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The focus of whey processing has been changed from waste treatment to the production of valuable products owing to the advancement of membrane technology. Producing high quality whey products at low energy consumption entails novel techniques for whey concentration. This study proposes forward osmosis (FO) as a potential approach to concentrate whey protein solutions, which is superior to the concentration via reverse osmosis (RO), mainly owing to the low hydraulic pressure during FO process. In particular, this work validated the feasibility of FO-based whey concentration using high-performance hollow fiber membranes that were fabricated in-house. The investigation focused on the effects of various operating conditions on the concentration performance. The experimental results reveal that optimal concentration efficiency would be achieved by appropriately choosing the cross-flow velocity, draw solution concentration and the maximum attainable concentration of whey protein solution. Especially, the flux decline behaviour as a function of the whey protein concentration in the feed solution indicated rapid formation of a polarized or gel foulant layer at the membrane surface. The proposed mechanism was supported by the investigation of physical cleaning with water, showing that the post-process cleaning after the concentration cycle was able to recover the membrane performance, whereas the intermediate cleaning during one concentration cycle had little impact on the concentration efficiency enhancement. This study has practical significance for the application of FO in the concentration of dairy streams and other liquid foods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The utilization of osmosis for engineered applications sparked off various emerging technologies relying on osmotically driven membrane processes (ODMPs). Represented by forward osmosis (FO) and pressure retarded osmosis (PRO), ODMPs show great promise to leverage the global water-energy nexus and have drawn considerable attention in recent years. However, their performance in practical applications is significantly affected by membrane fouling. Membrane fouling is a complex problem and is associated with the foulant deposition, concentration polarization and reverse solute diffusion (RSD) in ODMPs. The current paper provides a comprehensive review on membrane fouling in ODMPs with a focus on the elaboration of the factors and mechanisms governing the fouling behavior. Among those fouling factors and mechanisms, some are also applicable for pressure-driven membrane processes (e.g., reverse osmosis (RO) and nanofiltration (NF)), such as the effects of hydrodynamic conditions, feedwater composition, and membrane material and properties, and the cake-enhanced concentration polarization (CE-CP) mechanism. Others are unique for ODMPs, such as the effects of draw solution composition and membrane orientation, the internal concentration polarization (ICP) self-compensation effect, and the RSD-enhanced fouling. A general osmotic-resistance filtration model for ODMPs is presented in this paper to assist in the interpretation of the intrinsic interrelationships among those fouling factors and mechanisms. The impact and mechanisms of membrane fouling on contaminates removal are also reviewed briefly based on the limited existing literature on this topic. Finally, the available membrane fouling control strategies for ODMPs are summarized upon understanding the cause and effect of fouling. Based on the current review, future research prospects are proposed for further studying the membrane fouling in ODMPs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The fabrication of new membrane that is able to produce stable high power density is essential for the development of pressure retarded osmosis (PRO) technology. In this work, thin film composite (TFC) polyetherimide membranes with three different substrate structures were fabricated and characterized. The PRO performance of the resultant membrane was evaluated through two pressure cycle experiments and stability tests. The primary objective of this work is to systematically study PRO membrane’s mechanical stability and mass transfer properties under high operating pressures, which determine the power density of the membrane in the PRO process. Experiments revealed that water permeability ( A p ) and salt permeability ( B p ) under different pressures varied. The A p and B p are better indicators for examining the variation of PRO membrane structure under pressure. Within the operating pressure range of 17.2 bar, the top polyamide layer of TFC PEI-2# membrane mainly experienced a reversible deformation. In the two pressure cycle tests, the water flux, specific salt flux and power density obtained in the upward and downward measurements in each cycle are close to each other. The first cycle and the second cycle also show excellent reproducibility. The membrane was able to maintain almost unchanged water flux and power density of 12.8 W/m 2 at 17.2 bar over the 10 h testing time, suggesting the membrane’s great potential to be used in practical application in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) electrospun nanofibrous membranes (ENMs), consolidated with a heatpress process and of various thicknesses were fabricated and tested in a DCMD cell at five different operating conditions. Membranes as thin as 27 μm were sufficiently robust for evaluation and gave a transmembrane flux as high as 60 L/h m 2 . An analytical model was created to estimate the optimal membrane thickness for DCMD operations. It is found that the value of optimal thickness increases with reduced heat transfer coefficients; decreased feed inlet temperature; increased membrane permeability; and increased salinity. Even for 10% NaCl the predicted optimum was estimated to be 13 μm which was too thin for experimental confirmation. Based upon this analysis but with due allowance for the variation of heat transfer coefficients with temperature dependent physical properties a single Matlab model was created to fit the five sets of data. With the introduction of a structural derivation factor, which reflected the experimentally determined variation of porosity and pore size with thickness, the model was found to fit the data very well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a gas–liquid membrane contactor, a larger pore size can result in a lower membrane mass transfer resistance. However, the membrane pore size is usually limited by the concern of pore wetting, e.g. a large pore size means a higher wetting tendency. As a breakthrough, this paper reported a porous polyetherimide (PEI) hollow fiber membrane with high surface porosity and large pore size to minimize the membrane mass transfer resistance by using a triple-orifice spinneret in the hollow fiber spinning process, and followed by a novel approach of fluorinated silica (fSiO2) nanoparticles (NPs) incorporation to make the membrane surface highly hydrophobic and chemical resistant to prevent the membrane from wetting caused by the large pore size on the membrane surface. The newly developed composite hollow fiber membranes showed the advancing contact angle value of 123.3°, receding contact angle value of 107.2°, and contact angle hysteresis of only 15.9°, indicating the high water resistant property. The composite membrane also exhibited a higher rigidity property compared with the original PEI substrate. The CO2 absorption flux of the composite membranes was investigated in both physical and chemical absorptions in a gas–liquid membrane contactor system. The membrane contactor showed a stable performance throughout the 60d long-term operation using a 2M sodium taurinate aqueous solution as the liquid absorbent. The highly hydrophobic composite hollow fiber membrane was able to outperform a conventional polymeric hydrophobic membrane in term of superior gas absorption flux and outstanding long-term stability, suggesting that the formation of organic–inorganic composite membranes is an effective way to enhance the feasibility of membrane contactor processes for practical applications. The results demonstrated the important role of membrane fabrication and modification techniques in facilitating the commercialization of membrane contactor technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Aquaporin (AQP) based biomimetic membrane has attracted increasing attention in recent years because of its potential application for water purification and seawater desalination, attributed to the exceptionally high permeability and selectivity of AQPs. Despite its superior performance, AQP based membrane faces several challenges associated with the design and preparation of such membranes for practical application. In this current study, a novel and simple method was introduced to prepare an aquaporin Z (AqpZ) based biomimetic nanofiltration (NF) membrane with a relatively large membrane area of 28.26cm2. The proteoliposome, incorporated with AqpZ, was fully encapsulated into the selective layer through crosslinking of a polyelectrolyte with the membrane substrate made by poly(amide–imde) (PAI). The water flux of the AqpZ based membrane was around 50% higher than the mutant one. At optimal preparation conditions, the AqpZ based membrane could offer a water flux of 36.6Lm−2 h−1 with a MgCl2 rejection of 95% at 0.1MPa. Results from this study showed that AqpZ could maintain its activity even under harsh environmental conditions of thermal treatment at 343K for 2h. These results and findings may provide useful insights on developing next generation of biomimetic membranes. