Investigation on Application of Simultaneous UV Irradiation Ultrafiltration of Extracellular Polymeric Substances Extracted from Membrane Bioreactor and Its Effect on PVDF/TiO2 Membrane Mitigation

Subject Areas : BIotecnology

Maryam Tavakolmoghadam ¹ , Seyed Mohammad Ali Safavi ²

1 - ‌‌Assistant Professor, Technology Division, Research Institute of Petroleum Industry, Tehran, Iran.*(Corresponding Author)
2 - ‌Assistant Professor, Refinery Division, Research Institute of Petroleum Industry, Tehran, Iran.

Received: 2017-04-26 Accepted : 2017-10-18 Published : 2019-10-23

Keywords: ultraviolet light, extracellular polymeric substances, fouling, membrane bioreactor, TiO2,

Abstract :

Background and Objective: The object of this study is to investigate the effect of surface modification of Polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) membrane on filtration performance and reduction of fouling in membrane bioreactors (MBRs). This study was done based on the photocatalytic properties of TiO2 nanoparticles under ultraviolet light irradiation and to assess the effect of reducing membrane fouling in real EPS extraction of submerged membrane bioreactor as the main foulant. Method: Considering photocatalytic properties of TiO2 nanoparticles under ultraviolet light irradiation, PVDF/TiO2 performance in filtration of extracellular polymeric substances extracted (EPS) from membrane bioreactor which was used for oil refinery wastewater treatment and has been evaluated and compared with PVDF membrane without TiO2 nanoparticles. Findings: The results showed improvement of permeation flux and flux recovery ratio of nano-composite PVDF/TiO2 under UV radiation due to membrane super hydrophilicity which results in irreversible membrane resistance of EPS UV irradiated to 0.36×1012 m-1 and PVDF/TiO2 membrane total resistance reduction to about 44% comparing to pure PVDF membrane. According to the results by ultrafiltration combined with UV, the flux recovery of about 90% for PVDF/TiO2 membrane can be achieved. Discussion and Conclusions: Considering EPS as the main foulant of refinery MBRs, simultaneous UV irradiation ultrafiltration of EPS extracted from membrane bioreactor by PVDF/TiO2 membranes can be considered as an effective approached in fouling reduction research in future.  

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