Purification and Concentration of Caustic Mercerization Wastewater by Membrane Processes and Evaporation for Reuse

A membrane-based treatment strategy was developed for purifying the highly alkaline textile mercerization wastewater. 0.2-μm MF and 100 kDa UF membranes were evaluated as pretreatment alternatives before 10 kDa UF and 200 Da NF membranes. Turbidity was almost totally removed by both pretreatment options, while UF (100 kDa) showed higher COD retention than MF. In total recycle mode of filtration, fouling of both UF and MF membranes were 80% reversible by physical and almost totally reversible (≥ 97%) by chemical cleaning. In the second stage filtrations applied to the pretreated wastewater samples, NF could yield high (97-98%) COD retentions and low permeate COD concentrations (≤ 22 mg/L), while 10 kDa UF could only reduce the COD concentration to 150 mg/L. While no NaOH was lost in the MF+UF process, the use of NF as second stage resulted in 12-17% NaOH retention. The permeate flux in all second stage processes were stable, implying that the majority of the feed components that would cause fouling had been removed in the pretreatment stages. Permeate of the MF+NF sequence was concentrated by evaporation with no foaming problems, showing that the hybrid process can be applied to recycle a purified and concentrated caustic stream to the mercerization process.     

Influence of filtration conditions on the performance of nanofiltration and reverse osmosis membranes in dairy wastewater treatment

Filtration performance and fouling of nanofiltration (NF) and reverse osmosis (RO) membranes in the treatment of dairy industry wastewater were investigated. Two series of experiments were performed. The first one involved a NF membrane (TFC-S) for treating the chemical-biological treatment plant effluents. The second one used a RO membrane (TFC-HR) for treating the original effluents from the dairy industry. The permeate flux was higher at higher transmembrane pressures and higher feed flowrates. The curves of permeate flux exhibited a slower increase while the feed flowrate decreased and the pressure increased. Membrane fouling resulted in permeate flux decline with increasing the feed COD concentration. Furthermore, the flux decline due to the COD increase was found higher at higher pressures for both NF and RO membranes.     

纳滤/反渗透膜处理重金属废水的性能

The performance of different nanofiltration （NF） and reverse osmosis （RO） membranes was studied in treating the toxic metal effluent from metallurgical industry. The characteristics and filtration behavior of the processes including the wastewater flux, salt rejection and ion rejection versus operating pressure were evaluated. Then the wastewater flux of RO membrane was compared with theoretical calculation using mass transfer models, and good consistency was observed. It was found that a high rejection rate more than 95% of metal ions and a low Chemical Oxygen Demand （COD） value of 10 mg·L^-1 in permeate could be achieved using the RO composite membrane, while the NF rejection of the salt could be up to 78.9% and the COD value in the permeate was 35 mg·L^-1. The results showed that the product water by both NF and RO desalination satisfied the State Reutilization Qualification, but NF would be more suitable for large-scale industrial practice, which offered significantly higher permeate flux at low operating pressure.     

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.     

Ultrafiltration and nanofiltration membranes applied to the removal of the pharmaceuticals amoxicillin,naproxen, metoprolol and phenacetin from water

BACKGROUND: In the removal of pharmaceuticals present in aquatic systems by membrane processes, some important issues must be explored in order to obtain a better knowledge of the global process. Among these issues, a better understanding of the influences of the operating parameters on the membrane flux, an analysis of membrane resistances and fouling, and determination of the removal of specific substances, must be studied. RESULTS: Four selected pharmaceuticals (amoxicillin, naproxen, metoprolol and phenacetin) were subjected to ultrafiltration (UF) and nanofiltration (NF) processes for their removal from several water matrices. The determined permeate fluxes at the steady state were affected by the main operating conditions: molecular weight cut‐off (MWCO) of the membrane, transmembrane pressure TMP, cross‐flow velocity and temperature. The retention coefficients with the UF membranes followed the sequence naproxen > metoprolol > amoxicillin > phenacetin, and with the NF membranes, followed the trend: amoxicillin > naproxen > metoprolol > phenacetin, due to the role of other mechanisms such as size exclusion and electrostatic repulsion. In the case of the selected water matrices, the retention coefficient was referred to some quality parameters (total organic carbon, chemical oxygen demand and absorbance at 254 nm), leading to moderate (UF) or high (NF) removals of the organic matter content. CONCLUSIONS: The NF CK membrane achieved the highest retention of these pharmaceuticals (excepting phenacetin), and provided retentions for quality parameters around 80% in the four water systems tested. Copyright © 2011 Society of Chemical Industry     