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Pressure retarded osmosis (PRO) is a promising membrane process to harvest the vast amount of free energy from the mixing of fresh and salty waters without adverse environmental impacts. A competent membrane for PRO should possess the features of high water permeability to allow water permeation, excellent salt rejection to maintain the osmotic driving force, low structure parameter to minimize the internal concentration polarization (ICP), and robust strength to withstand the required hydraulic pressure. In this work, we have developed a novel hollow fiber membrane by balancing these competing factors based on our prior experience in the thin-film composite (TFC) membranes. The newly developed TFC hollow fiber membrane can achieve a power density of 20.9W/m2 at a pressure of 15bar, using synthetic seawater brine (1.0M NaCl) as the draw solution and synthetic river water (1mM NaCl) as the feed water, respectively. The simultaneous specific reverse salt flux was found to be 0.03mol/L, which is much lower than reported flat-sheet membranes, as the self-supported hollow fiber membrane can eliminate the deformation-enhanced reverse salt diffusion that is typical for flat-sheet membranes. However it was observed that the water permeability and structure parameter of the TFC hollow fiber membrane varied noticeably corresponding to the change in the hydraulic pressure imposed in the fiber lumen. Over a certain range (ΔP<15bar), such variations of increasing A value and decreasing S value proved to have positive impacts, as they facilitate the water permeation and reduce the ICP in the PRO process. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The use of additives in the polymer dope solutions is one of the most powerful strategies to control the pore structure of poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) membranes for various applications. In present work, the effects of amphiphilic pluronic block copolymer as an additive on PVDF membrane formation has been studied and a membrane formation mechanism involving pluronic has been proposed. The surface tension–concentration curve reveals that no micelles are formed in pluronic/N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) solutions while the thermodynamics and kinetics are found to be similar for the systems containing pluronic and polyethylene glycol (PEG), respectively. The membranes prepared with pluronic as the additive exhibit larger surface pore, porosity, and macrovoids than that with PEG, indicating that pluronic has a stronger pore-forming ability. Instead of the commonly used concept of instantaneous or delayed demixing, it is believed that the stronger pore-forming ability of pluronic is caused by the hydrophobic–hydrophobic interaction between pluronic and PVDF that delays the solidification process. Since pluronic is not completely stable in PVDF membrane matrix, the membranes are soaked in 2-propanol (IPA) to purposely wash out pluronic. The loss of pluronic after IPA-treatment causes an increase in water permeation and a decrease in rejection, indicating that the presence of pluronic on the membrane pore surface can narrow down the pore size. By adding lithium chloride as a second additive, the growth of macrovoids is suppressed. Moreover, the resultant membranes exhibit both higher permeability and selectivity. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The main challenges for membranes used in membrane distillation (MD) are well-designed porous structure and hydrophobic surface property. Hydrophobic nanofiber membranes possess high hydrophobicity, high surface porosity and adjustable pore sizes and membrane thickness, which make them an attractive candidate as MD membrane. The current study aims to fabricate and optimize polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) nanofiber membranes for MD application. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), capillary flow porometer, geniometer, a homemade setup for liquid entry pressure (LEP) measurement and direct contact MD (DCMD) setup were used to characterize the resultant nanofiber PVDF membranes. Polymer dope compositions, spinning parameters such as sprayer moving speed and chamber moisture were optimized to examine their effects on pore size distribution of the membranes. Inorganic additives were also added into the dope to improve the electro-spinability of diluted polymer dopes in order to further decrease membrane pore size. Meanwhile, a heat-press post-treatment was considered as a necessary step to improve fresh nanofiber membrane integrity, enhance water permeation flux and help prevent membrane pores from wetting in DCMD operation. The experiment confirmed that all the electrospun membranes exhibit a rough surface with high hydrophobicity (>135° water contact angle). The post-treated PVDF nanofiber membranes were able to present a steady water permeation flux of about 21kgm−2 h−1 throughout the entire testing period of 15h, using a 3.5wt% NaCl solution as the feed under the feed and permeate inlet temperatures of 323K and 293K, respectively. This result was better than these of commercial PVDF membranes and the nanofiber PVDF-clay membrane reported in literature, suggesting the competency of PVDF nanofiber membranes for DCMD applications. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Highly hydrophobic surface property of membranes is very important for membrane contactor application that is normally used for CO2 capture. This study explores a simple and inexpensive approach for hydrophobic modification of imide group contained polymeric membranes. Poly(amide–imide) (PAI) hollow fiber membrane with controlled pore structure as porous substrate was fabricated by dry-jet wet spinning process, followed by a wet-chemical hydrophobic modification using octadecylamine. The modification mechanism was confirmed by ATR-FTIR, and the effect of different modification times on the modified membrane properties was investigated. Experiments reveal that the modification changed the membrane morphology and structure, resulted in surface pore opening and thinning down of the membrane skin layer. As a compromise between the membrane hydrophobicity and mechanical strength, 10–30min were considered as appropriate modification times for the PAI membranes. The treated membranes showed much higher hydrophobicity with an improvement in contact angle of around 30°. The liquid entry pressure (LEPw) also increased dramatically from 7psi to 63psi after 30min modification due to the enhanced membrane hydrophobicity. The treated membranes were tested in the membrane contactor for CO2 absorption. It was observed the CO2 flux increased with the liquid velocity and modification time. A stable long-term performance of CO2 absorption by a 2M sodium taurinate aqueous solution for 15days of operation was attained. Moreover, poly(etherimide) (PEI) hollow fiber membranes were successfully modified by octadecylamine, which demonstrated the effectiveness and versatility of the modification method on imide-contained polymeric membranes. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

A countercurrent two-stage hybrid powdered activated carbon-submerged membrane (PAC-SM) system for atrazine removal was simulated numerically in the present work. The simulation of the system performance at different operating conditions confirms that the adsorption capacity of the powdered activated carbon (PAC) can be further utilized and a stable product water quality can be maintained in the countercurrent two-stage mode as compared with the concurrent single-stage operations. For instance, the utilization of the PAC adsorption capacity was enhanced by 28% in the countercurrent two-stage operation at a flux of 60 L/m2h, and 21% of enhancement was obtained at a flux of 100 L/m2h by more frequent PAC replacement. Therefore, the adsorption capacity utilization is also dependent on the membrane filtration flux. Moreover, if the final effluent concentration was controlled at a higher level (e.g., C2*=0.1 instead of C2*=0.05), a further 5% of the PAC adsorption capacity can be utilized. In addition, reducing the replacement rate (RR) will make the operation similar to a system with continuous PAC dosing (pseudo-steady-state) by presenting nearly constant product water quality. This study sheds some light on the performance of a countercurrent multistage hybrid PAC-SM system for its further applications and system optimization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: One of the major barriers that hinder the application of forward osmosis (FO) processes is the lack of optimized membranes that possess high water flux, low salt leakage and good anti-internal concentration polarization (ICP) and anti-fouling/anti-scaling properties during practical FO operations. In this study, novel composite FO hollow fiber membranes with an RO-like selective skin and an NF-like secondary selective skin were successfully developed for the first time. The fabrication procedures involved making ultrafiltration hollow fiber substrate using poly(amide–imide) (PAI) polymer material via phase inversion method, followed by interfacial polymerization (IP) and chemical modification to yield a polyamide RO-like inner skin and a positively charged NF-like outer skin, respectively. It was found that the sequence of conducting IP on the substrate inner surface prior to the chemical modification of the outer skin was preferred in order to achieve better performance for the resultant double-skinned hollow fibers. The newly developed FO hollow fibers exhibited high water permeability of 2.05L/m2 hbar and 85% rejection to NaCl at 1bar pressure as well as superior FO water flux of 41.3L/m2 h and low ratio of salt flux over water flux of 0.126g/L when using DI water and 2.0M NaCl as feed and draw solutions, respectively, in the active layer facing draw solution (AL-DS) orientation. Furthermore, the experimental results showed that the composite FO hollow fiber membrane was able to outperform single-skinned membrane when the feed contains divalent ions or the feed exhibits high scaling tendency to membrane. This suggested that the integration of RO- and NF-like two selective skins in FO membrane is an effective way to minimize the ICP effect, mitigate the membrane scaling and thus enhance the feasibility of FO processes for practical applications. