Fabrication and performance of PET mesh enhanced cellulose acetate membranes for forward osmosis

Polyethylene terephthalate mesh(PET) enhanced cellulose acetate membranes were fabricated via a phase inversion process. The membrane fabrication parameters that may affect the membrane performance were systematically evaluated including the concentration and temperature of the casting polymer solution and the temperature and time of the evaporation, coagulation and annealing processes. The water permeability and reverse salt flux were measured in forward osmosis(FO) mode for determination of the optimal membrane fabrication conditions. The optimal FO membrane shows a typical asymmetric sandwich structure with a mean thickness of about 148.2 μm. The performance of the optimal FO membrane was tested using 0.2 mol/L Na Cl as the feed solution and 1.5 mol/L glucose as the draw solution. The membrane displayed a water flux of 3.47 L/(m2·hr) and salt rejection of95.48% in FO mode. While in pressure retarded osmosis(PRO) mode, the water flux was4.74 L/(m2·hr) and salt rejection 96.03%. The high ratio of water flux in FO mode to that in PRO mode indicates that the fabricated membrane has a lower degree of internal concentration polarization than comparable membranes.     

UF-RO-NF应用于电镀镍漂洗废水回用中试研究

采用“UF-RO-NF”中试装置处理电镀镍漂洗废水,在周期运行的工况下,考察其浓淡水回用效果以及膜通量变化情况。研究表明,该套系统淡水COD、Ni离子、电导率的平均值为70.6 mg/L、2.93 mg/L、91.1μs/cm^2,远低于该生产车间镀镍漂洗水,可以回用。浓水COD、Ni离子、电导率相对于漂洗水均有4倍以上的浓缩效果,具有一定的回用价值。整个系统在试验运行10个周期内膜通量保持不变。     

Removal of PFOS, PFOA and other perfluoroalkyl acids at water reclamation plants in South East Queensland Australia

This paper examines the fate of perfluorinated sulfonates (PFSAs) and carboxylic acids (PFCAs) in two water reclamation plants in Australia. Both facilities take treated water directly from WWTPs and treat it further to produce high quality recycled water. The first plant utilizes adsorption and filtration methods alongside ozonation, whilst the second uses membrane processes and advanced oxidation to produce purified recycled water. At both facilities perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), perfluorohexane sulfonate (PFHxS), perfluorohexanoic acid (PFHxA) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) were the most frequently detected PFCs. Concentrations of PFOS and PFOA in influent (WWTP effluent) ranged up to 3.7 and 16 ng L⁻¹ respectively, and were reduced to 0.7 and 12 ng L⁻¹ in the finished water of the ozonation plant. Throughout this facility, concentrations of most of the detected perfluoroalkyl compounds (PFCs) remained relatively unchanged with each successive treatment step. PFOS was an exception to this, with some removal following coagulation and dissolved air flotation/sand filtration (DAFF). At the second plant, influent concentrations of PFOS and PFOA ranged up to 39 and 29 ng L⁻¹. All PFCs present were removed from the finished water by reverse osmosis (RO) to concentrations below detection and reporting limits (0.4-1.5 ng L⁻¹). At both plants the observed concentrations were in the low parts per trillion range, well below provisional health based drinking water guidelines suggested for PFOS and PFOA.     

Tracing the impact of stack configuration on interface resistances in reverse electrodialysis by in situ electrochemical impedance spectroscopy

• RED performance and stack resistance were studied by EIS and LSV. • Interface resistance were discriminated from Ohmic resistance by EIS. • Impacts of spacer shadow effect and concentration polarization were analyzed. • Ionic short current reduced the power density for more cell pairs. • The results enabled to predict RED performance with different configurations. Reverse electrodialysis (RED) is an emerging membrane-based technology for the production of renewable energy from mixing waters with different salinities. Herein, the impact of the stack configuration on the Ohmic and non-Ohmic resistances as well as the performance of RED were systematically studied by using in situ electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). Three different parameters (membrane type, number of cell pairs and spacer design) were controlled. The Ohmic and non-Ohmic resistances were evaluated for RED stacks equipped with two types of commercial membranes (Type I and Type II) supplied by Fujifilm Manufacturing Europe B.V: Type I Fuji membranes displayed higher Ohmic and non-Ohmic resistances than Type II membranes, which was mainly attributed to the difference in fixed charge density. The output power of the stack was observed to decrease with the increasing number of cell pairs mainly due to the increase in ionic shortcut currents. With the reduction in spacer thickness from 750 to 200 µm, the permselectivity of membranes in the stack decreased from 0.86 to 0.79 whereas the energy efficiency losses increased from 31% to 49%. Overall, the output of the present study provides a basis for understanding the impact of stack design on internal losses during the scaling-up of RED.