• Membrane and Water Treatment
• /
• v.7 no.4
• /
• pp.355-365
• /
• 2016

The improvement of fouling resistance of porous polymeric membrane is one of the most important targets in membrane preparation for water purification in many process like wastewater treatment. Membranes can be modified by various techniques, including the treatment of polymer material, blending of hydrophilic polymer into polymer solution, and post treatment of fabricated membrane. This research proposed the modifications of morphology and surface property of hydrophobic membrane by blending polyethersulfone (PES) with three polymeric additives, polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP), Pluronic F127 (Plu), and Tetronic 1307 (Tet). PES hollow fiber membranes were fabricated via dry-wet spinning process by using a spinneret with inner and outer diameter of 0.7 and 1.0 mm, respectively. The morphology changes of PES blend membrane by those additives, as well as the change of performance in ultrafiltration module were comparatively observed. The surface structure of membranes was characterized by atomic force microscopy and Fourier transform infra red spectroscopy. The cross section morphology of PES blend hollow fiber membranes was investigated by scanning electron microscopy. The results showed that all polymeric additives blended in this system affected to improve the performances of PES membrane. The ultra-filtration experiment confirmed that PES-PVP membrane showed the best performance among the three membranes on the basis of filtration stability.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
• /
• v.2 no.1
• /
• pp.1-24
• /
• 2011

The deficiency of clean water is a major global concern because all the living creatures rely on the drinkable water for survival. On top of this, abundant of clean water supply is also necessary for household, metropolitan inhabitants, industry, and agriculture. Among many purification processes, advances in low-energy membrane separation technology appear to be the most effective solution for water crisis because membranes have been widely recognized as one of the most direct and feasible approaches for clean water production. The aim of this article is to give an overview of (1) two new emerging membrane technologies for water reuse and desalination by forward osmosis (FO) and membrane distillation (MD), and (2) the molecular engineering and development of highly permeable hollow fiber membranes, with polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) and polybenzimidazole (PBI) as the main focuses for the aforementioned applications in National University of Singapore (NUS). This article presents the main results of membrane module design, separation performance, membrane characteristics, chemical modification and spinning conditions to produce novel hollow fiber membranes for FO and MD applications. As two potential solutions, MD and FO may be synergistically combined to form a hybrid system as a sustainable alternative technology for fresh water production.

• Proceedings of the Membrane Society of Korea Conference
• /
• 2003.07a
• /
• pp.133-135
• /
• 2003

The removal of dissolved oxygen(DO) from water was studied using a poly(vinyliene fluoride)(PVDF) hollow fiber membrane contactor(HFMC) with the vacuum degassing process(VDP), Asymmetric porous PVDF hollow fiber membranes (HFM) for membrane contactor were prepared by a wet phase inversion method. In spinning of these PVDF hollow fibers, dimethy lacetamide (DMAc), LiCl and pure water were used as a solvent, a pore-forming additive and internal/external coagulant, respectively. The characteristics of the structure(pore size, porosity etc.) of the prepared PVDF HFMs as a function of concentration of pore-forming additive in polymer dope solution were studied. Also, the removal efficiency of DO from water according to flow rates of water, using PVDF HFMC with VDP, was studied. The performance of the asymmetric porous PVDF HFMC and a symmetric porous PP HFMC commercialized were compared. As a result, the asymmetric porous PVDF HFMC showed higher removal efficiency of DO than that of a symmetric porous PP HFMC.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
• /
• v.1 no.3
• /
• pp.215-230
• /
• 2010

Poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene), PVDF-HFP, hollow fiber membranes were prepared by the dry/wet spinning technique using different polyethylene glycol (PEG) concentrations as non-solvent additive in the dope solution. Two different PEG concentrations (3 and 5 wt.%). The morphology and structural characteristics of the hollow fiber membranes were studied by means of optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy (AFM) and void volume fraction. The experimental permeate flux and the salt (NaCl) rejection factor were determined using direct contact membrane distillation (DCMD) process. An increase of the PEG content in the spinning solution resulted in a faster coagulation of the PVDF-HFP copolymer and a transition of the cross-section internal layer structure from a sponge-type structure to a finger-type structure. Pore size, nodule size and roughness parameters of both the internal and external hollow fiber surfaces were determined by AFM. It was observed that both the pore size and roughness of the internal surface of the hollow fibers enhanced with increasing the PEG concentration, whereas no change was observed at the outer surface. The void volume fraction increased with the increase of the PEG content in the spinning solution resulting in a higher DCMD flux and a smaller salt rejection factor.

