milne-membranedistillation-2018.pdf (1.04 MB)
Membrane distillation trial on textile wastewater containing surfactants using hydrophobic and hydrophilic-coated Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) membranes
journal contribution
posted on 2018-06-15, 00:00 authored by Jesús Villalobos García, Noel Dow, Nick MilneNick Milne, Jianhua Zhang, Leslie Naidoo, Stephen Gray, Mikel DukeTreating wastewater from textile plants using membrane distillation (MD) has great potential due to the high-salinity wastes and availability of waste heat. However, textile wastewaters also contain surfactants, which compromise the essential hydrophobic feature of the membrane, causing membrane wetting. To address this wetting issue, a custom-made membrane consisting of a hydrophilic layer coated on hydrophobic polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) was tested on textile wastewater in a pilot MD setup, and compared with a conventional hydrophobic PTFE membrane. The test was carried out with a feed temperature of 60 °C, and a permeate temperature of 45 °C. The overall salt rejection of both membranes was very high, at 99%. However, the hydrophobic membrane showed rising permeate electrical conductivity, which was attributed to wetting of the membrane. Meanwhile, the hydrophilic-coated membrane showed continually declining electrical conductivity demonstrating an intact membrane that resisted wetting from the surfactants. Despite this positive result, the coated membrane did not survive a simple sodium hydroxide clean, which would be typically applied to a membrane process. This brief study showed the viability of membrane distillation membranes on real textile wastewaters containing surfactants using hydrophilic-coated hydrophobic PTFE, but the cleaning process required for membranes needs optimization.
History
Journal
MembranesVolume
8Issue
2Publisher
MDPILocation
Basel, SwitzerlandPublisher DOI
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ISSN
2077-0375Language
engPublication classification
C Journal article; C1.1 Refereed article in a scholarly journalCopyright notice
2018, by the authorUsage metrics
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No categories selectedKeywords
desalinationhydrophilic membranemembrane distillationpolytetrafluoroethyleneScience & TechnologyLife Sciences & BiomedicinePhysical SciencesTechnologyBiochemistry & Molecular BiologyChemistry, PhysicalEngineering, ChemicalMaterials Science, MultidisciplinaryPolymer ScienceChemistryEngineeringMaterials ScienceNANOFILTRATIONENHANCEMENTPERFORMANCEINDUSTRYPH
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