) coagulant was found to control the flux decline most effectively for low ionic-strength wastewater. The optimal dose minimized the fouling and cake layer resistances, although it was sharp and dependent on influent composition. The cake layer protected the membrane from fouling, but it provided additional resistance to permeation. Analyses of turbidity, particle size, and membrane surface exhibited the characteristics of coagulated particles and their cake structures that are closely associated with flux behavior.     

低压膜净水过程中的膜污染控制

近年来,低压膜（LPM）技术在饮用水处理和废水回用等领域的应用越来越广泛,但膜污染会消耗更多的能源,增加运行和维护费用,是制约其发展的瓶颈。膜前预处理技术与低压膜组合工艺已被广泛用在减轻膜污染、提高污染物去除率和膜通量等方面。膜前预处理技术可以改变水中分子与颗粒物的尺寸,影响污染物之间和污染物与膜之间的相互作用关系,抑制不良微生物的生长或去除可生物降解的污染物,从而影响膜过滤性能。此外,采用适当的操作方式（如运行方式,反冲洗,曝气）也可以有效地减轻膜污染。该文介绍了近年来国内外各种预处理技术和操作条件在控制低压膜污染的最新研究进展,并阐述了其在缓解膜污染方面的机理。     

铝系混凝剂减缓膜污染的红外光谱-多变量曲线分辨分析

超滤是一种高效的水处理技术,近年来被广泛应用于工业废水处理、生活污水回用、海水淡化预处理等领域。然而,超滤长期运行会造成膜污染。本文采用了在线混凝结合超滤工艺,使用不同形态的铝系混凝剂（硫酸铝、氯化铝或聚合氯化铝）,处理含有不同溶解性有机质组分（腐殖酸、牛血清白蛋白和高岭土）的模拟原水,研究不同铝形态、不同组分及其相互作用对超滤膜污染过程的影响。本研究建立了流量衰减模型模拟膜污染过程,结合衰减全反射红外光谱（IR-ATR）和多变量曲线分辨-交替最小二乘法（MCR-ALS）的数据处理方法对膜上的多种污染物进行定性和定量分析。结果表明硫酸铝和氯化铝混凝剂均可明显提高膜比通量,减缓膜污染。该工艺混凝剂投加量低于常规处理工艺即可明显减缓膜污染。混凝剂投加量为0.4mg/L时,氯化铝混凝效果较好,混凝剂投加量为2.4mg/L时,硫酸铝混凝效果较好。低投加量（0.2mg/L、0.4mg/L）下,PAC对缓解膜污染程度不明显,反而加重膜污染。牛血清白蛋白对超滤膜的污染比腐殖酸严重。因为牛血清白蛋白的存在大大降低了混凝的效果,阻碍疏松滤饼层的形成。向原水中投加硫酸铝混凝剂,膜污染主要发生在过滤前期,即...     

Comparative Studies on Coagulation and Adsorption as a Pretreatment Method for the Performance Improvement of Submerged MF Membrane for Secondary Domestic Wastewater Treatment

Abstract

Membrane fouling is the main limitation of water and wastewater treatment. Coagulation and adsorption can remove organic materials which play an important role in fouling phenomena. Thus, this study focused on the comparison of the hybrid process of coagulation and adsorption coupled with microfiltration (MF) membrane for the secondary domestic wastewater from an apartment complex in Gwangju city, South Korea. Coagulation and adsorption were adopted as a pretreatment method prior to MF treatment. Three different powdered activated carbon (PAC) and ferric chloride were used as an adsorbent and as a coagulant. MF was operated in a submerged mode using hollow fiber polyethylene membrane with pore size of 0.4 µm for the separation of suspended organic solids resulted from coagulation or PAC particles, which are used for adsorbing organics dissolved in wastewater. Prior to study on the hybrid system, the performance of coagulation and adsorption processes were optimized individually for the removal of organics. Then, the overall performance for the hybrid system of coagulation/MF and PAC/MF was evaluated based on TOC removal, turbidity removal, and flux decline. It was found that the combined coagulation/MF and PAC/MF showed similar performance for TOC removal while coagulation/MF resulted in a significant decrease of the flux decline.     

