• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• 제9권6호
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• pp.421-434
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• 2018

Decision-makers have different and sometimes conflicting goals with utilities in operating dam reservoirs. As repeated interactions exist between decision-makers in the long-term, and the utility of each decision-making organization is affected not only by its selected strategy, but also by other rivals' strategies; selecting and prioritizing optimum strategies from a decision maker's point of view are of great importance while interacting with others. In this paper, a model based on a fuzzy set theory, for determining the priority of decision-makers' strategies in optimal qualitative-quantitative operation management of dam reservoir is presented. The fuzzy priority matrix is developed via defining membership functions of a fuzzy set for each decision maker's strategies, so that all uncertainties are taken into account. This matrix includes priorities assigned to possible combination for other decision makers' strategies in bargaining with each player's viewpoint. Here, the 15-Khordad Dam located in the central part of Iran, suffering from low water quality, was studied in order to evaluate the effectiveness of the model. Then, the range of quality of water withdrawal agreed by all decision-makers was determined using the prioritization matrix based on fuzzy logic. The results showed that the model proposed in the study had high effectiveness model.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• 제9권6호
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• pp.463-471
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• 2018

The present paper deals with the liquid-liquid extraction and flat sheet supported liquid membrane studies of Pd(II) separation from nitric acid medium using a novel synthesized ligand, namely, N,N,N',N'-tetraethyl-2,2-thiodiethanthiodiglycolamide (TETEDGA). The effect of various diluents and stripping reagents on the extraction of Pd(II) was studied. The liquid-liquid extraction studies showed complete extraction of Pd(II) in ~ 5 min. The influence of nitric acid and TETEDGA concentration on the distribution of Pd(II) has been investigated. The increase in nitric acid concentration resulted in increase in extraction of Pd(II). Stoichiometry of the extracted species was found to be $Pd(NO_3)_2{\cdot}TETEDGA$ by slope analysis method. Extraction studies with SSCD solution showed negligible uptake of Pt, Cr, Ni, and Fe, thus showing very high selectivity and extractability of TETEDGA for Pd(II). The flat sheet supported liquid membrane studies showed quantitative transport of Pd(II), ~99%, from the feed ($3M\;HNO_3$) to the strippant (0.02 M thiourea diluted in $0.4M\;HNO_3$) using 0.01 M TETEDGA as a carrier diluted in n-dodecane. Extraction time was ~160 min. Parameters such as feed acidity, TETEDGA concentration in membrane phase, membrane porosity etc. were optimized to achieve maximum transport rate. Permeability coefficient value of $2.66{\times}10^{-3}cm/s$ was observed using TETEDGA (0.01 M) as carrier, at 3 M, $HNO_3$ feed acidity across $0.2{\mu}m$ PTFE as membrane. The membrane was found to be stable over five runs of the operation.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• 제11권3호
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• pp.207-215
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• 2020

Vivianite (Fe₃²⁺(PO₄)2·8H₂O) and green rust ([Fe₄²⁺Fe₂³⁺(OH)^-₁₂][SO₄^2-·2H₂O]^2-), ferrous containing minerals, could remove aqueous U(VI) in 5 min. and the efficiencies of green rust were roughly 2 times higher than that of vivianite. The zeta potential measurement results implies that the better performance of green rust might be attributed to the favorable surface charge toward uranyl phosphate species. The removal behaviors of the minerals were well fitted by pseudo-second order kinetic model (R² > 0.990) indicating the dominant removal process was chemical adsorption. Effects of Ca²⁺ and CO₃^2- at pH 7 were examined in terms of removal kinetic and capacity. The kinetic constants of aqueous U(VI) were 8 and 13 times lower (0.492 × 10^-3 g/(mg·min); 0.305 × 10^-3 g/(mg·min)) compared to the value in the absence of the ions. The thermodynamic equilibrium calculation showed that the stable uranyl species (uranyl tri-carbonate) were newly formed at the condition. Surface investigation on the reacted mineral with uranyl phosphates species were carried out by XPS. Ferrous iron and U(VI) on the green rust surface were completely oxidized and reduced into Fe(III) and U(IV) after 7 d. It suggests that the ferrous minerals can retard U(VI) migration in phosphate-rich groundwater through the adsorption and subsequent reduction processes.

• 대한통합의학회지
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• 제5권1호
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• pp.43-53
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• 2017

