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A special issue of Water (ISSN 2073-4441). This special issue belongs to the section "Wastewater Treatment and Reuse".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 September 2018) | Viewed by 91507

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Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Anastasios Zouboulis

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Guest Editor

Laboratory of Chemical & Environmental Technology, Department of Chemistry, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece
Interests: separation sciences and related technologies; wastewater/water treatment; membrane fouling; aerobic/anaerobic digestion; recovery/removal of metals from liquid waste streams; physicochemical methods for the treatment of contaminated water sources or of wastewaters, biological/aerobic or anaerobic treatment methods; combinations of biological and physicochemical methods; treatment/recycling issues of toxic industrial solid wastes; hydrometallurgical; physico-chemical (solidification/stabilization); thermal (vitrification), or appropriate combinations of treatment processes; carbon capture utilization and storage (CCUS)
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Dr. Ioannis Katsoyiannis

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Guest Editor

Department of Chemistry, Laboratory of Chemical and Environmental Technology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, GR-54124 Thessaloniki, Greece
Interests: water treatment processes for removal of inorganic and organic contaminants: role of sorption and oxidation in contaminant removal; design and application of novel sorbents; oxidation processes in drinking water treatment; wastewater treatment and reuse; solid waste management
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Worldwide, an estimated 800 million people remain without access to an improved source of drinking water and in parallel global water demand for manufacturing is expected to increase by 400% between 2000 and 2050. Although between 2001 and 2010 more than one billion Euros were invested by the European Commission to tackle this problem, it is evident that the Millennium Development Goals targets have not been fully met by 2015. In September 2015, the United Nations adopted the sustainable development goals for 2030 and one of them is to ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all. Given the time frame of only 15 years, the achievement of such goals requires immediate action and translation of knowledge into practice.

The proposed Special Issue intends to bring together recent research findings from renowned scientists in this field. The aim is to assemble contributions on advanced technologies applied to the treatment of wastewater and drinking water, with emphasis on novel membrane treatment. We seek contributions that analyze water treatment systems with the objective of modelling, designing and optimizing the different processes.

Prof. Dr. Anastasios I. Zoubouli
Assist. Prof. Dr. Ioannis Katsogiannis
Guest Editors

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Water is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

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Keywords

Novel techniques for water and wastewater treatment.
Innovate methods for water analysis and water quality monitoring, specifically those involved to tackle emergencies.
Development and applications of different materials (polymeric, inorganic) for membrane water and wastewater treatment
Optimization of the applied treatment processes trains.
Reuse of treated water and its environmental impact.
Contaminants in water and wastewater.
Biological and physico-chemical water and wastewater treatment.
Zero liquid discharge.
Brine treatment.

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Published Papers (14 papers)

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Editorial

Jump to: Research, Review, Other

6 pages, 176 KiB

Open AccessEditorial

Recent Advances in Water and Wastewater Treatment with Emphasis in Membrane Treatment Operations

by Anastasios I. Zouboulis and Ioannis A. Katsoyiannis

Water 2019, 11(1), 45; https://doi.org/10.3390/w11010045 - 27 Dec 2018

Cited by 13 | Viewed by 12142

Abstract

The present Special Issue brought together recent research findings from renowned scientists in this field and assembled contributions on advanced technologies that have been applied to the treatment of wastewater and drinking water, with an emphasis on novel membrane treatment technologies. The 12 research contributions highlight various processes and technologies that can achieve the effective treatment and purification of wastewater and drinking water, aiming (occasionally) for water reuse. The published papers can be classified into three major categories. (a) First, there are those that investigate the application of membrane treatment processes, either directly or in hybrid processes. The role of organic matter presence and fouling control is the main aim of the research in some of these studies. (b) Second, there are studies that investigate the application of adsorptive processes for the removal of contaminants from waters, such as arsenic, antimony, or chromate, with the aim of the efficient removal of the toxic contaminants from water or wastewater. (c) Lastly, there are studies that include novel aspects of oxidative treatment such as bubbleless ozonation. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Water and Wastewater Treatment with Emphasis in Membrane Treatment Operations)

