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Chemical Cleaning and Membrane Aging in MBR for Textile Wastewater Treatment

Huarong Yu1,2, Siyuan Shangguan1,2, Chenyu Xie3

  • 1Key Laboratory for Water Quality and Conservation of the Pearl River Delta, Ministry of Education, Guangzhou 510006, China.

Membranes
|July 25, 2022
PubMed

Insights

Polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) membranes degrade significantly during chemical cleaning for textile wastewater treatment, unlike more stable polyether sulfone (PES) and polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) membranes. This highlights the need for chemically resistant membranes in membrane bioreactors.

Area of Science:

  • Environmental Science
  • Materials Science
  • Chemical Engineering

Background:

  • Membrane bioreactors (MBRs) are crucial for textile wastewater treatment.
  • Severe membrane fouling necessitates intensive chemical cleaning in MBRs.
  • Membrane aging under chemical cleaning conditions is a critical concern.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the aging properties of polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), polyether sulfone (PES), and polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) membranes.
  • To evaluate membrane stability during chemical cleaning in textile wastewater MBRs.

Main Methods:

  • Pilot-scale MBR operation for textile wastewater treatment.
  • Characterization of used membranes.
  • Batch chemical soaking tests to assess aging properties.

Main Results:

  • PVDF membranes showed significant degradation and altered properties (hydrophobicity, pore size, flux) under acid and alkaline aging.
  • PES and PTFE membranes exhibited greater stability, with only interfacial properties affected by chemical cleaning.
  • Observed aging mechanisms included fluoro-substitution, dehydrofluorination (PVDF, PTFE), and chain scission (PES).

Conclusions:

  • PVDF membranes are highly susceptible to chemical cleaning-induced aging in textile wastewater MBRs.
  • PES and PTFE membranes demonstrate superior chemical stability.
  • Development of chemically stable and anti-aging membranes is essential for effective MBR operation in textile wastewater treatment.
Keywords:
chemical cleaningmembrane agingmembrane bioreactortextile wastewater

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