MEMBRANE PROCESSES

Reverse Osmosis
Ultrafiltration
Microfiltration
 What Are Membranes?

Membranes are thin films of synthetic organic

or inorganic (ceramic) materials, which can
bring about a very selective separation
between a fluid and its components. The
fluid may be a gas or a liquid but in
Environmental Engineering we are more
concerned with water and wastewater.
 Microfiltration
Dead-end Filtration
Feed

Filter Cake Membrane

Permeate
 Microfiltration
Crossflow Microfiltration

Feed Retentate

Membrane

Permeate
Notes: The retentate may be recirculated to the feed
A “dynamic” membrane may be created by adding Lime or
KMnO4 to the feed, to precipitate MnO2 on membrane
 Membrane Operation
100% 50% !
Feed Concentrate
Suspended Solids Suspended Solids
Colloids Colloids
Dissolved Solids Dissolved Solids

Membrane
Permeate
Low molecular
weight dissolved 50% !
solids
Liquid

To River, Sewer or Re-use

 Applications of Membranes in
Wastewater Treatment
• Pressure driven solid liquid separation processes
• Tertiary treatment of wastewaters following
secondary sedimentation
• Production of high quality effluent in re-use
schemes
• Alternative to sedimentation tank for solid/liquid
separation in:
– aerobic biological treatment
– anaerobic biological treatment
 Aerobic Biological Treatment Final Effluent
with Membrane Separation BOD <2
SS 0

Aerobic
Pretreatment Sed MF
Biological
Tank
Influent Process
BOD 300
SS 300
TKN 50
PO4 15 Primary Secondary
Sludge Sludge
 Membrane Anaerobic Reactor

Gas
Anaerobic Reactor
UF/MF Unit

Effluent

Influent

Recycle Wastage
 Advantages of Membrane Processes
• They are usually continuous
• Comparatively low energy utilisation
• No phase change of contaminants
• Small temperature change
• Modular design
• Minimum of moving parts
• Physical separation of contaminants
 Filtration Range
micro-molecular
coarse
Ionic range macro-molecular microorganisms
particles

Reverse Osmosis Ultrafiltration

Nanofiltration Microfiltration

MWCO 0 100 200 20000 100000 500000

microns 0 0.001 0.01 0.1

 APPLIED PRESSURES

Reverse Osmosis: 100-800 psi

1000-5500 kPa
Ultrafiltration: 5-100 psi
35-695 kPa
Microfiltration: Low
 Microfiltration Design Considerations

• High flux
• Back-flushable
• High membrane area/volume ratio allowing low pressure
drop whilst maintaining high tangential velocities
• Simple installation and continuous operation with
minimum supervision
• Low operating pressure
• Easy maintenance and simple membrane replacement
• Low energy consumption
• Relatively low capital costs
 Microfiltration Applications
Current Future
Wine Drinking Water
Dextrose clarification Hydrocarbon
Separation
Haze removal from gelatin Milk-fat Separation
Beer clarification Food and Beverage
Pharmaceutical/biological Industrial Wastewater
Municipal Wastewater Treatment Paint
Biotechnology
 Ultrafiltration Applications
Current Future
Juice clarification Domestic wastewater
Increase cheese yield More industrial
wastewaters
Gelatin concentration Protein harvesting
Electroplating wastewater Petroleum processing
Protein from cheese whey Wastewater re-use
Concentration of oil emulsions Potable water (THM concern)
Pharmaceutical industry Abattoir (blood recovery)
“Grey” water Pulp and paper industry
Industrial Wastewater etc etc
 Reverse Osmosis

Very different process to MF of UF. It is a

solubilisation diffusion technique that makes use
of a semi-permeable membrane which in turn acts
as a barrier to dissolved salts and inorganic
molecules.
It also confines organics with molecular weights
greater than 100
RO membranes do not have identifiable pores as in
MF or UF (i.e. too small - atomic size)
 Applications of Reverse Osmosis

CurrentFuture
Desalination for potable water
,, from sea water Chemical process industries
,, from brackish water Metals recovery
,, for effluent re-use Food processing WWT
Ultrapure water for semiconductors Textile wastewater re-use
,, ,, for pharmaceuticals Pulp and paper WWT
,, ,, for medical use Contaminated land
remediation
Boiler feed water Dairy industry WWT
Treatment of hazardous materials
 Comparison of Membrane Processes
Ultrafiltration Reverse Osmosis Microfiltration

Operates on difficult Requires extensive pre- Rapidly fouled by colloids

colloidal water treatment of colloids giving high replacement costs

Low pressure (2-6 bar) High pressure (10-30 bar) Low pressure (2-4 bar)

Low energy consumption High energy Low energy

High recovery (up to 95%) Low recovery (50-80%) 100% recovery

Chemical tolerance pH 1-13 pH 2-11 pH 1-13

High temperature up to 80oC 45oC max. High temperatures possible

High resistance to oxidising Limited resistance to High resistance to oxidising
agents oxidising agents agents

Stream sterilisable Stream sterilisation not Stream sterilisation possible

membranes available possible

Hygienic module designs Modules not as hygienic Hygienic designs available

available
 Some Properties of Typical Commercial
Ultrafiltration Membranes
Material pH Maximum Pressure Maximum Temp.
(bar) (bar)

Polysulphone 2-12 15 70

Polyarcylonitrile 2-10 10 60

Cellulose Acetate 3-6 25 30

Polyethersulfone 2-12 30 70

Fluoropolymer 2-12 10 60

Polyvinylidene fluoride 2-12 10 70

Poly vinyl chloride 2-12 10 50