Research

Jump to: Editorial, Review, Other

15 pages, 2544 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Study of Sludge Particles Formed during Coagulation of Synthetic and Municipal Wastewater for Increasing the Sludge Dewatering Efficiency

by Lech Smoczynski, Slawomir Kalinowski, Igor Cretescu, Michal Smoczynski, Harsha Ratnaweera, Mihaela Trifescu and Marta Kosobucka

Water 2019, 11(1), 101; https://doi.org/10.3390/w11010101 - 9 Jan 2019

Cited by 11 | Viewed by 5591

Abstract

Municipal wastewater sludge was produced by chemical coagulation of synthetic wastewater (sww) based on Synthene Scarlet P3GL disperse dye and real municipal wastewater (nww), coagulated by commercial coagulants PAX (prepolymerised aluminum coagulant) and PIX (a ferric coagulant based on Fe₂(SO₄)₃). An attempt was made to correlate the sludge’s dewatering capacity (in terms of capillary suction time—CST) with operation parameters for wastewater treatment, size distribution and specific surface area of the sludge particles. It was found that the presence of phosphate ions in the system facilitates the removal efficiency of the above-mentioned dye (L) due to the interaction between the dye molecules and H₂PO₄⁻ ions. Unlike sww, negatively charged organic substances (sorg) in nww are directly adsorbed on the surface of colloidal particles {Fe(OH)₃} and {Al(OH)₃} (prtc). It was also discovered that an increase in the dose of a coagulant led to an increase of CST for sww sludge and to a decrease of CST for nww sludge. It has been suggested that flocs composed of spherical {Al(OH)₃} units possessed more internal space for water than aggregates consisting of rod-shaped {Fe(OH)₃} units and, consequently, it is more difficult to remove water from Al-sww sludge than from Fe-sww. The results obtained showed that smaller particles dominate in sww sludge, while larger particles are prevalent in nww sludge. To explain this distinct difference in the size distribution of particles in sludge obtained with the use of Al³⁺ and Fe³⁺, simple models of aggregation and agglomeration-flocculation processes (aaf) of treated wastewater have been proposed. Except for PIX in nww, the analyzed particles of the investigated types of sludge were characterized by similar specific surface area (Sps), regardless of the kind of sludge or the applied coagulant. Slightly larger, negatively-charged sorg bridges, anchored directly on the surface of positive prtc are more effective in closing the structure of nww sludge than small L bridges of the dye molecules anchored on the surface of prtc via H₂PO₄⁻. All the discovered aspects could lead to improved performance of wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) by increasing the efficiency of sludge dewatering. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Water and Wastewater Treatment with Emphasis in Membrane Treatment Operations)

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14 pages, 2387 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

A Single Tube Contactor for Testing Membrane Ozonation

by Garyfalia A. Zoumpouli, Robert Baker, Caitlin M. Taylor, Matthew J. Chippendale, Chloë Smithers, Sean S. X. Ho, Davide Mattia, Y. M. John Chew and Jannis Wenk