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: For the first time, a specially designed pressure retarded osmosis (PRO) hollow fiber membrane has been successfully developed and applied in the PRO process to demonstrate its potential for power generation. The membrane fabrication method is similar to that used for making thin-film composite (TFC) forward osmosis hollow fiber membranes, but further optimization and improvement have led to a new type of TFC hollow fiber membranes with much greater mechanical strength in addition to its excellent separation property and high water flux. The TFC PRO hollow fiber membranes have a water permeability (A) of 9.22×10−12 m/(sPa), salt permeability (B) of 3.86×10−8 m/s and structural parameter (S) of 4.6×10−4 m. It can withstand hydrostatic pressure as high as 9bar with its relatively large dimension of 0.98mm lumen diameter. This PRO hollow fiber membrane is superior to all other PRO membranes reported in the open literature in terms of power density. A power density as high as 10.6W/m2 can be achieved using seawater brine (1.0M NaCl) and wastewater brine (40mM NaCl), which suggests that the newly developed PRO hollow fiber membrane has great potential to be applied in PRO processes to harvest salinity gradient energy. A higher pressure is preferred as it allows generation of higher power density (pressures of 12bar may be optimal for seawater as the high salinity stream), and this can be realized by reduced fiber dimension. Further optimization of the membrane structure will be performed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Hollow fiber membranes with a positively charged nanofiltration (NF)-like selective layer have been successfully fabricated by utilizing asymmetric microporous hollow fibers made of Torlon® polyamide–imide (PAI) material as the porous substrate followed by polyelectrolyte post-treatment using polyethyleneimine (PEI), which has not been reported previously. The reaction between PAI and PEI has been confirmed by experiments. The membrane structure and surface property are carefully tailored by adjusting polymer dope composition, spinning conditions and the post-treatment parameters. These membranes are, subsequently, characterized by a series of standard protocols in terms of membrane morphology, structure, permeability and salt rejection, and are applied in forward osmosis (FO) processes. The newly developed PAI hollow fiber membranes show a pure water permeability of 2.19–2.25L/m2 hbar and reasonable NaCl and MgCl2 rejections of 49% and 94% at 1bar, respectively. It is also found that in FO processes, when using 0.5M MgCl2 as a draw solution and DI water as the feed in the active layer facing feed water (AL-facing-FW) configuration at 23°C, the water fluxes of two PAI FO hollow fiber membranes are 8.36 and 9.74L/m2 h, respectively, and the J S /J V of the two membranes is smaller than 0.4g/L, which is lower than the data of 0.85g/L for commercial FO membrane from Hydration Technologies Inc. (HTI). Different from a neutral membrane, the positively charged FO membrane provides double electric repulsions to the salt transfer through the membrane in the AL-facing-FW configuration, leading to a reduction of salt penetration, while in the active layer facing draw solution (AL-facing-DS) configuration, the positive charges facilitate salt transportation. This study provides a simple and effective approach to make hollow fibers suitable for FO applications. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Polyvinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluropropylene (PVDF-HFP) has received much attention recently as a promising membrane material for membrane contactor application. A systematic study has been carried out to investigate the effects of polyethylene glycol (PEG) with different molecular weights and different loadings as an additive on the fabrication of PVDF-HFP asymmetric microporous hollow fiber membranes. Moreover, the synergetic effects of coagulation temperature and the second additive (lithium chloride: LiCl) with PEG are also evaluated. Experiments revealed that the addition of PEG into the PVDF-HFP/NMP solution resulted in the system thermodynamically less stable in reaction with water, promoting rapid phase demixing in the phase inversion process. When the same 3wt% PEG was added into the dope solution, the dimension of finger-like macrovoids of the resultant membrane increased in parallel with the increase of PEG molecular weight from 200 to 600 and 6000kDa, and pure water permeability (PWP) also increased accordingly. An increase in PWP was also observed when PEG-200 loading in the dope solution was increased from 3 to 5 and 10wt%, corresponding to the morphology change of resultant membranes. As a synergetic effect of coagulation temperature with PEG, the finger-like pores occurred in the membrane at room temperature expanded to much larger macrovoids using 10°C water as the coagulant, and the big finger-like pores almost disappeared when the coagulation bath temperature was increased to 40°C because of delayed phase demixing. The big macrovoid size can also be suppressed by adding the second small molecule additive, LiCl, due to its strong interactions with NMP and PVDF-HFP to delay the dope precipitation. The irregular inner contour of the membrane can be eliminated by the increase of coagulation bath temperature to 40°C. The hollow fiber membrane made by a dope of PVDF-HFP/PEG-6000/LiCl/NMP (15/3/3/79 in weight) using 40°C water as the coagulant exhibited a high PWP of 117L/m2 hatm and reasonably good MWCO of 150kDa. An improvement has been made in the current work as compared to previous PVDF-HFP hollow fiber membranes reported in literatures. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The performance of membrane distillation depends on both membrane and module characteristics. This paper describes strategies to improve the performance of hollow fiber membrane modules used in direct contact membrane distillation (DCMD). Three different types of hydrophobic polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) hollow fiber membrane (unmodified, plasma modified and chemically modified) were used in this study of direct contact membrane distillation (DCMD). Compared to the unmodified PVDF hollow fiber membrane, both modified membranes showed greater hydrophobicity and mechanical strength, smaller maximum pore sizes and narrower pore size distributions, leading to more sustainable fluxes and higher water quality (distillate conductiviy<1μscm−1) over a one month test using synthetic seawater (3.5wt% sodium chloride solutions). Comparing the plasma and chemical modification the latter has marginally better performance and provides potentially more homogeneous modification. MD modules based on shell and tube configuration were tested to identify the effects of shell and lumen side flow rates, fiber length and packing density. The MD flux increased to an asymptotic value when shell-side Re f was larger than 2500, while the permeate/lumen side reached an asymptotic value at much lower Re p (>300). By comparing the performance of small and larger modules, it was found that it is important to utilize a higher shell-side Re in the operation to maintain a better mixing near the membrane surface in a larger module. Single fiber tests in combination with heat transfer analysis, verified that a critical fiber length existed that is the required length to assure sufficient driving force along the fiber to maintain adequate MD performance. In addition, for multi-fiber modules the overall MD coefficient decreased with increasing packing density, possibly due to flow maldistribution. This study shows that more hydrophobic membranes with a small maximum pore size and higher liquid entry pressure are attainable and favorable for MD applications. In order to enhance MD performance various factors need to be considered to optimize fluid dynamics and module configurations, such as fiber length, packing density and the effect of module diameter and flow rates. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Forward osmosis (FO) has received intensive studies recently for a range of potential applications such as wastewater treatment, water purification and seawater desalination. One of the major challenges to be overcome is the lack of an optimized FO membrane that can produce a high water flux comparable to commercial RO membranes. Two types of thin-film composite FO hollow fibers with an ultra-thin polyamide-based RO-like skin layer (300–600nm) on either the outer surface (#A-FO) or inner surface (#B-FO) of a porous hollow fiber substrate have been successfully fabricated. These novel composite FO hollow fibers have been characterized by a series of standard protocols and benchmarked against commercially available FO flat sheet membranes and reported NF hollow fibers used for the FO process. The characterization reveals that the FO hollow fiber membranes possess a large lumen. The substrates are highly porous with a narrow pore size distribution. The active layers present excellent intrinsic separation properties with a hydrophilic rejection layer and good mechanical strength. The #B-FO hollow fiber membrane can achieve a high FO water flux of 32.2L/m2 h using a 0.5M NaCl draw solution in the active rejection layer facing draw solution (AL-facing-DS) configuration at 23°C. The corresponding salt flux is only 3.7g/m2 h. To the best of our knowledge, the performance of the #B-FO hollow fiber is superior to all FO membranes reported in the open literature. The current study suggests that the optimal FO membrane structure would possess a very small portion of sponge-like layer in a thin and highly porous substrate, which suggests a way for further improvement. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: A novel surface morphology of linear pore pattern on poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoro propylene) (PVDF–HFP) flat-sheet porous membrane surfaces prepared by phase inversion technique has been observed. This interesting morphology was repeatedly captured from various casting systems, such as PVDF–HFP/N-methyl pyrrolidone(NMP)/glycol, PVDF–HFP/NMP/diethylene glycol, PVDF–HFP/NMP/glycerol and PVDF–HFP/NMP/glucose, with distilled water as a coagulant. The formation of the linear pore pattern was thought to be associated with the orientation of the macromolecular conglomerations in the casting solution, which occurred during the casting process. Thus, relevant experiments were designed and performed to support the hypothesis. The clearly observed linear pore pattern formed with less than 30s of exposure time before immersing into water bath became faded in 300s and completely disappeared in 600s of exposure time, which was in good accordance with the relaxation degree of orientated macromolecular conglomeration. In contrast, the membrane without experiencing the casting process showed a conventional surface morphology, which also demonstrated the effect of the casting process on the membrane surface morphology. In addition, a clearer image of the linear pore pattern was captured when lower concentration polymer dopes were used. In contrast, this phenomenon was invisible for the membrane formed by a higher concentration dope, which is in agreement with the reduction of orientation degree with increasing polymer concentration. Moreover, the systems containing additives with lower viscosity, such as glycerol, glycol, diethylene glycol and glucose, seem to be easier to form a linear pore pattern than the one containing distilled water, the latter produced a nearly elliptical pore pattern on the membrane surface instead. The investigation on this feature may provide more information for a complete description of the initiation and growth of the porous membrane. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The rheological properties of polymer dope solutions influence the membrane structure and performance. In the present work, the effect of shear rate on the fabrication of poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluropropylene) (PVDF–HFP) asymmetric microporous hollow fiber membranes has been studied in terms of membrane morphology, pure water flux, filtration rejection, mechanic strength and the performance of the membrane contactors made by as-spun hollow fibers for CO2 capture. The PVDF–HFP copolymer possesses strong viscoelasticity, which is believed to be associated with the occurrence of an irregular morphology in the PVDF–HFP hollow fibers made at a high dope extrusion rate. For the first time, the viscoelastic Mach number was applied to elaborate the deformation of the inner contour of the membranes by means of characterizing the delayed die swell in the process of hollow fiber fabrication. Based on the Mach number, several batches of PVDF–HFP dope solutions with an appropriate viscosity were adopted for hollow fiber fabrication at given dope extrusion rates. The effects of the shear rate on the permeation flux and molecular weight cutoff (MWCO) of the membranes made by Batch III-2L.5T dope solution (2wt.% LiCl and 0.5% Tween 80 as the additive) presented a V shape curve; while for the polymer dope of Batch V-2P9G (2wt.% PVP and 9wt.% glycerol as the additive), the effect of the shear rate on the resultant membranes showed a different pattern: increasing the shear rate resulted in smaller MWCOs, enhanced water permeation flux and higher elongation strength. These behaviors have been discussed thoroughly based on the shear-induced macromolecular chain orientation and close packing, variation of the porosity with the shear rate and shear-thinning rheological property of the dope solution under a high shear stress. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The hybrid powdered activated carbon (PAC)-submerged microfiltration hollow fiber membrane system with air bubbling has been simulated at two operation strategies of batch and continuous PAC dosing for trace organics removal from water. The mathematical models were developed based on corresponding solute mass balance equations and the homogeneous surface diffusion model (HSDM), where the two kinetic parameters D s and k f were obtained in Part I of this study. After verification with experiments using atrazine as the model trace organic compound, the developed models were used to predict the product water quality at various operating conditions. It was found that at the batch PAC dosing mode, the trace organic removal can be improved by increasing the bubbling rate or increasing the operation flux. While at the continuous PAC dosing mode, the target compound removal is independent on the bubbling rate, which suggested the possibility of reducing energy consumption by inducing a low bubbling rate. Besides, lower operation flux shows more benefit because of the longer hydraulic retention time. The simulation can provide a better understanding of the system and assist in evaluating various operation strategies properly. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The performance of pressure retarded osmosis (PRO) processes is significantly limited by membrane fouling. This study systematically investigated PRO scaling by silica, which is one of the most common salts causing membrane scaling. In particular, the effect of silica concentration, the initial water flux, the chemistry of feed solution (FS) /draw solution (DS), and the type of membrane were studied in the PRO mode of operation. It has been observed that a low silica concentration (e.g., 10 mg/L SiO 2 ) could even cause membrane scaling during a PRO process. The rate and extent of the scaling was mainly governed by the internal concentration of silica in the membrane support layer and the solution chemistry of the FS/DS. The results suggested that the scaling could be mitigated by decreasing the internal concentration through the reduction of bulk silica concentration, the optimization of operating water flux, and the decrease in membrane structural parameter. The structural parameter seems to play a dominant role in PRO scaling by silica than the membrane materials and other physico-chemical properties. In addition, silica scaling can be controlled by lowering the pH of the FS and/or DS. For the first time, it has been demonstrated that utilizing an acidic DS was highly effective in controlling PRO scaling, which can be attributed to the low local pH in the membrane support layer as a result of the internal concentration polarization (ICP) of the reversely diffused H + . This method opens a new dimension for PRO scaling/fouling control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Membrane technique is a promising way for the removal of dyes from wastewater. A unique approach combining both the adsorptive and the catalytic membrane processes was proposed on the basis of a new functionalized membrane. The membrane integrating both the adsorptive and catalytic activities was developed by introducing polyoxometalates (POMs) as an ideal candidate for the membrane functionalization via a novel sol–gel method. A two-step protocol, adsorptive separation and catalytic degradation, was designed for dye removal, realizing an excellent dye rejection with easy and economic membrane regeneration through simply soaking the membrane in a limited volume of dilute oxidant solution. This approach is feasible and versatile owing to the flexible selection of distinct POMs and design of catalytic degradation routes as required. As a result, the current research provides insight into a new methodology of the membrane technique in dye removal applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, mixed-matrix membranes comprising Zn(pyrz) 2 (SiF 6 ) (or SIFSIX-3-Zn) metal-organic framework were fabricated for potential