Purpose : To examine the relative absolute reliability and validity of step test (ST) scores in subjects with chronic stroke. Method : A total of 27 stroke patients, participated in the study. A relative reliability index (intraclass correlation coefficient, ICC) was used to examine the level of agreement of inter-rater test-retest reliability for ST score. Absolute reliability indices, including the standard error of measurement(SEM) and the minimal detectable change (MDC), and limits of agreement by Bland and Altman analysis. The validity was demonstrated by spearman correlation of ST score with 10 m Walk Test (10mWT), Fugl-Meyer Assessment-Lower/Extremity (FMA-L/E)-total score, Berg Balance Scale (BBS)-total score. Result : An excellent inter-rater reliability in ST scores was found (paretic, ICC=0.993~0.996; nonparetic, ICC=0.982~0.991). In addition, excellent test-retest reliability was found (paretic, ICC=0.992; nonparetic, ICC=0.967). It all showed acceptable SEM of the ST score as paretic and nonparetic were 0.22 and 0.46 respectively (average score <10 %), and the MDC of the paretic and nonparetic were 0.61 and 1.27 respectively (possible highest score <20 %). indicating that measures had a small and acceptable measurement error. The ST score of paretic and nonparetic were also found to be significantly associated with 10MWT (r=0.77~0.79), FMA-LE scores (r=0.73~0.81) and BBS scores (r=0.72~0.76). Conclusion : The ST showed highly sufficient Inter-rater test-retest agreement and validity and acceptable measurement errors caused by due to chance variation in measurement. It also can be used by clinicians and researchers to assess the balance and mobility performance and monitor functional change in chronic stroke patients.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• 제6권2호
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• pp.127-139
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• 2015

Rejection of ionic solutes by reverse osmosis (RO) and nanofiltration (NF) membranes is controlled mainly by electrochemical interaction as well as pore size, but it is very difficult to directly evaluate such electrochemical interaction. In this work, we used an inverse HPLC method to investigate the interaction between ionic solutes and poly (m- phenylenediaminetrimesoyl) (PPT), a polymer similar to the skin layer of polyamide RO and NF membranes. Silica gel particles coated with PPT were used as the stationary phase, and aqueous solutions of the ionic solutes were used as the mobile phase. Chromatographs obtained for the ionic solutes showed features typical of exclusion chromatographs: the ionic solutes were eluted faster than water (mobile phase), and the exclusion intensity of the ionic solute decreased with increasing solute concentration, asymptotically approaching a minimum value. The charge density of PPT was estimated to be ca. 0.007 mol/L. On the basis of minimum exclusion intensity, the exclusion distances between a salt and neutralized PPT was examined, and the following average values were obtained: 0.49 nm for 1:1 salts, 0.57 nm for 2:1 salts, 0.60 nm for 1:2 salts, and 0.66 nm for 2:2 salts. However, $NaAsO_2$ and $H_3BO_3$, which are dissolved at neutral pH in their undissociated forms, were not excluded.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• 제7권4호
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• pp.313-325
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• 2016

South Africa recognises piped water as the main source of safe drinking water supply. Remote areas do not have access to this resource and they rely solely on surface water for survival, which exposes them to waterborne diseases. Interim point of use solutions are not practiced due to their laboriousness and alteration of the taste. Bio-ultra low pressure driven membrane system has been noted to be able to produce stable fluxes after one week of operation; however, there is limited literature on South African waters. This study was conducted on three rivers namely; Umgeni, Umbilo and Tugela. Three laboratory systems were setup to evaluate the performance of the technology in terms of producing stable fluxes and water that is compliant with the WHO 2008 drinking water guideline with regards to turbidity, total coliforms and E.coli. The obtained flux rate trends were similar to those noted in literature where they are referred to as stable fluxes. However, when further comparing the obtained fluxes to the normal dead-end filtration curve, it was noted that both the Umbilo and Tugela Rivers responded similarly to a normal dead-end filtration curve. The Umgeni River was noted to produce flux rates which were higher than those obtainable under normal dead-end. It can be concluded that there was no stabilisation of flux noted. However, feed water with low E.coli and turbidity concentrations enhances the flux rates. The technology was noted to produce water of less than 1 NTU and 100% removal efficiency for E.coli and total coliforms.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• 제7권4호
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• pp.277-296
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• 2016

The aim of this research was to investigate the ability of nanofiltration (NF) and ultrafiltration (UF) membranes as a filtration unit for groundwater treatment for drinking water resources. Commercial membranes denoted as TS40, TFC-SR3 and GHSP were used to study the performance based on rejections and fluxes. The investigation has been conducted using natural groundwater obtained from a deep tube well with initial concentration of iron (Fe) and manganese (Mn) at 7.15 mg/L and 0.87 mg/L, respectively. Experimental results showed that NF membranes exhibited higher fluxes than UF membrane with pure water permeability at 4.68, 3.99 and $3.15L.m^{-2}.h^{-1}.bar^{-1}$, respectively. For metal rejection, these membranes have performed higher removal on Fe with TS40, TFC-SR3 and GHSP membranes having more than 82%, 92% and 86% respectively. Whereas, removal on Mn only achieved up to 60%, 80% and 30%, for TS40, TFC-SR3 and GHSP membranes respectively. In order to achieve drinking water standard, the membranes were efficient in removing Fe ion at 1 and 2 bar in contrast with Mn ion at 4 and 5 bar. Higher rejection of Fe and Mn were achieved when pH of feed solution was increased to more than 7 as TFC-SR3 membrane was negatively charged in basic solution. This effect could be attributed to the electrostatic effect interaction between membrane material and rejected ions. In conclusion, this study proved that NF membrane especially the TFC-SR3 membrane successfully treated local groundwater sources for public drinking water supply in line with the WHO standard.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• 제9권1호
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• pp.17-21
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• 2018

