• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.3 no.4
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• pp.211-219
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• 2012

To enhance the efficiency of water treatment and reduce the extent of membrane fouling, the membrane separation process is frequently preceded by other physico-chemical processes. One of them might be ion exchange. The aim of this work was to compare the efficiency of natural organic matter removal achieved with various anion-exchange resins, and to verify their potential use in water treatment prior to the ultrafiltration process involving a ceramic membrane. The use of ion exchange prior to ceramic membrane ultrafiltration enhanced final water quality. The most effective was MIEX, which removed significant amounts of the VHA, SHA and CHA fractions. Separation of uncharged fractions was poor with all the resins examined. Water pretreatment involving an ion-exchange resin failed to reduce membrane fouling, which was higher than that observed in unpretreated water. This finding is to be attributed to the uncharged NOM fractions and small resin particles that persisted in the water.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.10 no.5
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• pp.387-394
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• 2019

Membrane distillation (MD) is one of the water treatment processes which involves the momentum, heat and mass transfer through channels and membrane. In this study, CFD modeling has been used to simulate the heat and mass transfer in the direct contact membrane distillation (DCMD). Also, the effect of operating parameters on the water flux is investigated. The result shows a good agreement with the experimental result. Results indicated that, while feed temperature is increasing in the feed side, water flux improves in the permeate side. Since higher velocity leads to the higher mixing and turbulence in the feed channel, water flux rises due to this increase in the feed velocity. Moreover, results revealed that temperature polarization coefficient is rising as flow rate (velocity) increases and it is decreasing while the feed temperature increases. Lastly, the thermal efficiency of direct contact membrane distillation is defined, and results confirm that thermal efficiency improves while feed temperature increases. Also, flow rate increment results in enhancement of thermal efficiency.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.55-63
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• 2023

In this study, the influence of different IEMs (ion exchange membranes) to performance of the hypochlorite electrolysis unit with Cl₂ recovery stream was investigated. More specifically, Nafion 117-a representative cation exchange membrane (CEM)-and aminated polypheylene oxide (APPO)-an anion exchange membrane (AEM)-were installed in the hypochlorite electrolysis unit, and the performance and the energy efficiency of the units were evaluated and compared. Regardless of whether CEM (Nafion 117) or AEM (APPO) was installed, the rate of hypochlorite generation was increased (by up to 24.3% and 22.2% for Nafion 117 and APPO, respectively) compared with the unit without an IEM. On the other hand, the power efficiency and the optimum operation condition of hypochlorite production units seem to depend on the conductivity and stability of the installed IEM. As the result, between Nafion 117 and APPO, higher performance and efficiency were achieved with Nafion 117, due to excellent conductivity and stability of the membrane.

• Proceedings of the Membrane Society of Korea Conference
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• 2002.04a
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• pp.23-46
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• 2002

The cryogenic, pressure swing adsorption and membrane methods have been used to separate air into nitrogen and oxygen. The air separation membrane is made of the polymers, of which manufacturing process is complicate and it causes a little high production cost. Polymer membrane has temperature limit in usage and low durability even at moderate temperature. Therefore, inorganic membranes have been studied for years. As formation of unit alumino-silicate membrane, unit cells of membrane were made with a few coating methods. In this study the dipping of substrate into sols, application of vacuum to the opposite side of substrate with coating and rotating of the substrate in the sols were found as good coating memthods to make a uniform coating and to control the thickness of membrane. The membrane coats were examined by SEM and XRD. The sample ESZl-1 was compared with those of samples that prepared by another method. The present developed coating methods could be applied to the various types of zeolite membrane formation, that is A- X-, Y- ZSM- and MCM-types of membranes. Also these membrane forming methods could be applied to formation of catalyst absorbed zeolite membrane, of which zeolite absorb the catalytic metals. The product obtained from these coating methods could be applied to the industrial gas and liquid phase catalytic reaction and separation processes.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.152-161
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• 2015

In this study, novel pore-filled anion-exchange membranes (PFAEMs) with low electrical resistance, high permselectivity, and low water-splitting flux property under a concentration polarization condition have been developed for the enhancement in the efficiency of electrochemical water treatment processes. The base membranes have been prepared by filling a copolymer containing quaternary ammonium groups with an excellent ion-exchange capability into a porous polyolefin substrate, showing a high performance superior to that of a commercial membrane. In addition, it was confirmed that the electrochemical membrane performances are preserved while the water-splitting flux is effectively controlled by coating an imidazolium polymer onto the surface of the base membrane. The prepared PFAEMs revealed remarkably low electrical resistances of about 1/6~1/8 compared to those of a commercial membrane, and simultaneously low water-splitting flux comparable with that of cation-exchange membranes under a concentration polarization condition.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.35-45
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• 2023