Water 2018, 10(10), 1416; https://doi.org/10.3390/w10101416 - 10 Oct 2018

Cited by 21 | Viewed by 5798

Abstract

A membrane ozonation contactor was built to investigate ozonation using tubular membranes and inform computational fluid dynamics (CFD) studies. Non-porous tubular polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) membranes of 1.0–3.2 mm inner diameter were tested at ozone gas concentrations of 110–200 g/m³ and liquid side velocities of 0.002–0.226 m/s. The dissolved ozone concentration could be adjusted to up to 14 mg O₃/L and increased with decreasing membrane diameter and liquid side velocity. Experimental mass transfer coefficients and molar fluxes of ozone were 2.4 × 10⁻⁶ m/s and 1.1 × 10⁻⁵ mol/(m² s), respectively, for the smallest membrane. CFD modelling could predict the final ozone concentrations but slightly overestimated mass transfer coefficients and molar fluxes of ozone. Model contaminant degradation experiments and UV light absorption measurements of ozonated water samples in both ozone (O₃) and peroxone (H₂O₂/O₃) reaction systems in pure water, river water, wastewater effluent, and solutions containing humic acid show that the contactor system can be used to generate information on the reactivity of ozone with different water matrices. Combining simple membrane contactors with CFD allows for prediction of ozonation performance under a variety of conditions, leading to improved bubble-less ozone systems for water treatment. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Water and Wastewater Treatment with Emphasis in Membrane Treatment Operations)

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11 pages, 2430 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Removal of Antimony Species, Sb(III)/Sb(V), from Water by Using Iron Coagulants

by Manassis Mitrakas, Zoi Mantha, Nikos Tzollas, Stelios Stylianou, Ioannis Katsoyiannis and Anastasios Zouboulis

Water 2018, 10(10), 1328; https://doi.org/10.3390/w10101328 - 25 Sep 2018

Cited by 34 | Viewed by 6244

Abstract

Antimony (Sb) is classified as a toxic pollutant of high priority, because its effects on human health (toxicity) are similar to those of arsenic. However, unlike arsenic, the removal of antimony from polluted waters is still not well understood. In the present study the removal of common antimony species in water, namely, Sb(III) and Sb(V), was investigated by the addition of iron-based coagulants. The applied coagulants were Fe(II), Fe(III), and equimolar mixed Fe(II)/Fe(III) salts and the experiments were performed with realistic antimony concentrations in the range 10–100 μg/L, by using artificially polluted tap water solutions. Sb(III) removal by Fe(III) provided better adsorption capacity at a residual concentration equal to the drinking water regulation limit of 5 μg/L, that is, Q₅ = 4.7 μg Sb(III)/mg Fe(III) at pH 7, which was much higher than the value achieved by the addition of Fe(II) salts, that is, Q₅ = 0.45 μg Sb(III)/mg Fe(II), at the same pH value. Similarly, Sb(V) was more efficiently removed by Fe(III) addition, than by the other examined coagulants. However, Fe(III) uptake capacity for Sb(V) was found to be significantly lower, that is, Q₅ = 1.82 μg Sb(V)/mg Fe(III), than the corresponding value for Sb(III). The obtained results can give a realistic overview of the efficiency of conventionally used iron-based coagulants and of their mixture for achieving Sb concentrations below the respective drinking water regulation limit and therefore, they can be subsequently applied for the designing of real-scale water treatment units. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Water and Wastewater Treatment with Emphasis in Membrane Treatment Operations)

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15 pages, 2139 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Quantitative Analysis of Membrane Fouling Mechanisms Involved in Microfiltration of Humic Acid–Protein Mixtures at Different Solution Conditions

by Chunyi Sun, Na Zhang, Fazhan Li, Guoyi Ke, Lianfa Song, Xiaoqian Liu and Shuang Liang

