Pilot scale membrane separation of plating wastewater by nanofiltration and reverse osmosis

Plating wastewater containing various heavy metals can be produced by several industries. Specifically, we focused on the removal of copper (Cu2+) and nickel (Ni+) ions from the plating wastewater because all these ions are strictly regulated when discharged into watershed in Korea. The application of both nanofiltration (NF) and reverse osmosis (RO) technologies for the treatment of wastewater containing copper and nickel ions to reduce fresh water consumption and environmental degradation was investigated. In this work, the removal of copper (Cu2+) and nickel (Ni+) ions from synthetic water was studied on pilot scale remove by before using two commercial nanofiltration (NF) and reverse osmosis(RO) spiral-wound membrane modules (NE2521-90 and RE2521-FEN by Toray Chemical). The influence of main operating parameters such as feed concentration on the heavy metals rejection and permeate flux of both membranes, was investigated. Synthetic plating wastewater samples containing copper ($Cu^{2+}$) and nickel ($Ni^{2+}$) ions at various concentrations(1, 20, 100, 400 mg/L) were prepared and subjected to treatment by NF and RO in the pilot plant. The results showed that NF, RO process, with 98% and 99% removal for copper and nickel, respectively, could achieve high removal efficiency of the heavy metals.