Biofilms significantly affect the performance of wastewater treatment processes in which biodegradability of numerous microorganisms are actively involved, and various technologies have been applied to secure microbial biofilms. Understanding changes in biofilm characteristics by regulating expression of signaling molecules is important to control and regulate biofilms in membrane bioreactor, i.e., biofouling. This study investigated effects of addition of acyl-homoserine lactones (AHL) as a controllable factor for the microbial signaling system on biofilm formation of Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 and multiple strains in membrane bioreactor. The addition of three AHL, i.e., C4-, C6-, and C8-HSL, at a concentration of 200 ㎍/L, enhanced the formation of the PAO1 biofilm and the degree of increases in the biofilm formation of PAO1 were 70.2%, 76.6%, and 72.9%, respectively. The improvement of biofilm formation of individual strains by C4-HSL was an average of 68%, and the microbial consortia increased by approximately 52.1% in the presence of 200 ㎍/L C4-HSL. CLSM images showed that more bacterial cells were present on the membrane surface after the AHL application. In the COMSTAT results, biomass and thickness were increased up to 2.2 times (PAO1) and 1.6 times (multi-strains) by C4-HSL. This study clearly showed that biofilm formation was increased by the application of AHL to individual strain groups, including PAO1 and microbial consortia, and significant increases were observed when 50 or 100 ㎍/L AHL was administered. This suggests that AHL application can improve the biofilm formation of microorganisms, which could yield an enhancement in efficiency of biofilm control, such as in various biofilm reactors including membrane bioreactor and bioflocculent systems in water/wastewater treatment processes.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.9 no.5
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• pp.335-342
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• 2018

Micelle-Enhanced Ultrafiltration (MEUF) is a membrane separation processes that improving ultrafiltration process with the formation of micelles of the surface active agents. Surface active agents are widely used to improve membrane processes due to the ability to trap organic compounds and metals in the treatment of industrial waste water. In this study, surface active agents are used to improve micelle-enhanced ultrafiltration (MEUF) to reduce chemical oxygen demand (COD), total dissolved solid (TDS), turbidity and clogging the membrane in dairy wastewater treatment. Three important operational factors (anionic surface active agent concentration, pressure and pH) and these interactions were investigated by using response surface methodology (RSM) and Box-Behnken design. Results show that due to the concentration polarization layer and increase the number of Micelles; the anionic surface active agent concentration has a negative effect on the flux and has a positive effect on the elimination of contamination indices. pH, and the pressure have the greatest effect on flux. On the other hand, it could be stated that these percentages of separation are in the percentages range of Nano-filtration (NF). While MEUF process has higher flux than NF process. The results have been achieved at lower pressure while NF process needs high pressure, thus making MEUF is the replacement for the NF process.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.1-16
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• 2015

In this review, we summarized some of membrane processes using the ion exchange membrane typically used in energy applications. Ion exchange membranes are classified according to their functions, formations (e.g. heterogeneous, homogeneous), and polymer type. Furthermore, various methods to prepare cation exchange membranes and anion exchange membranes were discussed in detail and also illustrated through a thorough review of the literature works. There are numerous reports highlighting recent research trends in the ion exchange membrane fabrication, however, in this review we will focus more on discussing the development made in ion exchange membranes and their potential usages in future technologies.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.125-132
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• 2011

Fibrous chitosan membranes were fabricated as a substrate for skin applications using an electro-spinning process with different solvents and varying concentrations. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images confirmed that the formation of the chitosan fibrous membrane in trifluoroacetic acid was better than that in acetic acid. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy showed that the chitosan fibers were cross-linked with glutaraldehyde, and that the cytotoxicity of the aldehyde groups was reduced by glycine and washing by NaOH and DI water. Chitosan cross-linked fibrous membranes were insoluble in water and could be washed thoroughly to wash away glycine and excess NaOH and prevent the infiltration of other water soluble bio-toxic agents using DI water. MTT assay method was employed to test the cytotoxicity of chitosan membranes during fabricating, treating and washing processes. After the dehydration of cell cultured chitosan membranes, cell attachment behavior on the material was evaluated using SEM method. Effect of the treatment processes on the biocompatibility of the chitosan membranes was shown by comparing of filopodium and lamellipodium of fibroblast cells on grown washed and unwashed chitosan fibrous membrane. The MTT assay and SEM morphology confirmed that the washed chitosan fibrous membrane increased cell attachment and cell growth, and decreased toxicity compared to results for the unwashed chitosan fibrous membrane.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.373-384
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• 2020

Antibody-based therapeutics have been receiving great attention as a representative biopharmaceutical, in which many researches are also carried out for its commercialization. The downstream process is considered an important part of the manufacturing processes of antibody-based therapeutics since it directly affects the performance and stability of products. Ultrafiltration/diafiltration (UF/DF), mostly performed in final step during downstream process, are used for the final concentration and formulation of antibody-based therapeutics. This paper reviewed the major products of the UF membrane, process characteristics, and recent research trends in UF/DF.