5TH International Congress on Technology - Engineering & Science - Kuala Lumpur - Malaysia (2018-02-01)

Fouling Characteristics Of Nanofiltration (nf) And Reverse Osmosis (ro) Membranes For Reuse Of Organized Industrial Zone Wastewater

Wastewater management of organized industrial zones (OIZs) are crucial since their wastewater are treated and discharged without reuse in semi-arid Turkey. Membrane treatment of this wastewater is not common, however, it is needed in some OIZs that use the water excessively. In this study, membrane filtration of the OIZ wastewater is studied in terms of fouling characteristics. Two wastewater samples are used for this purpose: one from primary sedimentation tank effluent, and the other from the final sedimentation tank effluent. The first sample is treated with a membrane bioreactor (MBR) and then nanofiltration (NF) and reverse osmosis (RO) membranes [1], the second one is treated with different UF membranes and then NF and RO membranes [2]. Good quality and high flux water are obtained in some NF and RO membranes. These membranes are characterized with different techniques. Visualization techniques that are scanning electron microscope (SEM), SEM- energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDS) and confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) are used to determine the fouling tendencies of the the NF and RO membranes. Some membrane couples showed better performances than the others. Therefore, selection of membrane couples for a reuse option was easy to decide with the help of fouling characteristics images. Autopsy of the membranes indicated that fouling profiles of the NF and RO membranes are related to quality of pre-treatment of the wastewater for treatment options. SEM results were not a good indicator of the fouling characteristics, however, SEM-EDS results showed metal precipitates for some RO membranes. Finally, CLSM images showed the best indicators for organic fouling of the membranes.
İbrahim Uyanık, Özlem Özcan, Uğur Şahin, Oktay Özkan