applications in biogas upgrading and post-combustion CO 2 capture. First, submicron-sized Zn(pyrz) 2 (SiF 6 ) crystals that selectively adsorb and transport CO 2 over CH 4 and N 2 were synthesized by a facile sonochemical method. Then, high-quality mixed-matrix membranes free of filler/polymer interfacial voids were succesfully fabricated by employing crosslinked polyethylene oxide as a polymer matrix. CO 2 /CH 4 and CO 2 /N 2 mixture gas permeation tests revealed that the separation properties of mixed-matrix membranes, especially selectivities, were significantly improved compared to those of pure polymeric membrane owing to the selective CO 2 uptake and transport in Zn(pyrz) 2 (SiF 6 ) crystals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nature has contributed the best selective material, Aquaporin (AQP), for us. Herein we report on a highly permeable and selective hollow fiber composite membrane based on Aquaporin Z. The AQP-incorporated proteoliposomes were immobilized on the inner surface of a hollow fiber membrane substrate and subsequently coated by a polyamide layer formed by a non-gas assisted interfacial polymerization process. Morphological observation suggested that the introduced proteoliposomes were totally embedded in the polyamide layer with their intact spherical shape preserved. Hollow fiber composite membranes with different AQP covering densities were prepared and evaluated, and an elevated covering density of AQPs was found beneficial in improving the water flux and salt rejection of the resultant membrane. The biomimetic membrane with a high AQP covering density exhibited a 40 L m −2 h −1 permeate flux at 5 bar, almost 200% as much as the flux of a typical commercial reverse osmosis membrane (BW30). This membrane also exhibited above 97.5% rejection to a 500 ppm NaCl solution, which was superior to the commercial membrane tested under the same conditions. Moreover, a forward osmosis test of the AQP-based hollow fiber membrane also yielded a super high water flux without a notable increase in salt back diffusion. It was therefore concluded that the integration between embedded proteoliposomes and the polyamide layer was effectively defect-free, and the remarkably enhanced water permeation was contributed by the embedded AQPs. Furthermore, it was estimated that the newly developed AQP based hollow fiber membrane could reduce the power consumption significantly if applied in a water reclamation process. The AQP-based biomimetic membrane has been designed and fabricated beyond the proof-of-concept stage and is able to offer a novel means for tailoring the membrane materials to enhance membrane performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the big challenges for forward osmosis (FO) practical application is the lack of high performance FO membranes. In this research, we successfully fabricated a novel thin film nanocomposite (TFN) FO membrane consisting of a polyetherimide (PEI) nanofibrous substrate reinforced by functionalized multi-walled carbon nanotubes (f-CNTs) and an ultrathin polyamide rejection layer. In addition to the superior inter-connected porous structure of nanofibrous substrate, the well-distributed f-CNTs in the nanofibers increased the substrate porosity by 18% and reduced membrane's structural parameter ( S value) by 30%, and significantly improved the substrate tensile modulus by 53%. The high mechanical strength provided by the embedded f-CNTs enabled us to further increase the substrate pore size and porosity in order to mitigate the internal concentration polarization (ICP). This was demonstrated by the high performance TFN-2 FO membrane with a structural parameter of 310 μm. Its water flux at 1.0 M NaCl draw solution (DS) was as high as 61 and 33 L/m 2 h in the active layer facing draw solution (AL-DS) and active layer facing feed water (AL-FW) orientations, respectively, indicating the success of the design strategy, i.e., improved membrane mechanical strength enables a further improvement of the membrane structure to mitigate the ICP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Membrane devices, membrane processes and membrane-based conventional chemical engineering processes have achieved extraordinary levels of process intensification (PI). Generally membrane-based devices require smaller equipment to achieve a given device production rate. Further they can eliminate dispersion-based operation and achieve extraordinary selectivity. Exploiting the compartmentalization of two regions on two sides of the membrane, membrane devices can combine two processes carried out on two sides of the membrane in one membrane device. Selected membrane processes and their applications are briefly reviewed here in terms of the level of PI achieved. The membrane processes selected are generally recently commercialized or being commercialized or have great potential for commercialization: membrane bioreactor; membrane gas–liquid contacting; membrane solvent extraction; forward osmosis; pressure-retarded osmosis; membrane distillation; membrane distillation bioreactor. Examples of potential process intensification by membrane processes are briefly illustrated for processing of lignocellulose to biofuels in a biorefinery and for produced water treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Among four membrane distillation (MD) configurations, direct contact MD (DCMD) and vacuum MD (VMD) exhibit attractive characteristics from different perspectives and have great potential in treating reverse osmosis (RO) brine. Aiming at establishing a quick approach to predict the key output parameters associated with MD module performance and process efficiency, Aspen plus was employed to conduct systematic evaluation for both DCMD and VMD. Due to the lack of built-in MD operation models in Aspen Plus, one dimensional transport models were developed and complied as user customized units to simulate the hollow fiber-based DCMD and VMD modules. The corresponding programming was coded in FORTRAN language. The mathematical models for DCMD and VMD were verified by comparing the simulations results with the experimental and literature data, respectively. By incorporating the boundary-layer effect into the newly-established transport models, steady-state simulations of the respective DCMD and VMD flowsheets were carried out. The results showed that the DCMD presented much lower process efficiency than VMD in terms of permeation flux and specific energy consumption per kg distillate generated, even though it is considered as the simplest and most commonly employed configuration. With the same module specifications and operating conditions at equivalent energy cost, the VMD system demonstrated a minimal 2.5-fold higher average vapor flux (e.g., water recovery capacity) when compared to DCMD. The fundamental difference between the two configurations was revealed through MD mass- and heat-transfer analysis. Based on simulated temperature profiles, it was found that the VMD configuration presented a much higher driving force (transmembrane temperature difference) and negligible conductive heat loss to the membrane, which is a promising feature for achieving high thermal efficiency. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Composite nanofiltration (NF) hollow fiber membranes desirable for water softening under low operating pressure (<2bar) were successfully developed in the current study. The thin-film selective layer of the composite hollow fiber was formed through interfacial polymerization on the inner surface of a polyethersulfone (PES) ultrafiltration (UF) membrane substrate with branched polyethyleneimine (PEI) and trymesoyl chloride (TMC) employed as the monomers in aqueous and organic phases, respectively. It is found that a proper molecular weight of PEI and the presence of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) in the aqueous phase are important for a successful interfacial polymerization reaction. The resulting membrane prepared with optimized preparation parameters possesses a positively charged thin-film selective layer with pure water permeability (PWP) of about 17l/m2 hbar and a molecular weight cut-off (MWCO) of around 500Da, which translates into the effective pore diameter of about 1.29nm. With combined separation mechanisms of Donnan exclusion and steric hindrance, it was possible to achieve MgCl2 and MgSO4 rejection of 96.7% and 80.6%, respectively, when tested for 1000ppm feed solutions at 2bar operating pressure. In addition, for a 3000ppm TDS feed stream containing salt mixtures, the membrane rejections for Mg2+ and Ca2+ ions were found to be around 90% while the water flux was about 20l/m2 h at 2bar pressure, suggesting the potential of the newly developed composite hollow fibers for effective water softening application. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: There has been a resurgence of interest in forward osmosis (FO) as a potential means of desalination, dewatering and in pressure retarded osmosis, which Sidney Loeb was advocating over 3decades ago. This paper describes the characteristics and potential applications of a newly developed FO hollow fiber membrane, which was fabricated by interfacial polymerization on the inner surface of a polyethersulfone (PES) hollow fiber. This FO membrane presents excellent intrinsic separation properties, with a water flux of 42.6L/m2 h using 0.5M NaCl as the draw solution and DI water as the feed with the active layer facing the draw solution orientation at 23°C. The corresponding ratio of salt flux to water flux was only 0.094g/L, which is superior to all other FO membranes reported in the open literature. To evaluate different application scenarios, various NaCl solutions (500ppm (8.6mM), 1wt.