Integrated ultrafiltration-nanofiltration membrane processes applied to the treatment of gold mining effluent: Influence of feed pH and temperature

This study aimed to evaluate the effect of feed pH (2.2 - original effluent pH – up to 6.0) and temperature (20 up to 40°C) on the performance of integrated ultrafiltration (UF) and nanofiltration (NF) applied to gold mining effluent. pH increase led to a significant decrease in UF permeate flux. NF showed high retention efficiencies of ions when temperature was below 30°C. Retention of high-valence counter-ions to balance the charge of retained co-ions seemed to be the strongest NF mechanisms. Process performance at feed pH of 5.0 was superior in terms of fouling, retention efficiency, and investment cost.     

多孔陶瓷膜用于碳量子点的分离与纯化

尺寸分布均一的碳量子点由于其良好的光学特性,在光电设备、离子检测、纳米传感器、生物成像和催化剂等领域具有广阔的应用前景。采用陶瓷膜“超滤-纳滤”双膜法,对微波合成的碳量子点进行分离和纯化。研究了pH对碳量子点料液荧光强度和粒径分布的影响。在pH=3时,碳量子点分散较好,荧光强度较高。陶瓷超滤膜可以有效截留碳量子点料液中的大颗粒杂质,渗透侧的碳量子点平均粒径约为2 nm,分散良好,无团聚现象。陶瓷纳滤膜对碳量子点具有良好的截留性能,在浓缩和水洗过程中可以进一步去除料液中的小分子杂质。经双膜法处理后,发射光谱由多峰分布变为单峰分布,且峰宽变窄,碳量子点的发光纯度得到了明显提高。     

Elimination of organic matter present in wastewaters from the cork industry by membrane filtration

BACKGROUND: The first stage of the cork industrial process generates great volumes of wastewater with moderate to high organic pollutant content that must be purified using different procedures, such as filtration by membranes. RESULTS: The tangential filtration of these wastewaters was studied using two different laboratory equipments. In the first one, three ultrafiltration (UF) membranes were tested, with molecular weight cut‐off (MWCO) 100 kDa and 30 kDa, and two operating modes were used: total recycling of permeate and retentate streams, and in continuous mode, without recycling both streams. In the total recycling UF experiments, the influence of the operating variables on the permeate flux was first established. The effectiveness of the different membranes was determined by evaluating the rejection coefficients for several parameters that measure the global pollutant content of the effluent. The values found for these rejection coefficients were in the following order: ellagic acid and color > absorbance at 254 nm > tannic content > COD (chemical oxygen demand). In the continuous mode experiments, the fouling mechanism for each membrane was established by fitting the experimental data to various filtration fouling models given in the literature. The operating mode in the second equipment was batch concentration, and additional experiments were carried out with an UF membrane (2 kDa), and with a NF membrane (with MWCO in the range 150–300 Da). CONCLUSIONS: The three operating modes tested provided different rejection levels of organic matter; among them, the most effective procedure tested was batch concentration mode using a NF membrane. Copyright © 2007 Society of Chemical Industry     

Color and COD retention by nanofiltration membranes

In the present study the application of the nanofiltration process was investigated mainly in the retention ofcolor and chemical oxygen demand (COD) present in textile industry wastewater. Nanofiltration experiments were carried out in a pilot unit, operating in crossflow. Three different types of spiral wound membranes, DK 1073, NF 45 and MPS 31 were used simultaneously in the same unit. The results of the tests showed that for color retention, the values were around 99% for the DK 1073 and NF 45 membranes and the 87% for COD retention for the DK 1073. The permeate flux for the different wastewaters varied from 30.5 to 70 L/h.m². Fouling was observed in all membranes due to the accumulation of molecular species close to the filtering surface. The process was efficient and promising for the reuse of wastewater from this type of industry.     

