• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.441-447
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• 2016

Development of shale gas has drawn increasing attention since it is one of promising alternative energy resources. However, contamination of groundwater and surface water during the extraction of shale gas is becoming a serious environmental issues, which brings the needs to treat wastewater generated from hydraulic fracking. In this study, the feasibility of membrane distillation (MD) for the treatment of shale gas wastewater was investigated using a laboratory scale experimental setup. Flat-sheet MD membranes were used to treat produced water from a shale gas well in the United States. Different configurations such as direct contact MD (DCMD) and air gap MD (AGMD) were compared in terms of flux and fouling propensity. The foulants on the surface of the membranes were examined. The results suggest that MD can treat the shale gas produced water containing more than 200,000 mg/L of total dissolved solids, which is impossible by other technologies such as reverse osmosis (RO) and forward osmosis (FO). In this study, we investigated the possibility of processing and characterization of shale gas produce wastewater using membrane distillation. Laboratory scale membrane distillation experimental device was developed. It was compared the flat-sheet direct contact membrane distillation and flat-sheet air gap membrane distillation. AGMD flux in lower than the flux of DCMD, it was expected that the contamination caused by organic matters.

• Journal of the Society of Naval Architects of Korea
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• v.59 no.2
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• pp.109-117
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• 2022

Membrane panels are installed in LNG cargo-hold in order to endure extremely low temperature LNG. Although there are several types of membranes around the world, Korean LNG cargo containment system is developing to accomplish technology independence from the other countries. The membrane panel of Korean LNG cargo containment system is composed of corrugation and flat sheets which are arranged asymmetrically. It is very important to reduce the number of the type of corrugation sheet because a mold is required as much as the type of the corrugation sheet. Therefore, we proposed an optimization method to minimize the type of the corrugation sheet. For this method, the number of pitches, which is the distance between the centers of two corrugation sheets should be minimized. We also developed optimized arrangement procedure of the flats simultaneously. Finally, the developed optimization program is applied to 174K LNG cargo hold, and the minimum pitch size is found.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.7-14
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• 2015

In this study transmembrane pressure (TMP) was measured with respect to operational time in order to estimate fouling of the submerged membrane in the membrane bioreactor(MBR). The microfiltration flat sheet module which has $0.02m^2$ of effective area and $0.15{\mu}m$ nominal pore size was submerged in the activated sludge solution of MLSS 5,000 mg/L. The permeate experiments were carried out simultaneously to compare TMP of the run/stop (R/S) with that of the sinusoidal flux continuous operation (SFCO). TMP for SFCO mode was up to 93% lower than that of R/S mode, and the effect of TMP drop reduced as permeate flux increased. Also, TMP of the SCFO mode was maintained below 40% of the limited operating TMP 55 kPa until the permeate operational time extended to longer than 5 times for the case as the coagulant $FeCl_3$ was dosed into the activated sludge solution with 500 mg/L concentration.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.53 no.5
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• pp.646-652
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• 2015

In this study transmembrane pressure (TMP) was measured with respect to permeate flux through the submerged flat sheet membrane for the emulsion and semi-synthetic cutting oil solutions. The effective area and nominal pore size of the used microfiltration membrane were $0.02m^2$ and $0.15{\mu}m$, respectively. The experiments were carried out simultaneously for run/stop (R/S) and sinusoidal flux continuous operation (SFCO) modes using two submerged membrane module in the reservoir. TMP for the case of SFCO was maintained under 60% of R/S, and the effect on TMP drop decreased as the permeate flux increased for emulsion cutting oil solution. Membrane fouling for the semisynthetic solution showing low turbidity was induced lower comparing to the emulsion solution. Also, the effect on TMP drop for SFCO decreased during long-term operation.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.320-326
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• 2015

In this study, permeation experiments were carried out using the symmetric and asymmetric sinusoidal flux continuous operation (SFCO) modes for the submerged flat sheet membrane in the 0.5 wt% emulsion type cutting oil solution. The effective area and nominal pore size of the used microfiltration membrane were $0.02m^2$ and $0.15{\mu}m$, respectively. The emulsion cutting oil was rejected over 99% based on turbidity. Transmembrane pressure increased lower as the aeration rates increased. The symmetric SFCO mode was a little more effective than the symmetric SFCO mode in low permeate flux between 10 and $15L/m^2{\cdot}h$. However, the symmetric SFCO mode was shown very effectively in high permeate flux between 25 and $30L/m^2{\cdot}h$.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.95-106
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• 2011

Even though MBR processes have many advantages such as high quality effluents, a small footprint and convenience for operation compared to conventional activated sludge processes, there are some shortcomings in terms of the cost and potential fouling incident that keeps MBR (Membrane bioreactor) processes from being widely applied. To reduce these problems, PTFE (Polytetrafluoroethylene) flat sheet membranes that have excellent permeability and durability were tested instead of PVDF (Polyvinylidene fluoride) membrane which is being used widely in water treatment. Low concentration of sodium hydroxide (NaOH) was also added into the membrane modules in order to prevent the membrane fouling as well as to provide the alkalinity. With conditions mentioned above, a pilot-scale MBR system based on the MLE (Modified Ludzack Ettinger) process was operated at flux of 40 $L/m^{2}/hr$ and over 15,000 mg/L MLSS concentration for about 8 months. And coagulant(alum) was added into the membrane tank to remove phosphorus. Although the more coagulant is added the more effectively phosphorus is removed, that can lead to fouling for a long operation(Ronseca et al.,2009). By the way there is a research that fouling grow up after stopping injection of coagulant(Holbrook, 2004). Stable operation of MBR systems was achieved without major chemical cleaning and the effluent quality was found to be good enough to comply with the treated waste water quality regulations of the Korea.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.8 no.5
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• pp.499-515
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• 2017