A comparative study of tertiary membrane filtration of industrial wastewater treated in a granular and a flocculent sludge SBR

Membrane fouling has been identified by many researchers as an inconvenience for the industrial application of membranes in wastewater treatment plants. Membrane fouling decreases permeability and therefore permeates flow, increasing costs. Although fouling is the result of complex phenomena not completely known, it can be said that fouling takes place by the presence of three different kinds of compounds in the water: suspended solids, colloids and solutes. In this sense, the characteristics of the suspended solid aggregates might be an important aspect in order to diminish the impact of suspended solids on membrane fouling. The main objective of this study was to compare the operation of two similar tertiary membrane filtration units treating the effluent of two different SBRs, respectively: A granular sludge SBR (GSBR) and a membrane flocculent sludge SBR system, at laboratory scale. Two PVDF microfiltration membrane modules were used for tertiary filtration of the effluent treated in the SBRs. Both reactors were used for treating the wastewater generated in a factory of the fish freezing sector. COD of the wastewater was between 700 and 1100 mg/L, total nitrogen concentration was between 110 and 180 mg N/L and total phosphorus ranged around 110 mg P/L. The chemical characteristics of both permeates were similar. Moreover, the presence of either granules or flocs in the tertiary membrane filtration systems did not have an appreciable impact on the membrane filtration. Nevertheless, it was observed that the operation of the membrane on the flocculent system tends to be more instable, showing a major tendency to achieve critical flux.     

The possibility and applicability of coagulation-MBR hybrid system in reclamation of dairy wastewater

The significant improvements of membrane technology in reliability and cost effectiveness have increased the reuse probability and recycling extent of dairy wastewater. However, membrane fouling still remains a major bottleneck in wide application. In order to solve the problem, this paper investigated the possibility and applicability of coagulation-membrane bioreactor (MBR) hybrid system in reclaiming dairy wastewater. A comparative experiment based on the removal efficiencies and the membrane performance was designed to achieve the purpose. The results showed that polyaluminium chloride as the appropriate coagulant in coagulation process was effective for turbidity removal. Coagulation process played a very important role in stabilizing the effluent of MBR and the level of transmembrane pressure. MBR was a crucial process in turbidity and aluminum removal. MBR had the capability to resist shock loading and to maintain the high COD removal. Biological flocs in MBR could improve the fouling level of membrane. The hybrid system reduced 98% COD from the original and COD value of the wastewater came down to 8 mg/L. The combination of coagulation with MBR presents the possibility and applicability to reclaim effluent in dairy industries.     

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.     

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.     

In‐line Flocculation‐Submersed MF/UF Membrane Hybrid System in Tertiary Wastewater Treatment

Abstract

Coagulation/flocculation pre‐treatment of feeds can successfully mitigate the drawbacks of membrane micro‐ and ultra filtration processes: fouling and limited ability to remove organic pollutants. Laboratory experiments conducted with a synthetic wastewater (representing biologically treated secondary effluent) using 0.1 µm pore size hollow fiber membrane showed that simple in‐line flocculation pre‐treatment with inorganic coagulants dramatically reduced membrane fouling rates. The hybrid system also ensured over 70% organic matter removal in terms of dissolved organic carbon (DOC). In the experiments in in‐line flocculation outperformed clarification pre‐treatment at optimum coagulant dosages. Differences in floc characteristics and elevated suspended solids concentrations in the membrane tank may explain this finding, but the exact causes were not investigated in this study. The beneficial effects of in‐line flocculation pre‐treatment to MF/UF separation were also confirmed in the treatment of septic tank effluent in a membrane bioreactor (MBR). The fouling rate of the 0.4 µm pore size (flat‐sheet) membrane was substantially reduced with 10–100 mg L^?1 ferric chloride coagulant doses, and total dissolved chemical oxygen demand (DCOD) removal also increased from 66% up to 93%. These findings are consistent with the results of other experimental studies and show that pre‐treatment controls submersed MF/UF filtration performance.     