Influence of colloidal fouling and feed water recovery on salt rejection of RO and NF membranes

The influence of colloidal fouling and feed water recovery (or concentration factor, CF) on salt rejection of thin-film composite reverse osmosis (RO) and nanofiltration (NF) membranes was investigated. Fouling experiments were carried out using a laboratory-scale crossflow test unit with continuous permeate disposal to simulate the CF and recovery as commonly observed in full-scale RO/NF systems. For feed waters containing only salt (NaCl), permeate flux declined linearly as CF was increased and salt rejection was nearly constant for both RO and NF membranes. On the other hand, a sharp decrease in permeate flux and significant decline in salt rejection with increasing CF were observed under conditions where colloidal fouling takes place. For both RO and NF membranes, the marked permeate flux decline was attributed to the so-called “cake-enhanced osmotic pressure”. The decline in salt rejection when colloidal fouling predominated was much more substantial for NF than for RO membranes. In all cases, the decline in salt rejection was higher under conditions of more severe colloidal fouling, namely at higher ionic strength and initial permeate flux.     

垃圾渗滤液生化出水絮凝-纳滤处理及过程机理

垃圾焚烧发电厂渗滤液是一种含高浓度腐殖酸类物质和高盐含量的复杂有机废水, 传统生化处理后仍难达标排放。本工作围绕垃圾渗滤液生化出水的特性, 开展了Ca(OH)₂絮凝、臭氧氧化预处理与NF处理相结合的处理工艺, 并对处理过程的机理进行了探讨。研究表明, 渗滤液生化出水经过Ca(OH)₂絮凝处理, 可以有效地去除其中的杂环类化合物。生化出水经8 g·L^-1的Ca(OH)₂絮凝处理后, 比MBR出水产水通量提高达8.2%。对Ca(OH)₂絮凝出水进行臭氧氧化处理, 虽然降低了它的COD, 但并未进一步提高其NF膜通量, 其主要原因可能是臭氧氧化生成的硅氧烷类物质造成了膜的污染;与RO处理垃圾渗滤液生化出水相比较, NF膜无法分离废水中的酮类、胺和酰胺类、杂环类化合物, 使得NF产水的COD处在100~160 mg·L^-1。NF平均膜通量的增大可导致产水COD略有上升;垃圾渗滤液生化出水及其预处理水在NF处理过程中, 都没有表现出严重的膜污染。     

海上油田注水纳滤软化中试研究

针对海上油田回注驱油工艺中的海水软化问题,以胶州湾某海域海水为例,采用超滤-纳滤技术进行了中试规模的海水软化研究。考察了操作压力对两种型号（NF-A、NF-B）纳滤膜软化性能的影响,以及回收率为70%时的水质情况及其与地层水的配伍性,并对NF-A型纳滤膜进行了长期运行稳定性实验。结果表明NF-A型纳滤膜软化水能够与某海上油田地层水配伍,超滤-纳滤集成膜技术能长期、稳定地为海上油田提供软化水。     

Critical flux analyses on differently pretreated olive vegetation waste water streams: Some case studies

One of the main disadvantages of batch membrane processes is the increase of the pollutant concentration in the feedstock throughout the operation. Operating the plant at constant process conditions leads in many cases to weaker performances and, moreover, to heavy fouling on the membranes. Critical flux-based methods are one of the most used approaches to overcome fouling problems. Within critical flux conditions, only reversible fouling can occur, which can be periodically soft-cleaned.This work studies the relationship between particle size distributions in the feed stream and critical flux values when different pretreatment processes are applied to an olive vegetation waste water stream. The considered pretreatment processes were: coagulation (with aluminum hydroxide and aluminum sulphate), aerobic biodigestion (by means of fungi) and photocatalytic organic matter reduction (by means of nanometric titanium dioxide anatase powders irradiated by UV light). The study was carried out at pilot plant scale (100 L batch capacity).These results were compared with performances and effects on the critical flux value for MF, UF and NF membranes. The different pretreatment on the same waste water stream shifts differently the particle size distribution mainly by organic matter degradation, and this influences heavily the critical flux value and thus the filtration outcome.Finally, the purification of the olive vegetation waste water stream can be performed with a MF, UF, NF and RO membrane system in series, being very careful in choosing the correct operating conditions to avoid the quick formation of an unsustainable fouling.     