The purpose of this study was to investigate membrane fouling caused by microalgal cells in submerged membrane systems consisting of polymeric and ceramic microfiltration membranes. In this study, one polymeric (flat-sheet, pore size: $0.2{\mu}m$) and two ceramic (flat-sheet, pore size: $0.2{\mu}m$ and cylindrical, pore size: $1{\mu}m$) membranes were used. Physical cleaning was performed with water and air to determine the potential for reversible and irreversible membrane fouling. The study results showed that substantial irreversible membrane fouling (after four filtration cycles, irreversible fouling degree 27% (cleaning with water) and 38% (cleaning with air)) occurs in the polymeric membrane. In cleaning studies performed using water and air on ceramic membranes, it was observed that compressed air was more effective (recovery rate: 87-91%) for membrane cleaning. The harvesting performance of the membranes was examined through critical flux experiments. The critical flux values for polymeric membrane with a pore size of $0.20{\mu}m$ and ceramic membranes with a pore size of $0.20{\mu}m$ and $1{\mu}m$ were ${\leq}95L/m^2hour$, ${\leq}70L/m^2hour$ and ${\leq}55L/m^2hour$, respectively. It was determined that critical flux varies depending on the membrane material and the pore size. To obtain more information on membrane fouling caused by microalgal cells, the characterization of the fouled polymeric membrane was performed. This study concluded that ceramic membranes with a pore size of $0.2-1{\mu}m$ in the submerged membrane system could be efficiently used for microalgae harvesting by cleaning the membrane with compressed air at regular intervals.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.324-332
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• 2009

This study aimed to measure chemical resistance properties of the microfiltration flat-sheet membrane made by Chlorinated Polyvinyl Chloride (CPVC) with respect to the immersed time. The solutions of effective chlorine 0.5 wt% NaClO, HCl 1 wt% and pH 4 buffer under acidic condition, NaOH 4 wt% and pH 10 buffer under alkine condition were used as widely applied chemicals for membrane washing. The CPVC membrane samples were immersed in the above chemical solutions during 1, 3, 5 and 10 days at 5, 25 and $50^{\circ}C$, respectively. After then, the tensile strength and elongation at break as the chemical durability for the samples were measured and evaluated. The tensile strength decreased within 5% at $5^{\circ}C$, but decreased up to 17% at 25 and $50^{\circ}C$ for 0.5 wt% NaClO solution mainly used for membrane cleaning. The chemical resistance of CPVC membrane was good enough for HCl 1 wt% and pH 4 buffer acid solutions, but the most vulnerable for NaOH 4 wt% solution.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.249-257
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• 2014

This experiment was carried out for a laboratory scale activated sludge bioreactor equipped with submerged flat sheet membrane using the synthetic wastewater. The membrane system for the activated sludge solution of MLSS 5,000 mg/L was operated with constant permeate flux by continuously permeating and periodically 10 minute-permeating/2 minute-resting modes, respectively. The transmembrane pressure was measured as the permeate flux increased from 10 to $25L/m^2{\cdot}hr$ under the constant air flowrate 0.25 L/min. Also, the complete blocking, standard blocking, intermediate blocking, incompressible cake and linear compressible cake fouling models were retrofitted for the experimental data in order to determine the state of the membrane fouling. Because the transmembrane pressure fluctuated as a pulse shape for every period of 10 minute-permeating/2-minute resting mode, the membrane fouling models were separately applied for the maximum and minimum connecting lines. The linear compressible cake fouling model for the activated sludge cakes was the best fitted with the experimental results from the above five models.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.1-13
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• 2015

The modification of ultrafiltration membranes with carbon nanotube (CNT) buckypaper on fouling control was investigated. Two types of commercially available flat-sheet membranes were used: PS35 and PES900C/D (PES) (the PS35 membranes were hydrophilic with a molecular weight cutoff of 20 kDa, and the PES membranes were hydrophobic with a molecular weight cutoff of 20 kDa). The CNT buckypaper modified ultrafiltration membranes were prepared by filtering a CNT suspension through the flat-sheet membrane in a dead-end ultrafiltration unit. After modification, the pure water flux of PES was significantly increased, while the pure water flux of PS35 was decreased. The properties of the CNT modified membranes were also investigated. Considering the antifouling properties, pure water flux of the modified membrane, and the stability of CNT buckypaper layer on the membrane surface, ethanol solution with a concentration of 50 wt.%, multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) with a larger diameter (30-50 nm), and the CNT loading with $7.5g/m^2$ was selected. The CNT buckypaper on the surface of ultrafiltration membranes can trap the pollutants in sewage effluent and prevent them reaching the surface of virgin membranes. Water quality analysis showed that the effluent quality of the modified membrane was obviously improved. The removal efficiency of humic acid and protein-like matters by the modified membrane was significant. These results indicate the potential application of the CNT buckypaper layer modified membranes in the field of wastewater reclaim.