Towards deep purification of secondary textile effluent by using a dynamic membrane process: Pilot-scale verification

Area of Science:

• Environmental Engineering
• Water Treatment Technologies
• Materials Science

Background:

• Textile industry effluent contains persistent micro-organic pollutants.
• Conventional treatment methods struggle with refractory compounds.
• Dynamic membranes (DM) offer a potential solution for deep purification.

Purpose of the Study:

• To verify the technical and economic feasibility of a pilot-scale DM system using powered activated carbon (PAC) for textile effluent.
• To investigate the impact of PAC characteristics on purification efficiency and operational costs.
• To identify key pollutants removed by the DM system.

Main Methods:

• Construction and operation of a pilot-scale DM system using PAC.
• Hydrodynamic experiments to assess filtration resistance and performance.
• Analysis of micro-organic pollutant removal, focusing on aliphatic and aromatic compounds.
• Evaluation of PAC size and dosage effects on purification and cost.

Main Results:

• Filtration resistance increased with operation time, influenced significantly by PAC size.
• Smaller PAC size and higher dosage improved pollutant removal but increased costs.
• Over 50% of residual micro-organic pollutants, mainly aliphatic and aromatic compounds, were removed.
• Aromatic protein II was identified as a major removed pollutant.

Conclusions:

• PAC-based DM systems are technically feasible for deep purification of textile effluent.
• Optimizing PAC type and dosage is crucial for balancing removal efficiency and operational costs.
• Regenerating spent PAC offers a viable strategy for reducing overall treatment expenses.