Water 2018, 10(10), 1306; https://doi.org/10.3390/w10101306 - 22 Sep 2018

Cited by 13 | Viewed by 4563

Abstract

A systematical quantitative understanding of different mechanisms, though of fundamental importance for better fouling control, is still unavailable for the microfiltration (MF) of humic acid (HA) and protein mixtures. Based on extended Derjaguin–Landau–Verwey–Overbeek (xDLVO) theory, the major fouling mechanisms, i.e., Lifshitz–van der Waals (LW), electrostatic (EL), and acid–base (AB) interactions, were for the first time quantitatively analyzed for model HA–bovine serum albumin (BSA) mixtures at different solution conditions. Results indicated that the pH, ionic strength, and calcium ion concentration of the solution significantly affected the physicochemical properties and the interaction energy between the polyethersulfone (PES) membrane and HA–BSA mixtures. The free energy of cohesion of the HA–BSA mixtures was minimum at pH = 3.0, ionic strength = 100 mM, and c(Ca²⁺) = 1.0 mM. The AB interaction energy was a key contributor to the total interaction energy when the separation distance between the membrane surface and HA–BSA mixtures was less than 3 nm, while the influence of EL interaction energy was of less importance to the total interaction energy. The attractive interaction energies of membrane–foulant and foulant–foulant increased at low pH, high ionic strength, and calcium ion concentration, thus aggravating membrane fouling, which was supported by the fouling experimental results. The obtained findings would provide valuable insights for the quantitative understanding of membrane fouling mechanisms of mixed organics during MF. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Water and Wastewater Treatment with Emphasis in Membrane Treatment Operations)

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14 pages, 3319 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Effect of Ca and Mg Ions on the Filtration Profile of Sodium Alginate Solution in a Polyethersulfone-2-(methacryloyloxy) Ethyl Phosphorylchloline Membrane

by Nasrul Arahman, Suffriandy Satria, Fachrul Razi and M. Roil Bilad

Water 2018, 10(9), 1207; https://doi.org/10.3390/w10091207 - 7 Sep 2018

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 4641

Abstract

The efforts to improve the stability of membrane filtration in applications for wastewater treatment or the purification of drinking water still dominate the research in the field of membrane technology. Various factors that cause membrane fouling have been explored to find the solution for improving the stability of the filtration and prolong membrane lifetime. The present work explains the filtration performance of a hollow fiber membrane that is fabricated from polyethersulfone-2-(methacryloyloxy) ethyl phosphorylchloline while using a sodium alginate (SA) feed solution. The filtration process is designed in a pressure driven cross-flow module using a single piece hollow fiber membrane in a flow of outside-inside We investigate the effect of Ca and Mg ions in SA solution on the relative permeability, membrane resistance, cake resistance, and cake formation on the membrane surface. Furthermore, the performance of membrane filtration is predicted while using mathematical models that were developed based on Darcy’s law. Results show that the presence of Ca ions in SA solution has the most prominent effect on the formation of a cake layer. The formed cake layer has a significant effect in lowering relative permeability. The developed models have a good fit with the experimental data for pure water filtration with R² values between 0.9200 and 0.9999. When treating SA solutions, the developed models fit well with experimental with the best model (Model I) shows R² of 0.9998, 0.9999, and 0.9994 for SA, SA + Ca, and SA + Mg feeds, respectively. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Water and Wastewater Treatment with Emphasis in Membrane Treatment Operations)

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23 pages, 10464 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Multivariate Chemometric Analysis of Membrane Fouling Patterns in Biofilm Ceramic Membrane Bioreactor

by Olga Kulesha, Zakhar Maletskyi and Harsha Ratnaweera

Water 2018, 10(8), 982; https://doi.org/10.3390/w10080982 - 26 Jul 2018

Cited by 10 | Viewed by 4927

Abstract

Membrane fouling highly limits the development of Membrane bioreactor technology (MBR), which is among the key solutions to water scarcity. The current study deals with the determination of the fouling propensity of filtered biomass in a pilot-scale biofilm membrane bioreactor to enable the prediction of fouling intensity. The system was designed to treat domestic wastewater with the application of ceramic microfiltration membranes. Partial least squares regression analysis of the data obtained during the long-term operation of the biofilm-MBR (BF-MBR) system demonstrated that Mixed liquor suspended solids (MLSS), diluted sludge volume index (DSVI), chemical oxygen demand (COD), and their slopes are the most significant for the estimation and prediction of fouling intensity, while normalized permeability and its slope were found to be the most reliable fouling indicators. Three models were derived depending on the applied operating conditions, which enabled an accurate prediction of the fouling intensities in the system. The results will help to prevent severe membrane fouling via the change of operating conditions to prolong the effective lifetime of the membrane modules and to save energy and resources for the maintenance of the system. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Water and Wastewater Treatment with Emphasis in Membrane Treatment Operations)

