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Updated: Jul 7, 2025

Ion-Exchange Membranes for the Fabrication of Reverse Electrodialysis Device
Published on: July 20, 2021
Electrochemical oxidation of reverse osmosis concentrate using a pilot-scale reactive electrochemical membrane
Lehui Ren1, Yang Li1, Yun Guo1
1State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, Advanced Membrane Technology Center of Tongji University, Shanghai Institute of Pollution Control and Ecological Security, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, China.
Abstract:
Scale-up treatment of real wastewater holds the key to promoting the practical application of electrochemical filtration technology. This work used a pilot-scale Ti/Pd reactive electrochemical membrane (REM) system (12 REM modules with a total REM area of 0.144 m2) to treat high-salinity reverse osmosis concentrate (ROC) from a chemical industry park. The pilot-scale Ti/Pd REM system demonstrated effective electrochemical degradation of ROC wastewater, achieving removal efficiencies of 82.3 ± 1.9% for COD and 46.7 ± 5.6% for TN at a membrane flux of 90 L/(m2·h) and a cell voltage of 5 V, with an energy consumption of 0.045 kWh/g-COD. Singlet oxygen (1O2) and reactive chlorine species were identified as the two primary reactive oxygen species generated in the Ti/Pd REM system. Fluorescence spectroscopy and Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FT-ICR-MS) analysis indicated that the pilot-scale Ti/Pd REM treatment effectively oxidized humic acid-like substance and unsaturated aromatic compounds. Overall, the Ti/Pd REM technology shows a promising application potential for the treatment of high-salinity ROC from the chemical industry.
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