A series of laboratory scale experiments were performed to investigate the feasibility of membrane separation technology for natural rubber (NR) wastewater treatment and reuse. Three types of spiral wound membranes were employed in the cross-flow experiments. The NR wastewater pretreated by sand filtration and cartridge filtration was forced to pass through the ultrafiltration (UF), nanofiltration (NF) and reverse osmosis (RO) membranes successively. The UF retentate, which containing abundant proteins, can be used to produce fertilizer, while the NF retentate is rich in quebrachitol and can be used to extract quebrachitol. The permeate produced by the RO module was reused in the NR processing. Furthermore, about 0.1wt% quebrachitol was extracted from the NR wastewater. Besides, the effluent quality treated by the membrane processes was much better than that of the biological treatment. Especially for total dissolved solids (TDS) and total phosphorus (T-P), the removal efficiency improved 53.11% and 49.83% respectively. In addition, the removal efficiencies of biological oxygen demand (BOD) and chemical oxygen demand (COD) exceeded 99%. The total nitrogen (T-N) and ammonia nitrogen (NH4-N) had approximately similar removal efficiency (93%). It was also found that there was a significant decrease in the T-P concentration in the effluent, the T-P was reduced from 200 mg/L to 0.34 mg/L. Generally, it was considered to be a challenging problem to solve for the biological processes. In brief, highly resource utilization and zero discharge was obtained by membrane separation system in the NR wastewater treatment.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• 제9권1호
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• pp.43-51
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• 2018

Hollow fiber (HF) membranes are gaining wide interest over flat membranes due to their compaction and high area to surface volume ratio. This work addresses the fabrication of HF from polysulfone (PS) and polyethersulfone (PES) using N-methylpyrrolidone (NMP) as solvent in addition to other additives to achieve desired characteristics. The semi-pilot spinning system includes jacketed vessel, four spinneret block, coagulation and washing baths in addition to dryer and winder. Different parameters affecting dry-wet spinning phase inversion process were investigated. Dope compositions of PES, NMP and polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) of varying molecular weights as additive were addressed. Some critical parameters of importance were also investigated. Those include dope flow rate, air gap, coagulation & washing baths and drying temperatures. The measured dope viscosity was in the range from 1.7 to 36.5 Pa.s. Air gap distance was adjusted from 20 to 45 cm and coagulation bath temperature from 20 to $46^{\circ}C$. The HF membranes were characterized by scanning electron microscope (SEM), atomic force microscope (AFM) and mechanical properties. Results indicated prevalence of finger like structure and average surface roughness from about 29 to 78.3 nm. Profile of stress strain characteristics revealed suitability of the fibers for downstream interventions for fabrication of thin film composite membrane. Different empirical correlations were formulated which enable deeper understanding of the interaction of the above mentioned variables. Data of pure water permeability (PWP) confirmed that the fabricated samples fall within the microfiltration (MF)-ultrafiltration (UF) range of membrane separation.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• 제11권2호
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• pp.97-109
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• 2020

Membrane fouling is the main drawback of membrane technology. Frequent membrane cleaning and membrane replacement are, therefore, required to reduce membrane fouling that causes permeate flux reduction, lower rejection, or higher operating pressure. Studies have proved that the alteration of membrane properties is the key controlling factor in lessening membrane fouling. Among stimuli-responsive membranes, thermo-responsive membrane is the most popular, with a drastic phase transition and swelling-shrinking behavior caused by the temperature change. In this study, the thermo-responsive ability of two commercial membranes, PolyCera® Titan membrane and PolyCera® Hydro membrane, at different temperatures was studied on the antifouling function of the membrane in palm oil mill effluent (POME) treatment. The evaluation of the membrane's thermo-responsive ability was done through three cycles of adsorption (fouling) and desorption (defouling) processes in a membrane filtration process. The experimental result depicted that PolyCera® Hydro membrane had a higher membrane permeability of 67.869 L/㎡.h.bar than PolyCera® Titan membrane at 46.011 L/㎡.h.bar. However, the high membrane permeability of PolyCera® Hydro membrane was compensated with low removal efficiency. PolyCera® Titan membrane with a smaller mean pore size had better rejection performance than PolyCera® Hydro membrane for all tested parameters. On the other hand, PolyCera® Titan membrane had a better hydrodynamic cleaning efficiency than PolyCera® Hydro membrane regardless of the hydrodynamic cleaning temperature. The best hydrodynamic cleaning performed by PolyCera® Titan membrane was at 35℃ with the flux recovery ratio (FRR) of 99.17 ± 1.43%. The excellent thermo-responsive properties of the PolyCera® Titan membrane could eventually reduce the frequency of membrane replacement and lessen the use of chemicals for membrane cleaning. This outstanding exploration helps to provide a solution to the chemical industry and membrane technology bottleneck, which is the membrane fouling, thus reducing the operating cost incurred by the membrane fouling.