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15 pages, 1151 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

Performance Evaluation of Small Sized Powdered Ferric Hydroxide as Arsenic Adsorbent

by Muhammad Usman, Ioannis Katsoyiannis, Manassis Mitrakas, Anastasios Zouboulis and Mathias Ernst

Water 2018, 10(7), 957; https://doi.org/10.3390/w10070957 - 20 Jul 2018

Cited by 46 | Viewed by 7020 | Correction

Abstract

The small sized powdered ferric oxy-hydroxide, termed Dust Ferric Hydroxide (DFH), was applied in batch adsorption experiments to remove arsenic species from water. The DFH was characterized in terms of zero point charge, zeta potential, surface charge density, particle size and moisture content. Batch adsorption isotherm experiments indicated that the Freundlich model described the isothermal adsorption behavior of arsenic species notably well. The results indicated that the adsorption capacity of DFH in deionized ultrapure water, applying a residual equilibrium concentration of 10 µg/L at the equilibrium pH value of 7.9 ± 0.1, with a contact time of 96 h (i.e., Q₁₀), was 6.9 and 3.5 µg/mg for As(V) and As(III), respectively, whereas the measured adsorption capacity of the conventionally used Granular Ferric Hydroxide (GFH), under similar conditions, was found to be 2.1 and 1.4 µg/mg for As(V) and As(III), respectively. Furthermore, the adsorption of arsenic species onto DFH in a Hamburg tap water matrix, as well as in an NSF challenge water matrix, was found to be significantly lower. The lowest recorded adsorption capacity at the same equilibrium concentration was 3.2 µg As(V)/mg and 1.1 µg As(III)/mg for the NSF water. Batch adsorption kinetics experiments were also conducted to study the impact of a water matrix on the behavior of removal kinetics for As(V) and As(III) species by DFH, and the respective data were best fitted to the second order kinetic model. The outcomes of this study confirm that the small sized iron oxide-based material, being a by-product of the production process of GFH adsorbent, has significant potential to be used for the adsorptive removal of arsenic species from water, especially when this material can be combined with the subsequent application of low-pressure membrane filtration/separation in a hybrid water treatment process. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Water and Wastewater Treatment with Emphasis in Membrane Treatment Operations)

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16 pages, 4160 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

An Experimental and Theoretical Study on Separations by Vacuum Membrane Distillation Employing Hollow-Fiber Modules

by Anthoula Karanasiou, Margaritis Kostoglou and Anastasios Karabelas

Water 2018, 10(7), 947; https://doi.org/10.3390/w10070947 - 16 Jul 2018

Cited by 23 | Viewed by 6050

Abstract

Vacuum membrane distillation (VMD) is an attractive variant of the novel membrane distillation process, which is promising for various separations, including water desalination and bioethanol recovery through fermentation of agro-industrial by-products. This publication is part of an effort to develop a capillary membrane module for various applications, as well as a model that would facilitate VMD process design. Experiments were conducted in a laboratory pilot VMD unit, comprising polypropylene capillary-membrane modules. Performance data, collected at modest temperatures (37 °C to 65 °C) with deionized and brackish water, confirmed the improved system productivity with increasing feed-water temperature; excellent salt rejection was obtained. The recovery of ethanol from ethanol-water mixtures and from fermented winery by-products was also studied, in continuous, semi-continuous, and batch operating modes. At low-feed-solution temperature (27–47 °C), ethanol-solution was concentrated 4 to 6.5 times in continuous operation and 2 to 3 times in the semi-continuous mode. Taking advantage of the small property variation in the module axial-flow direction, a simple VMD process model was developed, satisfactorily describing the experimental data. This VMD model appears to be promising for practical applications, and warrants further R&D work. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Water and Wastewater Treatment with Emphasis in Membrane Treatment Operations)