% (0.17M) and 3.5wt.% (0.59M)) were used as the feed water to test the performance of the FO membrane. The membrane can achieve a water flux of 12.4L/m2 h with 3.5wt.% NaCl solution as the feed and 2M NaCl as the draw solution, suggesting it has good potential for seawater desalination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For the first time, the permeation experiments of CO2 are carried out on ultra-thin dense polyimide films (0.5–1.8 μm). The observation of accelerated CO2 plasticization indicates that the conventionally defined “plasticization pressure” as an inherent material properties measured from thick dense films is strongly thickness dependent. This accelerated plasticization phenomenon observed in ultra-thin dense films is probably attributed to two factors: (1) the swelling and softening effects of the sorbing CO2 molecules on the polymer chains; and (2) weak micro-mechanical properties and less sorption capacity of ultra-thin films to accommodate the sorbed CO2 molecules. Experimental results suggest that chemically modified ultra-thin films show characteristics of retarded aging process and significantly suppressed plasticization. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

We have studied the CO2-induced plasticization phenomenon of asymmetric poly(2,6-toluene-2,2-bis(3,4-dicarboxyphenyl) hexafluoropropane diimide) (6FDA-2,6 DAT) hollow fiber membranes for CO2/CH4 applications. Several processing and thermal approaches have been investigated to study their effectiveness to enhance anti-plasticization characteristics. Experimental results indicate that hollow fiber membranes spun at different shear rates and take-up rates cannot effectively suppress the CO2 induced plasticization. Thermally treated 6FDA-2,6 DAT hollow fiber membranes show significant reduction in CO2-induced plasticization. Wide-angle XRD spectra reveal no visible change in d-space after thermal treatment, while solubility data imply no cross-links occurred. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) pictures illustrate heat treatment results in more compact selective-skin layer and substructure, thus strengthening the anti-plasticization characteristics of hollow fibers. By considering the degree of plasticization, dense-layer thickness, and heat treatment temperature, an optimal temperature of 250 °C (for 5 min) is identified for the heat treatment of 6FDA-2,6 DAT hollow fiber membranes. NMR spectra suggest the cause of forming a highly densified skin after heat treatment is mainly due to chain relaxation and enhanced nodule interaction at elevated temperatures. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Porous hydrophobic polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) membranes have been extensively used in direct-contact membrane distillation (DCMD) processes. However, these PVDF membranes are vulnerable to membrane fouling and pore wetting in low surface tension feeds, restricting its application for water recovery from challenging industrial wastewaters. Therefore, it is of paramount importance to engineer fouling- and wetting-resistant MD membranes for robust long-term applications. In this study, a superoleophobic composite hollow fiber membrane with sandwich structure has been developed via accelerated oxidant-induced polydopamine (PDA) deposition on both the outer and inner surfaces of a commercial hydrophobic PVDF membrane under slightly acidic conditions (pH = 5). The modified surface prevents organics adhesion ascribing to its underwater superoleophobicity while the unmodified pores remain hydrophobic for vapor transport. The long-term robustness of the PDA-decorated membrane in highly saline feeds containing low surface tension contaminants has been evaluated via bench-scale DCMD experiments. In contrast to the pristine PVDF membrane, the PDA-decorated membrane exhibits excellent fouling- and wetting-resistant properties in different surfactant solutions as well as oil-in-water emulsion. The PDA-decorated membrane has also been used for seawater desalination, during which it maintains a stable flux and high salt rejection rate. Furthermore, the PDA-decorated membrane presents a flux enhancement of up to 70% over the pristine PVDF membrane in 3.5 wt% NaCl solution at 333 K. This study demonstrates the potential of the PDA-decorated membrane for extended DCMD applications such as water recovery from industrial wastewater containing low surface tension substances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An inorganic-organic fluorinated titania-silica (fTiO 2 -SiO 2 )/polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) composite membrane was fabricated, via facile in-situ vapor-induced hydrolyzation method followed by hydrophobic modification. This low mass-transfer-resistance membrane, composing of a mesoporous layer deposited onto macroporous substrate, was designed for biogas upgrading in gas-liquid membrane contactor (GLMC) application. The surface hydroxylation was introduced to facilitate the bridging of TiO 2 -SiO 2 nanoparticles and PVDF substrate, which resulted in a more coherent deposition of the fTiO 2 -SiO 2 layer onto the substrate. The surface microstructure was fine-tuned by controlling the amount of doped Si precursor, forming an integrated mesoporous fTiO 2 -SiO 2 layer. The resultant fTiO 2 -SiO 2 /PVDF composite hollow fiber membrane exhibited a tighter pore size of ~25 nm and a desired water contact angle of ~124°, which effectively prevented membrane wetting. The CO 2 absorption fluxes of 8.0 and 5.6 × 10 −3 mol m −2 s −1 were achieved due to the lower mass transfer resistance, by using 1 M of monoethanolamine (MEA) and sodium taurinate as absorbents with a liquid velocity of 0.25 m s −1 , respectively. The long-term stability test showed a good integrity between the fTiO 2 -SiO 2 layer and the PVDF substrate after 31-days of GLMC operation. The main benefit is the robust fluorinated inorganic layer which exhibited strong chemical resistance and high hydrophobicity, thus preventing membrane damage and pore wetting. Overall, this work provides an insight into the preparation of high–performance inorganic/organic composite hollow fiber membranes for carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) removal in GLMC application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Extractive membrane bioreactors (EMBRs) are promising wastewater treatment processes combining an aqueous-aqueous extractive membrane process and biodegradation. The target contaminants diffuse through an extractive membrane and are metabolized by the active biofilm attached on the downstream membrane surface and microorganisms in the bioreactor. The benefit of EMBRs is that the biomass is not exposed to the potentially hostile feed conditions (high salinity, pH extremes etc.). The physicochemical properties of membrane surfaces on the receiving side facing the bioreactor are critical in controlling the extent and nature of the membrane-attached biofilm. In this work, novel nanofibrous composite membranes with a superhydrophobic surface (coded as NC) or a superhydrophilic surface (coded as M-NC) on the receiving side have been designed, developed and evaluated in EMBRs. Compared to commercial polydimethysiloxane (PDMS) tubular membranes, both NC and M-NC possessed 10 times higher phenol extraction efficiency in an aqueous-aqueous extractive membrane process. The uncontrolled biofilm growth on the membrane surface after 12 days of cross flow EMBR (CF-EMBR) operation resulted in 62% reductions of overall mass transfer coefficients ( k 0 ) of both NC and M-NC. However, both membranes exhibited better performance in a submerged EMBR (S-EMBR) configuration due to the presence of air bubbles scouring on the membrane surface. Moreover, the fouling-releasing fluoro-polymeric surface of the hydrophobic NC was able to attenuate the tendency of microbial attachment and encourage biofilm scouring from the membrane surface in the S-EMBR. In contrast, more polysaccharides were present in the biofilm on the poly (ethylene glycol) (PEG)-modified M-NC surface, which acted as adhesives to tightly immobilize the biofilm on the membrane surface. Lastly, the NC which exhibited a higher stable k 0 of 5.7 × 10 −7 m/s in 12 days of S-EMBR operation, has been tested in a pilot S-EMBR to treat actual industrial wastewater. It showed a stable and competitive k 0 of 6.5 × 10 −7 m/s in 31 days operation, demonstrating its feasibility for hostile industrial wastewater treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Phenol removal and recovery from wastewaters are highly demanded in industries due to its high toxicity and industrial importance. It can transport through the silicon-based rubber polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) via the solution-diffusion mechanism. To improve the phenol removal efficiency in extractive processes, dense PDMS membranes with different macromolecular structures have been developed and evaluated in this work. The condensation-cured PDMS membranes (PA) with network architecture exhibited higher phenol partition coefficients ( K ) than the hydrosilylation-cured PDMS membranes with linear and branch