膜生物反应器中膜污染机理的研究

在采用膜生物反应器（MBR）处理染料废水的过程中,通过对活性污泥进行终端过滤来反映膜污染机理,着重考察了膜过滤的形式、膜通量变化和膜污染的形成。污泥的终端过滤过程严格符合沉积过滤定律;膜通量随过滤时间呈指数衰减趋势,并在几分钟内就达到相对稳定值;扫描电镜照片也证实了膜污染主要是膜面沉积层引起的。     

Evaluation of coagulation and PAC adsorption pretreatments on membrane filtration for a surface water in Korea: A pilot study

Application of membrane filtration has been significantly expanded throughout the world in two decades. A project was launched to facilitate the application of membrane filtration in drinking water plants in Korea in 2004. Five pilot plants each with a capacity of 500 m³/d were installed in a Gueui Drinking Water Plant. The Han River water was a main raw water source for the plants. Key parameters of the raw water were examined. The raw water characteristics are tremendously varied with seasons and rain fall, especially in terms of turbidity and algae numbers. The operation of pretreatment was of substantial importance due to the variation of the raw water. Coagulation and powdered activated carbon adsorption were performed as pretreatment options of microfiltration. The coagulant doses were optimized with increasing turbidity compared to the conventionally used operational manual. PAC adsorption was applied to overcome fouling by high algae numbers. The addition of PAC relieved the aggravation of fouling. However, the PAC addition could not stop the undergoing fouling. A set of laboratory experiments showed that the removal of floc aggregates after coagulation and PAC was critical to maintain high water flux in the membrane system.     

低膜面流速下曝气对管式膜水力特性及膜污染影响

采用曝气强化管式膜超滤高岭土混合液,考察了低膜面流速下曝气对强化膜分离过程影响,探讨了曝气对膜面水力特征及膜污染过程影响,并对过滤介质影响及膜污染阻力构成进行了研究。结果表明,在低膜面流速下,通过向管式膜引入曝气使膜表面形成气液两相流,可实现膜通量稳定保持在15L/(m²·h)以上。不仅如此,曝气的引入使膜表面雷诺数由1800~2500增至3300~4500,显著增强了膜表面湍流程度,并且实现了低膜面流速下使膜污染指数控制在较低水平,节省了运行能耗。此外,曝气的引入主要减轻了膜表面滤饼污染,使膜过滤总阻力减小且对高岭土截留效率影响不大,但强烈的膜面传质使高岭土粒径有减小趋势,并且膜表面形成污染阻力以不可逆污染层为主,不利于膜污染长周期控制。     

颗粒粒径和膜孔径对陶瓷膜微滤微米级颗粒悬浮液的影响

通过测定颗粒悬浮液通过陶瓷微滤膜时的参透通量及污染阻力,确定了陶瓷膜处理微米级颗粒悬浮液时,颗粒粒径和膜孔径对微滤过程的影响和膜污染机理,获得了微米级颗粒悬浮液微滤过程中膜孔径的选择方法。     

Silica and metals removal by pretreatment to prevent fouling of reverse osmosis membranes

Reverse osmosis is being increasingly used for desalination of seawater, brackish water and as well the marginal and polluted wastewaters. The operation of waters bearing substantial amount of silica is only feasible if there is a chemical pretreatment in process to prevent excessive and unbearable fouling by this refractory deposit. In this study, model solutions representing tailings wastewater which usually has high silica content was used in standard jar tests using the Boltac Coagulation and Flocculation simulator to determine the effectiveness of chemical pretreatment (by precipitation and coagulation) for removal of silica and other species such as magnesium, calcium, iron and manganese which affect silica fouling. Two precipitants were tested: lime and soda ash, and caustic soda. Precipitant aids (alum and ferric chloride) were also examined in combination with optimum precipitant doses to observe their differential effects. The optimum precipitant dose of caustic soda was 200 mg/L. Ferric chloride and alum were tested with this optimum caustic soda dose, but did not improve removal significantly, if at all. The optimum precipitant dose of lime and soda ash was 150 mg/L lime and 450 mg/L soda ash. Ferric chloride and alum were tested with this optimum lime and soda dose, but again did not improve removal enough to warrant their use. Neither of the methods were as effective in removal of magnesium and calcium as in removal of other components; lime and soda ash treatment as expected actually increased the calcium content of solutions.     

预处理工艺控制膜污染的研究进展

介绍了近年来各种预处理工艺控制膜污染的研究进展,主要包括:混凝、吸附和氧化预处理控制膜污染技术.分析了影响低压膜污染的主要因素,并认为原水中分子和颗粒的尺寸、与膜组件的相互作用以及它们的形状与膜污染具有重要联系.阐述了各种预处理工艺对于缓解膜污染的特性,并认为下一步的研究重点将放在混凝控制膜污染的条件与机理、开发新的吸...     