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20 pages, 7607 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

Simultaneous Treatment of Agro-Industrial and Industrial Wastewaters: Case Studies of Cr(VI)/Second Cheese Whey and Cr(VI)/Winery Effluents

by Triantafyllos I. Tatoulis, Michail K. Michailides, Athanasia G. Tekerlekopoulou, Christos S. Akratos, Stavros Pavlou and Dimitrios V. Vayenas

Water 2018, 10(4), 382; https://doi.org/10.3390/w10040382 - 25 Mar 2018

Cited by 9 | Viewed by 3900

Abstract

Hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)) was co-treated either with second cheese whey (SCW) or winery effluents (WE) using pilot-scale biological trickling filters in series under different operating conditions. Two pilot-scale filters in series using plastic support media were used in each case. The first filter (i.e., Cr-SCW-filter or Cr-WE-filter) aimed at Cr(VI) reduction and the partial removal of dissolved chemical oxygen demand (d-COD) from SCW or WE and was inoculated with indigenous microorganisms originating from industrial sludge. The second filter in series (i.e., SCW-filter or WE-filter) aimed at further d-COD removal and was inoculated with indigenous microorganisms that were isolated from SCW or WE. Various Cr(VI) (5–100 mg L⁻¹) and SCW or WE (d-COD, 1000–25,000 mg L⁻¹) feed concentrations were tested. Based on the experimental results, the sequencing batch reactor operating mode with recirculation of 0.5 L min⁻¹ proved very efficient since it led to complete Cr(VI) reduction in the first filter in series and achieved high Cr(VI) reduction rates (up to 36 and 43 mg L⁻¹ d⁻¹, for SCW and WW, respectively). Percentage d-COD removal for SCW and WE in the first filter was rather low, ranging from 14 to 42.5% and from 4 to 29% in the Cr-SCW-filter and Cr-WE-filter, respectively. However, the addition of the second filter in series enhanced total d-COD removal to above 97% and 90.5% for SCW and WE, respectively. The above results indicate that agro-industrial wastewater could be used as a carbon source for Cr(VI) reduction, while the use of two trickling filters in series could effectively treat both industrial and agro-industrial wastewaters with very low installation and operational costs. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Water and Wastewater Treatment with Emphasis in Membrane Treatment Operations)

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10 pages, 1772 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

Influence of the Backwash Cleaning Water Temperature on the Membrane Performance in a Pilot SMBR Unit

by Loukas Lintzos, Kostas Chatzikonstantinou, Nikolaos Tzamtzis and Simos Malamis

Water 2018, 10(3), 238; https://doi.org/10.3390/w10030238 - 25 Feb 2018

Cited by 9 | Viewed by 5629

Abstract

In this work, different backwash (BW) schemes were applied on identical hollow fiber (HF) membranes in a membrane bioreactor (MBR) treating municipal wastewater. The effect of BW duration (1 min, 3 min and 8 min) and water temperature (8 °C, 18 °C, 28 °C and 38 °C) on membrane fouling were investigated. Specifically, the transmembrane pressure (TMP) drop and the membrane permeability increase caused by the BW was investigated. Furthermore, the time required for the membrane to return to the state just before each BW experiment, was also examined. It was found that membranes presented better operating performance, as the BW temperature and the backwash duration were increased. Specifically, for 1 min backwash duration at the BW temperatures of 8 °C, 18 °C, 28 °C and 38 °C, TMP decreased by 7.1%, 8.7%, 11.2% and 14.2% respectively. For 8 min BW duration at 8 °C, 18 °C, 28 °C and 38 °C, TMP values decreased by 12%, 17.5%, 23.7% and 30.2% respectively. Increased BW water temperature and duration also improved the membrane permeability. Using higher BW water temperatures, more hours were required to return the membranes to the condition just before cleaning. The selected BW water temperatures did not adversely affect the permeate quality. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Water and Wastewater Treatment with Emphasis in Membrane Treatment Operations)

