• Membrane Journal
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.126-134
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• 2016

To produce renewable biomethane from biogas, the properties of physical absorbents such as water, methanol, 1-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP), poly(ethylene glycol) dimethylether (PEGDME), and propylene carbonate (PC) were studied, and PC was applied to membrane contactor systems. Among physical absorbents, PC exhibited a high contact angle of $58.3^{\circ}$ on polypropylene surface, and a PC/water mixture (5 wt%) increased the contact angle to $90^{\circ}$. Furthermore, the PC/water mixture presented higher $CO_2$ absorption capacities (0.148-0.157 mmol/g) than that of water (0.121 mmol/g), demonstrating a good property as an absorbent for membrane contactors. Actual operations in membrane contactors using the PC/water mixture resulted in $CO_2$ removal of 98.0-97.8% with biomethane purities of 98.5-98.3%, presenting a strong potential for biogas treatment. However, the PC/water mixture yielded moderate improved in $CO_2$ removal and methane recovery, as compared with water in the membrane contactor operation. This is originated from insufficient desorption processes to reuse absorbent and low $CO_2$ flux of the PC/water absorbent. Thus, it is requiring optimizations of membrane contactor technology including development of absorbent and improvement of operation process.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.46-54
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• 2011

In this study, combined effect of airflow rate, $TiO_2$ concentration, solution pH and $Ca^{+2}$ addition on HA (humic acid) fouling in submerged, photocatalytic hollow-fiber microfiltraiton was investigated systematically. Results showed that UV irradiation alone without $TiO_2$ nanoparticles could reduce HA fouling by 40% higher than the fouling obtained without UV irradiation. Compared to the HA fouling without UV irradiation and $TiO_2$ nanoparticles, the HA fouling reduction was about 25% higher only after the addition of $TiO_2$ nanoparticles. Both adsorptive and hydrophilic properties of $TiO_2$ nanoparticles for the HA can be involved in mitigating membrane fouling. It was also found that the aeration itself had lowest effect on fouling mitigation while the HA fouling was affected significantly by solution pH. Transient behavior of zeta potential at different solution pHs suggested that electrostatic interactions between HA and $TiO_2$ nanoparticles should improve photocatalytic efficiency on HA fouling. $TiO_2$ concentration was observed to be more important factor than airflow rate to reduce HA fouling, implying that surface reactivity on $TiO_2$ naoparticles should be important fouling mitigation mechanisms in submerged, photocatalyic microfiltraiton. This was further supported by investigating the effect of $Ca^{+2}$ addition on fouling mitigation. At higher pH (= 10), addition of $Ca^{+2}$ can play an important role in bridging between HA and $TiO_2$ nanoparticles and increasing surface reactivity on nanoparticles, thereby reducing membrane fouling.