• Membrane Journal
• /
• v.15 no.3
• /
• pp.233-240
• /
• 2005

Surface modification of polypropylene hollow fiber membranes was performed in order to develop blood-compatibility biomaterials for use in the blood contacting surfaces and oxygenation membranes of a lung assist device (LAD), important medical device even more useful. Blood compatibility of materials was determined by using anticoagulation blood and evaluating formation of blood clots on their surfaces as well as activation of plasma coagulation cascade, platelet adhesion, and aggregation. It was verified that the number of platelets on the silicone coated fibers was significantly lower than that on untreated fiber membrane, indicating improved blood compatibility. It was also found that the polypropylene hollow fiber membranes using plasma treatment exhibited suppression of complement activation in blood compatibility test.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Gas
• /
• v.10 no.2 s.31
• /
• pp.14-21
• /
• 2006

An experimental apparatus for the removal of $SO_2$ gas using microporous hollow-fiber membrane G-L contactors was setup. Various performance experiments were carried out with commercial membrane modules and the membrane modules made by KIER. The $SO_2$ removal efficiency was outstanding. When the hollow-fiber membrane was used for the removal of $SO_2$, the selection of absorbers and additives, membrane material, operating conditions of membrane manufacture were significant variables to develop optimal G-L contactors. More experiment works will be done for the development of compact, cost-effective and better G-L contactors.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
• /
• v.10 no.4
• /
• pp.287-298
• /
• 2019

Lotus leaf has a special dual micro and nano surface structure which gives its highly hydrophobic surface characteristics and so-called self cleaning effect. In order to endow PVDF hollow fiber membrane with this special structure and improve the hydrophobicity of membrane surface, PVDF hollow fiber composite membranes was obtained through the immersion coating of poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) (PVDF-HFP) dilute solution on the outside surface of PVDF support membrane. The prepared PVDF composite membranes were used in the vacuum membrane distillation (VMD) for the desalination. The effects of PVDF-HFP dilute solution concentration in the dope solution and coating time on VMD separation performance was studied. Membranes were characterized by SEM, WCA measurement, porosity, and liquid entry pressure of water. VMD test was carried out using $35g{\cdot}L^{-1}$ NaCl aqueous solution as the feed solution at feed temperature of $30^{\circ}C$ and the permeate pressure of 31.3 kPa. The vapour flux reached a maximum when PVDF-HFP concentration in the dilute solution was 5 wt% and the coating time was kept in the range of 10-60 s. This was attributed to the well configuration of micro-nano rods which was similar with the dual micro-nano structure on the lotus leaf. Compared with the original PVDF membrane, the salt rejection can be well maintained which was greater than 99.99 % meanwhile permeation water conductivity was kept at a low value of $7-9{\mu}S{\cdot}cm^{-1}$ during the continuous testing for 360 h.

• Journal of Hydrogen and New Energy
• /
• v.16 no.1
• /
• pp.82-91
• /
• 2005

Polymer membrane needs to maintain appropriate moisture. Insufficient moisture causes low conduction of hydrogen ion because of increased contact resistance between electrode and membrane by shrinking membrane, and abundant moisture decreases fuel cell performance as difficulty of diffusion reacting gas. Therefore, water controlling system is very consequential for the polymer membrane fuel cell. If hollow fiber membrane humidification is used between fuel and air lines, it is possible to supply heat to fuel and air by using thermal exchanger. It can supply appropriate humidity depending on operating temperature, and can recover heat from exhaust gas which contains water vapor and air. Because of simple structure of humidification system, this system can be easily applied in the PEMFC and cut down cost.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
• /
• v.21 no.2
• /
• pp.205-210
• /
• 2005

There has been a growing interest in NF membrane for drinking water treatment, because it can remove simultaneously both hardness and hazardous micro pollutants such as pesticides and THM precursors. In this work, a hollow fiber NF membrane known as a composite membrane was employed for the rejection properties of both hydrophilic solutes and micro organic pollutants, where the former was used to evaluate the molecular sieving effect of this membrane and the latter was employed for the investigation of solute-membrane interaction as hydrophobic materials. This membrane effectively rejected the hydrophilic solutes and the permeation of them was mainly controlled by the molecular sieving effects such as molecular weight and molecular width. In the case of all micro organic pollutants, the rejections were varied from 42.2% for Simazine to 91.6% for Malathion, and the parameters related to the steric hindrance could significantly play an important role in the rejection. In the batch type adsorption experiments, all micro organic pollutants were entrapped mildly on the membrane in spite of lower degree compared with that of aromatic compounds, and they were correlated with log K.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
• /
• v.8 no.2
• /
• pp.137-147
• /
• 2017

A water treatment utility in South Korea operates a large system of pressurized hollow fiber membrane (PHFM) modules. The optimal selection of membrane module for the full scale plant was critical issue and carried out using Risk-based Life Cycle Cost (RbLCC) analysis based on the historical data of operation and maintenance. The RbLCC analysis was used in the process of decision-making for replacing aged modules. The initial purchasing cost and the value at risk during operation were considered together. The failure of modules occurs stochastically depending on the physical deterioration with usage over time. The life span of module was used as a factor for the failure of Poisson's probability model, which was used to obtain the probability of failure during the operation. The RbLCC was calculated by combining the initial cost and the value at risk without its warranty term. Additionally, the properties of membrane were considered to select the optimum product. Results showed that the module's life span in the system was ten years (120 month) with safety factor. The optimum product was selected from six candidates membrane for a full scale water treatment facility. This method could be used to make the optimum and rational decision for the operation of membrane water purification facility.