Stainless steel membrane UF coupled with NF process for the recovery of sodium hydroxide from alkaline wastewater in chitin processing

The recovery of sodium hydroxide from alkali wastewater in chitin processing was investigated using stainless steel ultrafiltration membrane (SSM) and HDS-04 nanofiltration (NF) membranes with membrane area of 0.35 m² and 1.4 m², respectively. Flux behaviors were observed with respect to filtration time, volumetric concentration ratio (VCR), operating pressure, temperature, and cleaning. As the VCR increased, the permeate flux declined while almost the same concentration of NaOH was permeable. The SSM and NF operations end with a concentrated protein solution that needed a small amount of waste acid for neutralization and easy spray drying and the permeate of the NaOH solution can be reused. Concentrations of NaOH that govern reusability of permeate were measured to be independent on VCR. The most suitable VCRs for SSM and NF in terms of maintaining relatively good membrane productivity and high rejection of protein and chemical oxygen demand (COD) were approximately 50. At a VCR of 50, the total rejections of protein, COD and suspended solid (SS) were 82.5%, 94% and 100%, respectively, while total NaOH recovery was 96% with SSM average flux 270 LMH and NF average flux 25 LMH. SSM filtration was essential for the pretreatment of the alkali wastewater before it was fed into the NF system.     

Processing of black liquors by UF/NF ceramic membranes

This study deals with the treatment of black liquor from wood pulping by means of membranes. UF/NFmembranes with a skin layer of TiO₂ and ZrO₂ have been applied to recover water and to concentrate the residual effluent. Three different membranes with molecular weight cut-off of 1, 5 and 15 kDa have been checked. The membranes have been tested either in single stage operation or in cascade. Total dissolved solids, organic matter, organic to mineral matter ratio and ash have been determined. In addition, chemical oxygen demand (COD) retention was calculated by measuring in the feed solution as well as in the permeate and in the concentrated solution. During the concentration step the steady state was reached after a few minutes running. There was not significant change in the permeate flow until the volume was reduced at half. Only the 15,000 Da membrane showed continuous permeate flow declining. Regardless the membrane used, dry matter, organic matter and COD analyses showed that the retention of organic substances fell in the range of 60-70%, depending on the conditions selected.     

Nanofiltration of Magnesium Chloride,Sodium Carbonate,and Calcium Sulphate in Salt Solutions

Abstract

Nanofiltration (NF) membranes have been employed in pre‐treatment unit operations in both thermal and membrane seawater desalination processes. This has resulted in reduction of chemicals used in pretreatment processes as well as lowering the energy consumption and water production cost and, therefore, has led to a more environmentally friendly processes. In order to predict NF membrane performance, a systematic study on the filtration performance of selected commercial NF membranes against brackish water and seawater is required. In this study, three commercial nanofiltration membranes (NF90, NF270, N30F) have been used to treat highly concentrated different salts solutions (MgCl₂, Na₂CO₃, and CaSO₄) at salinity level similar to that of brackish water and seawater. The main parameters studied in this paper are salt concentration and feed pressure. The experimental data were correlated and analysed using the Spiegler‐Kedem model. In particular, the reflection coefficient (σ) of all studied membranes and the solute permeability (P_s) have been determined for all membranes and at different salinity levels of studied salts. All the studied membranes fitted the model well for all investigated salts except the experimental data of MgCl₂ using N30F membrane, which did not fit well at low rejection. The results showed that NF90 produced a high rejection around 97% for all salts with medium permeate flux while NF270 gave a high flux with medium rejection and N30F gave low rejection and flux.     

