RESUMEN

In the context of designing a photocatalytic self-cleaning/low-fouling membrane, the stability of PVDF-PVP-TiO2 hollow-fiber membranes under UV irradiation has been studied. The effect of irradiation power, aqueous environment composition and fouling state on the properties of the membranes has been investigated. With this aim, SEM observations, chemical analysis and tensile strength measurements have been conducted. The results indicate that pristine membranes that undergo UV irradiation in ultra-pure water are significantly degraded due to attacks of OH° radicals. However, when methylene blue, used as a model pollutant, is introduced in the aqueous environment, OH° radicals preferentially react with this molecule rather than the membranes, successfully preserving the original properties of the latter. The presence of an adsorbed BSA layer (pre-fouling by immersion) on the surface of the membrane delays membrane aging, as the BSA layer is degraded by radicals instead of the membrane material. The degradation of the BSA layer also validates the self-cleaning properties of the membrane. However, when membranes are pre-fouled by filtration of a 2 g/L BSA solution, delay to aging is less. This is because OH° radicals do not reach BSA molecules that are trapped inside the membrane pores, and therefore react with the membrane material.

RESUMEN

This study demonstrates the application of hollow-fiber membrane contactors (HFMCs) for the recovery of biogas from the ultrafiltration permeate of an anaerobic membrane bioreactor (AnMBR) and synthetic effluents of pure and mixed CH4 and CO2. The developed membrane degassing setup was coupled with a pilot-scale AnMBR fed with synthetic domestic effluent working at 25 °C. The membrane degassing unit was able to recover 93% of the total dissolved CH4 and 83% of the dissolved CO2 in the first two hours of permeate recirculation. The initial recovery rates were very high (0.21 mg CH4 L-1 min-1 and 8.43 mg CO2 L-1 min-1) and the membrane was able to achieve a degassing efficiency of 95.7% for CH4 and 76.2% for CO2, at a gas to liquid ratio of 1. A higher mass transfer coefficient of CH4 was found in all experimental and theoretical evaluations compared to CO2. This could also be confirmed from the higher transmembrane mass transport resistance to CO2 rather than CH4 found in this work. A strong dependency of the selective gas transport on the gas and liquid side hydrodynamics was observed. An increase in the liquid flow rate and gas flow rate favored CH4 transport and CO2 transport, respectively, over each component. The results confirmed the effectiveness of the collective AnMBR and membrane degassing setup for biogas recovery. Still, additional work is required to improve the membrane contactor's performance for biogas recovery during long-term operation.

RESUMEN

In this study, the anti-fouling performance of PVDF-TiO2 composite membranes, indicated by their permeate flux, was studied with different types of synthetic feed solutions. Photo-filtration (filtration under continuous UV irradiation) of solutions containing inorganic and organic components, which are ubiquitous in drinking/natural water, was performed to evaluate their influence on the photo-induced properties and performance of the membranes. The results indicated that inorganic fouling was unlikely to occur on PVDF-TiO2 membranes, and the presence of common inorganic ions in drinking water did not hinder their performance. However, in the particular case where a small amount of Cu2+ coexisted alongside HCO3- in the feed solution, inorganic fouling occurred, causing severe flux decline and prohibiting the photo-induced properties of the membranes. On the other hand, when used to filter organic fouling solutions, the membranes showed strong resistance to sodium alginate fouling, and less so for humic acids. In terms of separation efficiency, the membranes showed no advantages when operated in photo-filtration mode, as the rejection rate of both foulants under photo-filtration was not higher than that under normal filtration. In the case of humic acids, the photodegradation of humic substances into smaller compounds that were able to enter the permeate stream led to a lower rejection rate. Nevertheless, photo-filtration of these organic foulants still offered a higher permeate flux than normal filtration, up to a certain concentration level (5 mg/L for humic acids and 50 mg/L for sodium alginate).

RESUMEN

Asymmetric and nanostructured polystyrene-block-poly(2-vinyl pyridine)-block-poly(ethylene oxide) (PS-b-P2VP-b-PEO or SVEO, S:V:EO ≈ 56:34:10, 79.5 kg mol-1 ) thick films blended with 20 wt% of a short PS homopolymer (hPS, 10.5 kg mol-1 ) are achieved by combining the non-solvent induced phase separation (NIPS) process with a solvent vapor annealing (SVA) treatment. Here, the NIPS step allows for the formation of a highly-permeable sponge-like substructure topped by a dense thin layer exhibiting poorly-ordered nanopores while the subsequent SVA treatment enables to reconstruct the material top surface into a porous monolayer of well-ordered hexagonal perforated lamellae (HPL). This optimized film architecture generated by NIPS-SVA shows a water permeability of 860 L h-1 m-2 bar-1 , which is roughly two times higher than the flux measured through NIPS made PS-b-P2VP-b-PEO/hPS materials having poorly-ordered nanopores. The post-SVA treatment is also revealed as a powerful tool to tailor the thickness of the nanostructure formed within the blended material because monoliths entirely composed of a HPL phase are produced by increasing the time of exposure to a chloroform stream. The water flux of such PS-b-P2VP-b-PEO/hPS monoliths is found to be an order of magnitude lower than that of their asymmetric film homologues.

