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.     

Fatty acid fouling of forward osmosis membrane: Effects of pH, calcium, membrane orientation, initial permeate flux and foulant composition

Octanoic acid (OA) was selected to represent fatty acids in effluent organic matter (EOM). The effects of feed solution (FS) properties, membrane orientation and initial permeate flux on OA fouling in forward osmosis (FO) were investigated. The undissociated OA formed a cake layer quickly and caused the water flux to decline significantly in the initial 0.5 hr at unadjusted pH 3.56; while the fully dissociated OA behaved as an anionic surfactant and promoted the water permeation at an elevated pH of 9.00. Moreover, except at the initial stage, the sudden decline of water flux (meaning the occurrence of severe membrane fouling) occurred in two conditions: 1. 0.5 mmol/L Ca^2 +, active layer facing draw solution (AL-DS) and 1.5 mol/L NaCl (DS); 2. No Ca^2 +, active layer-facing FS (AL-FS) and 4 mol/L NaCl (DS). This demonstrated that cake layer compaction or pore blocking occurred only when enough foulants were absorbed into the membrane surface, and the water permeation was high enough to compact the deposit inside the porous substrate. Furthermore, bovine serum albumin (BSA) was selected as a co-foulant. The water flux of both co-foulants was between the fluxes obtained separately for the two foulants at pH 3.56, and larger than the two values at pH 9.00. This manifested that, at pH 3.56, BSA alleviated the effect of the cake layer caused by OA, and OA enhanced BSA fouling simultaneously; while at pH 9.00, the mutual effects of OA and BSA eased the membrane fouling.     

地铁隧道穿越江河地质稳定性及渗流特性数值分析

无论是国内还是国外,在地铁修建过程中,都会不可避免的遇到地铁下穿河流或者其他地下水丰富的区域。土层内丰富的含水量必定会给地铁区间隧道的施工带来较大影响,甚至会造成渗水、流砂等施工事故。以南京地铁二号线工程莫愁湖-汉中门区间为例,分析比较3种不同施工方案下隧道地质的稳定性及渗流特性,研究结论可为地铁设计及施工给予一定的指导。