• Membrane Journal
• /
• v.25 no.1
• /
• pp.67-74
• /
• 2015

In this study the nanofiber was prepared by electrospinning method with polyvinylidene fluoride (PVdF) and a completely dispersed solution of graphene oxide (GO) in the mixed solvent of dimethylformamide (DMF) and acetone. The $0.4{\mu}m$ pore size microfiltration flat membrane was made by increasing layers of the PVdF/GO composite nanofiber. Also, transmembrane pressure (TMP) was measured in order to evaluate fouling of the PVdF/GO composite membrane which was introduced GO reducing biological fouling with the intrinsic antibacterial characteristics. The permeate experiments were carried out simultaneously for the PVdF/GO and commercialized CPVC (chlorinated polyvinyl chloride) flat membranes with $0.01m^2$ effective area in the activated sludge solution of MLSS 4,500 mg/L. TMP of PVdF/GO membrane decreased up to 79% lower than that of CPVC for $10L/m^2{\cdot}h$ permeate flux without air supply. Also, for the case of run/stop operational mode, TMP of PVdF/GO membrane decreased up to 69% lower than that of CPVC for $10L/m^2{\cdot}h$.

• Membrane Journal
• /
• v.27 no.6
• /
• pp.487-498
• /
• 2017

In this study, pervaporation performances of water/methanol and water/butanol mixture were evaluated using zeolite 4A membranes manufacutred by FINETECH by experimental works and numerical modeling. Permeation and separation characteristics, such as flux and separation factor, were analyzed by gas chromatography (TCD) and liquid nitrogen traps. Experiments have shown that water is selectively separated from a mixture of water and methanol (separation factor up to approximately 250) and water and butanol (separation factor up to approximately 1,500). Generalized Maxwell Stefan (GMS) theory was implemented to predict pervaporation behaviors of water/alcohol mixtures and diffusional coefficients of zeolite layer were obtained through parameter estimation using $MATLAB^{(R)}$ optimization toolbox. Since the pore size of zeolite 4A are much larger than kinetic diameter of water molecules and smaller than those of methanol and butanol, zeolite 4A membranes can be applied to in situ water removal process such as membrane reactors or hybrid reaction-dehydration process.