architectures. This was attributed to the four-armed quaternary-siloxy linkages formed in the three-dimensional network structure, increasing the free volume for phenol passage and hydrogen bonding between phenol and PDMS matrix. The K of PA was further enhanced by optimizing the PDMS precursor chain length and cross-linker amount, and the corresponding membrane mechanical properties and phenol overall mass transfer coefficients ( k 0 ) were examined. The optimal PA formulation was utilized to fabricate a highly effective nanofibrous composite membrane via spray coating. The resultant composite membrane exhibited a k 0 of 18.3 ± 1.3 × 10 −7 m/s in an aqueous-aqueous extractive process, significantly outperforming the commercial counterpart with 45% increment. This is the first demonstration of the importance of PDMS macromolecular structures on phenol extraction. The newly-developed condensation-cured PDMS could contribute to the fabrication of highly effective composite membranes for various extractive processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A significant amount of methane (CH 4 ) produced from anaerobic digestions of wastewater is dissolved in liquid effluent and discharged. The recovery of dissolved CH 4 is therefore essential in ensuring an enhanced energy production of the anaerobic processes, and minimizing environmental impacts of the greenhouse gas. In this work, a membrane contactor is employed as a mass transfer equipment for the CH 4 recovery. A mathematical model considering simultaneous desorption of CH 4 and carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) is developed using a resistance-in-series model to calculate the overall mass transfer coefficients. The simulations were validated with experimental results obtained using an in-house fabricated hollow fiber membrane as well as a real effluent from Anaerobic Membrane Bioreactor (AnMBR) and synthetic effluent made of water saturated with biogas. Results showed that the CO 2 fluxes were higher than those of CH 4 fluxes due to its higher concentration in liquid phase. A decrease of liquid phase mass transfer resistance by an increase in liquid velocity significantly enhanced both CH 4 and CO 2 fluxes. While, an increase in gas velocity slightly affected the CH 4 flux but enhanced the CO 2 flux considerably. It was also found that the CO 2 desorption increased the CH 4 recovery rate. The desorbed CO 2 helped to increase the mass transfer driving force by reducing the partial pressure of CH 4 in the gas side, and enhancing the gas phase mass transfer coefficient to facilitate CH 4 desorption. The increase of liquid velocity increased mole fraction of CH 4 in the gas outlet but decreased the rate of CH 4 recovery. On the other hand, applying vacuum conditions to decrease gas pressure enhanced the rate of CH 4 recovery but lower the CH 4 mole fraction in the product gas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, pressure retarded osmosis (PRO) has attracted increasing interest in the harvesting of the renewable osmotic power. However, its performance can be significantly influenced by the membrane deformation in the operation when the PRO membrane is lack of sufficient mechanical strength. In this study, we fabricated three different fabric-reinforced thin-film composite (TFC) flat-sheet PRO membranes for osmotic power harvesting. These membranes were prepared through integrating three different types of fabric reinforcement (i.e., tricot fabric, woven fabric and nonwoven fabric) in the membrane substrate layer. It was found that the fabric reinforcement plays an important role in the membrane structural property and mechanical property, both of which can significantly influence the PRO performance. The nonwoven-fabric-reinforced membrane had the greatest structural parameter and thus exhibited the lowest performance. Although the tricot-fabric-reinforced membrane and the woven-fabric-reinforced membrane had similar performance in the forward osmosis (FO) condition ( ∆P =0), the former showed superior performance in the PRO condition ( ∆P >0). This is mainly because the tricot-fabric-reinforced membrane had better mechanical resistance to the multi-directional tensile stretching, which rendered it less prone to changes in structural and separation properties in the PRO operation. This further suggests that the tricot fabric has high potential for future PRO membrane fabrication. The current study also elaborates the coupled effects of compression and stretching on PRO membrane deformation and performance. The results obtained in this study may provide important insights into reinforced PRO membrane design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Membrane distillation (MD) technology is being extensively studied to address operational challenges such as undesired thermal efficiency and scaling phenomenon in recovering valuable solutes and minimizing brine disposal. This study has explored the working mechanisms of utilizing gas–liquid two-phase flow to enhance heat transfer and mitigate scaling formation in MD concentration process, based on the quantification of heat-transfer coefficients and local scaling-resistance associated with bubble size properties. With the aid of direct observation and statistical analysis on the bubble characteristics in a specially-designed direct contact MD (DCMD) module, it was found that the bubbles with small mean bubble size and narrow size distribution were preferred for creating even flow distribution, intensifying mixing and enhancing surface shear rate. Compared to non-bubbling DCMD, the heat-transfer coefficient and temperature polarization coefficient ( TPC ) reached up to 2.30- and 2.13-fold, respectively, at an optimal gas flowrate of 0.2 L min −1 . With the theoretical expressions for local scaling resistance derived based on the resistance-in-series model, the relative permeation flux ( J w/o|t=t1 /J w/o|t=0 ) in non-bubbling MD was quantified and found to rapidly decline by 65% as the concentration process progressed, consistent with the increasing trend of the ratio of local scaling resistance to the overall resistance ( r fl /r ov ). Fortunately, the introduction of gas bubbles has shown benefits for supersaturation brine concentrating MD process – remarkably decreased the local-scaling resistance due to bubble-intensified shear stress and enhanced hydrodynamics. Also, the total water removal for the brine concentration process was significantly improved by 131% and the discharged brine volume was reduced accordingly at appropriately selected gas flow rates. Nevertheless, at inappropriately high gas flowrates, high energy consumption and potential fiber breakage should be avoided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: A novel functionalized multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) immobilized polyethyleneimine–poly(amide–imide) (PEI–PAI) hollow fiber membrane was designed and fabricated using an easily scalable method. PAI hollow fiber was spun via phase inversion, followed by functionalized MWCNTs immobilization via vacuum filtration before a chemical post-treatment using PEI was applied to obtain a positively charged selective layer. The resulting membranes were evaluated in the forward osmosis (FO) process. The membrane prepared using a 0.62mg/L of MWCNTs solution shows a pure water permeability of 4.48L/m2hbar with a MgCl2 rejection of 87.8% at 1bar. This is a 44% enhancement in water permeability without significant compromise on the salt permeability when compared to membranes without MWCNTs. In addition, FO water flux of membranes prepared using 0.31 and 1.25mg/L of MWCNTs solutions have also been enhanced up to 29% without compromising the solute flux in the active layer facing feed water orientation using 0.5M MgCl2 solution as the draw solution and deionized water as the feed water. These encouraging results suggest that hollow fiber membranes immobilized with commercial MWCNTs exhibit good potential to be further developed for applications in the FO process. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Exploitation of osmotically-driven membrane (OM) technologies and accompanying semi-permeable OM fabrication have become promising topics with numerous potential applications. This paper presents a systematic comparison study of nanofiltration (NF)-like and reverse osmosis (RO)-like thin film composite (TFC) OMs in terms of flux performance and fouling behavior. Major governing mechanisms of OM performance were elucidated and revealed to be related with properties of membrane, draw and feed solutions. Results showed the crucial influence of draw solute reverse diffusion (M ICP-Js ) on OM water flux. Thus the high-rejection RO-like OMs generally performed better than NF-like counterpart in sodium chloride based osmotic processes. On the other hand, the high permeability of NF-like OMs can achieve higher water flux when proper draw solutes were used to minimize M ICP-Js . Fouling tests also suggest that the NF-like TFC OMs tend to be more fouling resistant due to its smooth membrane surface. The current study led to a set of systematic criteria for the selection of osmotically-driven membranes, draw solution and other operational conditions, of which the practicability was further elucidated in potential OM applications. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Aquaporins are water channel proteins with excellent water permeability and solute rejection, which makes them promising for preparing high-performance biomimetic membranes. Despite the growing interest in aquaporin-based biomimetic membranes (ABMs), it is challenging to produce robust and defect-free ABMs that can be easily scaled up. In the current study, a thin film composite (TFC) ABM was prepared by the interfacial polymerization method, where AquaporinZ-containing proteoliposomes were added to the m-phenylene-diamine aqueous solution. Control membranes, either without aquaporins or with inactive (mutant) aquaporins, were also similarly prepared. The separation performance of these membranes was evaluated by cross-flow reverse osmosis (RO) tests. Compared to the controls, the active ABM achieved significantly higher water permeability (∼4L/m2 hbar) with comparable NaCl rejection (∼97%) at an applied pressure of 5bar. Its permeability was ∼40% higher compared to a commercial brackish water RO membrane (BW30) and an order of magnitude higher compared to a seawater RO membrane (SW30HR), which clearly demonstrates the great potential of the TFC ABM for desalination applications. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The forward osmosis membrane bioreactor (FOMBR) has received much attention recently. Due to the high rejection nature of FO membranes, the biomass, dissolved organic and inorganic compounds retained in the bioreactor could cause membrane fouling by multiple mechanisms. In this study, a 45% permeate flux decrease was observed in a well controlled FOMBR equipped with a submerged hollow fiber FO membrane module with the active layer facing the draw solution (AL-DS) configuration. A series of characterizations were performed to explore membrane fouling mechanisms in the FOMBR. It was found that a biofouling layer covered the substrate surface of the FO membrane with a combined structure of bacterial clusters and extracellular polymeric substances (EPS), which contributed to 72% drop of the membrane mass transfer coefficient (K m ) and around 10% increase in the hydraulic resistance. The inorganic fouling was caused by Ca, Mg, Al, Si, Fe and P that contributed 60% of the total hydraulic resistance of the fouled membrane and decreased the K m by around 34%. These results suggest that in this application the FO fouling is governed by the coupled influences of biofilm formation and inorganic scaling. When the configuration was reversed with the active layer facing the feed solution (AL-FS), a negligible flux decline was obtained by applying intermittent tap water flushing to the membrane surface, which suggests that the AL-FS orientation is favorable for FOMBR operation. An effective strategy for fouling control is to prevent internal scaling and the over-growth of biofilm on the membrane surface. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Forward osmosis (FO) has attracted wide interest for its many potential applications. Recent developments suggest that double-skinned FO membranes may perform superiorly over conventional single-skinned ones. In this design, a dense rejection skin facing the draw solution is responsible for the separation, while a second skin facing the feed solution is designed to prevent foulants entering into the porous support layer sandwiched between the two skins. For the first time, an analytical model is developed for double-skinned FO membranes and is verified experimentally. Model simulations suggest that an optimal double-skinned membrane shall have a feed skin similar to that of a low rejection nanofiltration membrane to minimize the overall hydraulic resistant and to reduce internal concentration polarization. On the other hand, the optimization of the draw skin calls for a compromise between its water permeability and solute rejection. FO water flux is greater for support layers with higher mass transfer coefficients. In addition, it decreases with decreasing draw solution concentration and increasing feed solution concentration. While membrane orientation plays an important role for applications with low feed solution concentrations (with the denser skin preferentially facing the draw solution), this effect becomes negligible at high feed solution concentrations. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: There has been an increasing interest in the novel integration of forward osmosis (FO) and biological process known as the osmotic membrane bioreactor (OMBR). However, little operating experience is available to adequately assess the feasibility of the technology for larger scale application. The goal of this study is to provide fundamental information on the technology. In this study, an OMBR system was continuously operated for 73days. It was found that the high retention property of the FO membrane and salt transmission from the draw solution resulted in increasing mixed liquor salinity until a stable state was reached. In spite of the elevated salinity, the water flux was relatively stable at around 3Lm−2 h−1. Post-experiment analyses indicated mild membrane fouling, and its effect on water permeability was insignificant. An ion analysis check indicated that scaling did not occur. The SEM examination detected a thin gel-like secondary layer on the membrane surface. It was deduced that this secondary layer could have an influencing role on salt transmission during the experiment, and moderated salt concentration in the bioreactor. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Novel osmotic membrane bioreactors (OMBRs) have been recently reported in the literature. An OMBR uses a dense salt-rejecting forward osmosis (FO) membrane, which exhibits high retention of organic matter and various other contaminants. Meanwhile, the high rejection nature also leads to the accumulation of salts in the bioreactor, which can adversely affect the biological activities as well as the FO water flux. A salt accumulation model is developed in the current study. Our model suggests that both the bioreactor salt concentration and the FO water flux are controlled by membrane properties (water permeability A, salt permeability B, mass transfer coefficient K m, and membrane orientation relative to the draw solution) and the OMBR operational conditions (salt concentration of the influent wastewater, draw solution concentration, hydraulic retention time (HRT), and sludge retention time (SRT)). The salt accumulation is contributed by both the influent wastewater and the reverse diffusion of solutes from the draw solution, and is directly proportional to the volumetric concentration factor (i.e., the SRT/HRT ratio). The relative importance of reverse diffusion over contribution from influent solutes is governed by the membrane selectivity. For a relatively selective membrane (B/A ≪the osmotic pressure of the influent water), solute reverse diffusion has negligible effect on OMBR performance. In contrast, the salt accumulation and FO water flux reduction are governed by reverse diffusion for B/A greater than the osmotic pressure of the influent water. The current study reveals the critical importance of the B/A ratio and HRT/SRT ratio for optimized OMBR operation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Forward osmosis (FO) is attracting increasing interest for its potential applications in water and wastewater treatment and desalination. One of the major drawbacks of FO is internal concentration polarization (ICP), which significantly limits the FO flux efficiency. In addition, FO membrane flux can be adversely affected by membrane fouling. The effects of ICP and fouling on FO flux behavior were systematically investigated in the current study. Both theoretical model and experimental results demonstrated that the FO flux was highly non-linear with respect to the apparent driving force (the concentration difference between the draw solution and the feed water) as a result of ICP. ICP played a dominant role on FO flux behavior at greater draw solution concentrations and/or greater membrane fluxes due to the exponential dependence of ICP on flux level. Compared to the active layer facing draw solution (AL-facing-DS) configuration, more severe ICP was observed when the membrane active layer faced the feed water (AL-facing-FW) as a result of dilutive ICP in the FO support layer. Interestingly, the AL-facing-FW configuration showed remarkable flux stability against both dilution of the bulk draw solution and membrane fouling. In this configuration, any attempt to reduce membrane flux was compensated by a reduced level of ICP. The net result was only a marginal flux reduction. In addition, foulant deposition was insignificant in this configuration. Thus, the AL-facing-FW configuration enjoyed inherently stable flux, however, at the expense of severer initial ICP. In contrast, the AL-facing-DS configuration suffered severe flux reduction as porous membrane support faced the humic acid containing feed water. The flux loss in this configuration was likely due to the combined effects of (1) the internal clogging of the FO support structure as well as (2) the resulting enhanced ICP in the support layer. The latter was caused by reduced porosity and reduced mass transfer coefficient of the support. The pore clogging enhanced ICP mechanism probably played a dominant role in FO flux reduction at higher flux levels. To the authors’ best knowledge, this is the first study to systematically demonstrate the coupled effects of ICP and fouling on the FO flux behavior. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]