Asunto(s)

RESUMEN

Composite PVDF-TiO2 membranes are studied extensively in literature as effective anti-fouling membranes with photocatalytic properties. Yet, a full understanding of how preparation parameters affect the final membrane structure, properties and performance has not been realized. In this study, PVDF-TiO2 membranes (20 wt% TiO2/PVDF) were fabricated via the non-solvent-induced phase separation (NIPS) method with an emphasis on the preparation temperature. Then, a systematic approach was employed to study the evolution of the membrane formation process and membrane properties when the preparation temperature changed, as well as to establish a link between them. Typical asymmetric membranes with a high porosity were obtained, along with a vast improvement in the permeate flux compared to the neat PVDF membranes, but a reduction in mechanical strength was also observed. Interestingly, upon the increase in preparation temperature, a significant transition in membrane morphology was observed, notably the gradual diminution of the finger-like macrovoids. Other membrane properties such as permeability, porosity, thermal and mechanical properties, and compression behavior were also influenced accordingly. Together, the establishment of the ternary phase diagrams, the study of solvent-nonsolvent exchange rate, and the direct microscopic observation of membrane formation during phase separation, helped explain such evolution in membrane properties.

RESUMEN

Bacteriostatic action of a biocidal agent results from the cumulative impact of different kinetics, including those of bacterial growth, mass transfer of the agent and its antibacterial action against the targeted bacteria. Current studies on bacteriostatic effects always directly consider the combination of these kinetics at given times, without discrimination between each other. This work introduces a novel approach, consisting of first studying independently, by the experiment and the model, the different kinetics involved, and then in coupling these kinetics to obtain a model that will be confronted with experimental data. An agar diffusion test with silver ions against Escherichia coli bacteria was implemented herein to assess the relevance of this approach. This work achieved to characterize the different kinetics and to propose a dynamic model combining them, which fits the experimental data with a silver diffusivity in the biofilm fixed to 7.0 ± 0.1 × 10-12 m2 s-1. This study also proves that the diffusive phenomenon was limiting the bacteriostatic action of silver ions over the test duration.

RESUMEN

In this study, Pb doped ZnO nanoparticles were synthesized by a sol-gel technique for the sorption of Reactive Black 5 (RB5) textile dye in aqueous solution. The ZnO:Pb (2 and 4%) nanoparticles have been characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and cryogenic nitrogen adsorption method. The average size of the synthesized nanoparticles was less than 100 nm and the surface areas were 18.8 and 20.8 m2/g, respectively for ZnO:Pb 2% and ZnO:Pb 4%. Batch sorption experiments were performed for color removal of RB5 dye at ambient temperature and 30 mg/L dye concentration. The central composite design with response surface methodology was used to study the effect of sorption condition (pH, nanoparticles dose and contact time). The significance of independent variables and their interactions was tested by analysis of variance. The optimum conditions of color removal were pH = 7, 2 g/L dose of nanoparticles and a contact time of 79 min. The color removal performance was 79.4 and 98.1% for ZnO:Pb 2 and 4% respectively. The pseudo-second-order model described well the removal rates while the Langmuir model fitted well the adsorption isotherms.

Asunto(s)

RESUMEN

Seawater desalination by Reverse Osmosis (RO) is an interesting solution for drinking water production. However, because of limitation by the osmotic pressure, a high recovery factor is not attainable. Consequently, large volumes of brines are discharged into the sea and the flow rate produced (permeate) is limited. In this paper, Vacuum Membrane Distillation (VMD) is considered as a complementary process to RO to further concentrate RO brines and increase the global recovery of the process. VMD is an evaporative technology that uses a membrane to support the liquid-vapour interface and enhance the contact area between liquid and vapour in comparison with conventional distillation. This study focuses on VMD for the treatment of RO brines. Simulations were performed to optimise the operating conditions and were completed by bench-scale experiments using actual RO brines and synthetic solutions up to a salt concentration of 300 g L(-1). Operating conditions such as a highly permeable membrane, high feed temperature, low permeate pressure and a turbulent fluid regime allowed high permeate fluxes to be obtained even for a very high salt concentration (300 g L(-1)). For the membrane studied, temperature and concentration polarisation were shown to have little effect on permeate flux. After 6 to 8 h, no organic fouling or biofouling was observed for RO brines. At high salt concentrations, scaling occurred (mainly due to calcium precipitation) but had only a limited impact on the permeate flux (24% decrease for a permeate specific volume of 43L m(-2) for the highest concentration of salt). Calcium carbonate and calcium sulphate precipitated first due to their low solubility and formed mixed crystal deposits on the membrane surface. These phenomena only occurred on the membrane surface and did not totally cover the pores. The crystals were easily removed simply by washing the membrane with water. A global recovery factor of 89% can be obtained by coupling RO and VMD.

Asunto(s)