Removal of fluoride in membrane-based water and wastewater treatment technologies: Performance review.

The presence of excess fluoride in aqueous media above local environmental standards (e.g., the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) standard of 4 mg/L) affects the health of aquatic life. Excess fluoride in drinking water above the maximum contaminant level (e.g., the World Health Organization (WHO) standard of 1.5 mg/L) also affects the skeletal and nervous systems of humans. Fluoride removal from aqueous solutions is difficult using conventional electrochemical, precipitation, and adsorption methods owing to its ionic size and reactivity. Thus, new technologies have been introduced to reduce the fluoride concentration in industrial wastewater effluents and various drinking water sources. Membrane technology is one of the newer technologies found to be very effective in significantly reducing fluoride to desired standards levels; however, it has received less attention than other technologies because it is perceived as a costly process. This study critically reviewed the performance of various membrane process and compared it with effluent and zero liquid discharge (ZLD) standards. The performance review has been conducted with the consideration of the theoretical background, rejection mechanisms, technical viability, and parameters affecting flux and rejection performance. This review includes membrane systems investigated for the defluoridation process but operated under pressure (i.e., reverse osmosis [RO] and nanofiltration [NF]), temperature gradients (i.e., membrane distillation [MD]), electrical potential gradients (i.e., electrodialysis [ED] and Donnan dialysis [DD]), and concentration differences (i.e., forward osmosis [FO]). Moreover, the study also addressed the advantages, limitations, & applicable conditions of each membrane based defluoridation process.

Status and future trends of hollow fiber biogas separation membrane fabrication and modification techniques.

With the increasing global demand for energy, renewable and sustainable biogas has attracted considerable attention. However, the presence of various gases such as methane, carbon dioxide (CO2), nitrogen, and hydrogen sulfide in biogas, and the potential emission of acid gases, which may adversely influence the environment, limits the efficient application of biogas in many fields. Consequently, researchers have focused on the upgrade and purification of biogas to eliminate impurities and obtain high-quality and high-purity biomethane with an increased combustion efficiency. In this context, the removal of CO2 gas, which is the most abundant contaminant in biogas, is of significance. Compared to conventional biogas purification processes such as water scrubbing, chemical absorption, pressure swing adsorption, and cryogenic separation, advanced membrane separation technologies are simpler to implement, easier to scale, and incur lower costs. Notably, hollow fiber membranes enhance the gas separation efficiency and decrease costs because their large specific surface area provides a greater range of gas transport. Several reviews have described biogas upgrading technologies and gas separation membranes composed of different materials. In this review, five commonly used commercial biogas upgrading technologies, as well as biological microalgae-based techniques are compared, the advantages and limitations of polymeric and mixed matrix hollow fiber membranes are highlighted, and methods to fabricate and modify hollow fiber membranes are described. This will provide more ideas and methods for future low-cost, large-scale industrial biogas upgrading using membrane technology.

Reverse osmosis membrane fabrication and modification technologies and future trends: A review.

Reverse osmosis (RO) is the most widely used technology in water treatment and desalination technologies for potable water production. Since its invention, RO has undergone significant developments in terms of material science, process, system optimization, methods of membrane synthesis, and modifications. Among various materials used for the synthesis of an RO membrane, the polyamide thin-film composite (PA-TFC) is by far the most common, owing to its excellent water permeability high salt rejection, and stability. However, a tradeoff between membrane permeability and salt rejection and membrane fouling has been a major hindrance for the effective application of this membrane. Thus, a broad investigation has been carried out to address these problems, and among which co-solvent interfacial polymerization (CAIP) and the surface modification of substrates and active layers of RO membrane have been the most effective approaches for controlling and improving the surface properties of the PA-TFC membrane. In this review paper, the problems associated with the RO membrane processes and strategies has been discussed and addressed in detail. Furthermore, as the focus of this review, the major advancements in the strategies used for enhancement of RO membrane performance through CAIP, and surface modifications were scrutinized and summarized.

Analysis of mass transfer behavior in membrane distillation: Mathematical modeling under various conditions.

Four commercially available hydrophobic membranes with different pore sizes were separately used in a direct contact membrane distillation (DCMD) apparatus to investigate the effect of fouling on the mass transfer coefficient, and the dominant mass transport mode under different conditions defined by the temperature, membrane material, flow regime, and membrane pore size. Both ultrapure deionized water and simulated industrial wastewater were considered as the feed water. The results of the investigation confirmed that the fouling layer impacted the mass transport directly by resisting it, and indirectly by altering the heat transfer mechanism. In addition to the surface fouling layer, a significant number of particles were also observed to accumulate in the membrane pores. It was further determined that the contribution of Poiseuille flow to the entire mass transport was significant at higher temperatures when using a membrane with large pores. This highlighted the need for careful consideration of Poiseuille flow in the modeling and simulation of a membrane distillation (MD) mass transport process. It was also observed that the flow rate did not affect the Poiseuille flow and therefore did not directly impact the entire mass transfer. The study findings provide systematic insight for the development of a strategy for selecting an appropriate operating feed for DCMD and adjusting the permeate temperature to fit the prevailing water demand and environmental conditions.

Membrane-based technologies for zero liquid discharge and fluoride removal from industrial wastewater.

Several defluoridation techniques for reducing high initial fluoride concentration (IFC) in wastewater have been tested, but only a few of them have achieved the permissible standards. This study examined the hybrid crystallization-reverse osmosis technique (HRO) in light of flux, fluoride removal efficiency, fouling tendency, mineral recovery, complying zero liquid discharge (ZLD), and effluent discharge standard (EDS). Simulated wastewater with an IFC of 6600 mg/L was utilized and the final HRO performance was compared with those of the low-pressure (30 bar) standalone reverse osmosis (SRO), nanofiltration (SNF), and membrane distillation (SMD) processes. Accordingly, the study on SRO and SNF revealed that pressure, feed pH, membrane type, and IFC were the major factors affecting performance, and SRO was unable to sufficiently defluoridate wastewater with IFC >614 mg/L, needing pretreatment. Subsequently, the HRO process was selected and it was seen that the optimum calcium dose and respective final effluent pH for attaining EDS and ZLD were 16.5 g/L & 7.1 and 19.8 g/L & 5.7 respectively. The best operating pH for all conditions in HRO was approximately 9. Additionally, HRO showed good mineral recovery tendency and less organic fouling. The overall comparisons of flux and residual fluoride for HRO, SRO, SNF, and SMD were 49.3 LMH & 1.21 mg/L; 34.9 LMH & 62 mg/L, 44.05 LMH & 301 mg/L, and 38 LMH & 0.9 mg/L respectively. Therefore, low-pressure HRO can be applied to treat wastewater with high IFC; good tendency of mineral recovery, as good as that of SMD.