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29 pages, 11978 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Combined Coagulation and Ultrafiltration Process to Counteract Increasing NOM in Brown Surface Water

by Alexander Keucken, Gerald Heinicke, Kenneth M. Persson and Stephan J. Köhler

Water 2017, 9(9), 697; https://doi.org/10.3390/w9090697 - 13 Sep 2017

Cited by 34 | Viewed by 9591

Abstract

Membrane hybrid processes—coagulation coupled with ultrafiltration (UF)—have become a common method to comply with the legal, chemical, and microbiological requirements for drinking water. The main advantages of integrating coagulation with membrane filtration are the enhanced removal of natural organic matter (NOM) and reduced membrane fouling. With in-line coagulation, coagulants are patched into the feed stream directly prior to the membrane process, without removing the coagulated solids. Compared with conventional coagulation/sedimentation, in-line coagulation/membrane reduces the treatment time and footprint. Coagulant dosing could be challenging in raw water of varying quality; however, with relatively stable specific ultraviolet absorbance (SUVA), dosing can be controlled. Recent studies indicate that UV absorbance correlates well with humic substances (HS), the major fraction to be removed during coagulation. This paper describes and evaluates a 30-month UF pilot trial on the surface water of Lake Neden (Sweden), providing drinking water to 60,000 residents. In this study, automatic coagulant dosing based on online measurement was successfully applied. Online sensor data were used to identify the current optimal aluminium coagulation conditions (0.5–0.7 mg L⁻¹) and the potential boundaries (0.9–1.2 mg L⁻¹) for efficient future (2040) NOM removal. The potential increase in NOM could affect the Al dose and drinking water quality significantly within 20 years, should the current trends in dissolved organic carbon (DOC) prevail. UV absorbance, the freshness index, and liquid chromatography-organic carbon detection (LC-OCD) measurements were used to optimise the process. Careful cross-calibration of raw and filtered samples is recommended when using online sensor data for process optimisation, even in low-turbidity water (formazin nephelometric unit (FNU) < 5). Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Water and Wastewater Treatment with Emphasis in Membrane Treatment Operations)

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Review

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28 pages, 438 KiB

Open AccessReview

Membrane Fouling for Produced Water Treatment: A Review Study From a Process Control Perspective

by Kasper L. Jepsen, Mads Valentin Bram, Simon Pedersen and Zhenyu Yang

Water 2018, 10(7), 847; https://doi.org/10.3390/w10070847 - 26 Jun 2018

Cited by 107 | Viewed by 9957

Abstract

The offshore oil and gas industry is experiencing increasing water cuts as the reservoirs mature. The increase in produced water stresses the currently deployed deoiling technologies, resulting in more oil in the discharged water. Deploying membrane filtration to reduce the hydrocarbon concentration inherits additional complications related to fouling of the membranes: A process where the accumulation of material within and on the membrane surface adds additional flow resistance. This paper reviews and analyses the fouling detection, removal, prevention, dynamical and static modeling, with emphasis on how the membrane process can be manipulated from a process control perspective. The majority of the models rely on static descriptions or are limited to a narrow range of operating conditions which limits the usability of the models. This paper concludes that although the membrane filtration has been successfully applied and matured in many other industrial areas, challenges regarding cost-effective mitigation of fouling in the offshore deoiling applications, still exist. Fouling-based modeling combined with online parameter identification could potentially expand the operating range of the models and facilitate advanced control design to address transient performance and scheduling of fouling removal methods, resulting in cost-effective operation of membrane filtration systems. With the benefits of membrane filtration, it is predicted that membrane technology will be incorporated in produced water treatment, if the zero-discharge policies are enforced globally. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Water and Wastewater Treatment with Emphasis in Membrane Treatment Operations)

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