Pilot-scale spiral wound membrane assessment for THM precursor rejection from upland waters

The outcomes of a pilot-scale study of the rejection of trihalomethanes (THMs) precursors by commercial ultrafiltration/nanofiltration (UF/NF) spiral-wound membrane elements are presented based on a single surface water source in Scotland. The study revealed the expected trend of increased flux and permeability with increasing pore size for the UF membranes; the NF membranes provided similar fluxes despite the lower nominal pore size. The dissolved organic carbon (DOC) passage decreased with decreasing molecular weight cut-off, with a less than one-third the passage recorded for the NF membranes than for the UF ones.

The yield (weight % total THMs per DOC) varied between 2.5% and 8% across all membranes tested, in reasonable agreement with the literature, with the aromatic polyamide membrane providing both the lowest yield and lowest DOC passage. The proportion of the hydrophobic (HPO) fraction removed was found to increase with decreasing membrane selectivity (increasing pore size), and THM generation correlated closely (R² = 0.98) with the permeate HPO fractional concentration.     

不同交联剂对PDMS/PVDF纳滤膜溶剂回收性能的影响

以聚二甲基硅氧烷(PDMS)为分离层材料,聚偏氟乙烯(PVDF)超滤膜为底膜,采用正硅酸乙酯(TEOS)、苯基三甲氧基硅烷(PTMOS)、辛基三甲氧基硅烷(OTMOS)、γ-氨基丙基三乙氧基硅烷(APTEOS)4种不同的交联剂对PDMS进行交联,制备了PDMS/PVDF纳滤膜。采用接触角、红外谱图、扫描电镜等对膜的物理和化学结构进行了分析和表征。以大豆油/己烷混合油为实验体系,考察了压力和料液浓度对纳滤膜分离性能的影响。结果表明,纳滤膜的通量随压力线性增长,截留率初始随压力上升较快,随后增幅减慢而趋于稳定。随料液浓度的增加,纳滤膜的通量和截留率都有较大幅度的下降。相比较而言,以TEOS为交联剂所制得的纳滤膜分离性能最佳。大豆油/己烷混合油体系同水溶液体系的渗透特性类似,其渗透压可用van't Hoff方程计算。     

Treatment of tanning effluent using nanofiltration followed by reverse osmosis

An investigation on the recovery of chromium from the effluent of a chrome-tanning bath has been performed using nanofiltration (NF) followed by reverse osmosis (RO). The experiments are conducted using a rectangular cross flow cell under laminar and turbulent regimes. Significant flux enhancement is achieved using thin wires as turbulent promoters. The performance criteria are evaluated in terms of the concentration of chromium, COD, BOD, TDS, TS, pH, and conductivity of the permeate. The effects of different operating parameters on permeate flux and observed retention of chromium are evaluated experimentally. The retention of chromium is found to be 91–98% for NF and 98.8–99.7% for RO for the experimental conditions of this study. Concentrations of chromium and COD of the final permeate are well within the permissible limits.     

Study of drinking water treatment by ultrafiltration of surface water and its application to China

In China, many water supplies depend on conventional water treatment. Due to unfit soil and water conservationin some regions of China, conventional water treatment has showed some defects for the poor quality of water resource. In addition, advances in membrane technology and increasing requirements on water quality have stimulated ultrafiltration (UF) for water treatment. In this research, OF test apparatus was set up to produce drinking water from raw water of the Binxian Reservoir (China). The performance of UF membranes was investigated. There was a linear relationship between membrane resistance and accumulated permeate water. Using coagulation before OF increased permeate flux and retarded membrane flux decline. Surprisingly, membrane permeate flux in a coagulation/UF process was higher than that in coagulation-sand filtration-UF process with raw water of medium turbidity. OF treatment provided effective turbidity removal. Iron, manganese and aluminum were removed completely. The UF membrane also perfectly removed all coliform bacteria. The reduction of total organic carbon was satisfactory. The treated water quality complied with China's drinking water guidelines. The Ames test showed that the mutagenic activities of membrane permeate water was negative.