Effect of slow sand filtration of treated wastewater as pre-treatment to UF

Ultrafiltration (UF) of treated municipal wastewater has been used to produce high-quality reuse water for different applications. However, without pre-treatment, secondary treated wastewater effluent shows high fouling potential and reduces the performance of UF membrane filtration significantly. To remove foulants prior to UF, slow sand filtration (SSF) was investigated in the present work. Two pilot-scale slow sand filters were operated in tandem with UF. The performance of the UF plant was improved to a large extent by delivering slow sand filtrate compared to direct secondary effluent filtration. Removal of common organic fouling indicators (i.e., proteins, carbohydrates, and biopolymers) by SSF was significantly higher at 0.25 m/h versus 0.5 m/h filter loading rate. Results of a comparative analysis of SSF effluent characteristics and UF performance showed that the biopolymer content detected by size exclusion chromatography displayed a good correlation with the filterability of corresponding water sample by UF, while photo-metrically detected proteins and polysaccharides did not present any relationship with UF performance.     

一体式膜生物反应器膜污染研究

以生活污水为处理对象,对一体式膜生物反应器中不可逆污染形成机理和可逆污染形成机理分别进行了研究;还进行了膜表面改性工作。不可逆污染速度初期快,然后逐渐减缓,第9d不可逆污染达到稳定。过滤初期,膜可逆污染速度较快,之后趋缓,第300min可逆污染达到稳定。膜不可逆污染发展缓慢,而膜可逆污染发展迅速。与原膜相比,膜改性后不可逆污染上升速度和污染程度显著减小。     

Coagulation behavior of polyaluminum chloride:Effects of pH and coagulant dosage☆

Coagulation mechanisms of polyaluminum chloride (PACl) at various dosages were studied using a conventional jar test at different final and initial pH values during treating kaolin suspension. The optimal final pH and dosages for PACl were obtained based on residual turbidity and zeta potential of flocs. The coagulation zones at various PACl dosages and solution pH values were developed and compared with those of alum. It is found that the optimal mechanism under acidic condition is charge neutralization, while alkaline condition wil facilitate the coagulation of PACl. Both charge neutralization coagulation and sweep coagulation can achieve high coagulation efficiency under the alkaline condition ranging from final pH 7.0 to 10.0. Stabilization, charge neutralization destabilization, restabilization and sweep zones occur successively with increasing PACl dosages with the final pH values fixed at 7.0 and 8.0, but restabilization zone disappears at final pH 10.0. When the final pH is not controlled and consequently decreases with increasing PACl dosage, no typical sweep zone can be observed and the coagulant efficiency decreases at high PACl dosage. It seems that the final pH is more meaningful than the initial pH for coagulation. Charge neutralization coagulation efficiency is dominated by zeta potential of flocs and PACl precipitates. The charge neutralization and sweep coagulation zones of PACl are broader in the ranges of coagulant dosage and pH than those of alum. The results are helpful for us to treat water and wastewa-ter using PACl and to understand the coagulation process of PACl.     

Crossflow microfiltration of a primary sewage effluent–solids retention efficiency and flux enhancement

An experimental study was carried out to evaluate flux performance and solids retention efficiency of a ceramic membrane system in the microfiltration (MF) of a primary municipal sewage effluent. The importance of membrane pore size and MF operating conditions on the removal of suspended solids (SS) and reduction of total dissolved solids (TDS) is demonstrated. With properly defined membrane parameters (eg pore size) the MF process was shown as being able to produce a permeate quality better than the required EC regulatory standards concerning urban wastewater treatment for suspended and total solids reduction. The economics of the membrane process depend largely on flux performance which was seriously impeded by severe membrane fouling, especially in‐pore adsorption/deposition of particles. The critical influence of membrane fouling on the flux reduction and change of solids retention characteristics of the membrane system was analysed. Two techniques were employed and evaluated in an endeavour to enhance permeate flux: (i) minimisation of surface particle accumulation by employing a helically wound baffle installed inside the crossflow channel to produce a helical flow pattern and vortices encompassed in secondary flow, and (ii) reduction of in‐pore fouling by employing an automated high frequency backflushing programme. Finally, this paper highlights the relationship between the flux enhancement mechanism and increased soluble solids transmission rate at elevated filtration temperature and when the backflush technique was applied. The increased total dissolved solids concentration in the permeate has profound implications on how the backflush technique should be implemented. © 1999 Society of Chemical Industry