• Membrane Journal
• /
• v.27 no.2
• /
• pp.199-204
• /
• 2017

In this study, a study was carried out for the separation of metal ions in lignin extract discharged from the pulp process. alumina powders were mixed with DMAc (N, N-dimethylacetamide) solvent and PESf (Polyethersulfone) polymer, PVP (polyvinylpyrrolidone) dispersant was added and slip casting method was used to prepare the membrane. The membrane was measured for pore size through a CFP (Capillary Flow Porometer) device and the surface and cross-section of the membrane were observed through a FE-SEM (Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope). The flux was calculated by measuring the filtered weight per hour using a separation experiment device. Pore size measurements were performed under increasing pressure from 0 psi to 30 psi. The pore size of the membrane was $0.4{\mu}m$ and the flux decreased from the initial flux value of $6.36kg{\cdot}m^{-2}{\cdot}h^{-1}$ to $1.98kg{\cdot}m^{-2}{\cdot}h^{-1}$ due to the fouling of the membrane. After the permeation experiment, membrane contaminants were removed by simple washing. Separation experiments showed that Na contained in the initial lignin extract was reduced by 69%, Fe was removed by 87%, K by 95%, Ca by 93% and Mg by 96%.

• Membrane Journal
• /
• v.30 no.3
• /
• pp.158-172
• /
• 2020

In the aspect of saving energy and water, facilitating the separation membrane for the water treatment has been rising recently as one of the possible solutions. However, microbial biofouling effect is the biggest obstacle that hinders reaching higher permeability over a prolonged period of nanofiltration operation. To solve this problem and fully utilize the filtration membranes with enhanced performance, largely two kinds of solutions are studied and the first and the most commonly mentioned type is the one using the silver nanoparticles. Since silver nanoparticles are important to be well tailored on membrane surface, various methods have been applied and suggested. Using silver nanoparticles however also has the drawbacks or possible toxicity risks, raising the need for other types of utilizing non silver particles to functionalize the membrane, such as copper, graphene or zinc oxides, and amine moieties. Each attempt included in either kind has produced some notable results in killing, preventing, or repelling the bacteria while at the same time, left some unsolved points to be evaluated. In this review, the effects of metal nanoparticles and other materials on the antifouling properties of water treatment membranes are summarized.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
• /
• v.24 no.6
• /
• pp.656-662
• /
• 2013

The iron oxide ($Fe_3O_4$) particles in the coolant of the secondary system of a nuclear power plant reduce the heat transfer performance or induce corrosion on the surface of the heat transfer tube. To prevent these problems, we conducted a study to improve the dispersion stability of iron oxide using polymeric dispersant injection in simulated secondary system water. The three kinds of anionic polymers containing carboxyl groups were selected. The dispersion characteristics of the iron oxide particles with the polymeric dispersants were evaluated by performing a settling test and measuring the transmission, the zeta potential, and the hydrodynamic particle size of the colloid solutions. Polymeric dispersants had a significant impact on the iron oxide dispersion stability in an aqueous solution. While the dispersant injection tended to improve the dispersion stability, the dispersion stability of iron oxide did not increase linearly with an increase in the dispersant concentration. This non-linearity is due to the agglomerations between the iron oxide particles above a critical dispersant concentration. The effect of the dispersant on the dispersion stability improvement was significant when the dispersant concentration ratio (ppm, dispersant/magnetite) was in the range of 0.1 to 0.01. This suggests that the optimization of dispersant concentration is required to maximize the iron oxide removal effect with the dispersant injection considering the applied environments, the iron oxide concentration and the concentration ratio of dispersant to iron oxide.

• Clean Technology
• /
• v.5 no.2
• /
• pp.25-35
• /
• 1999

Behavior of permeate flux decline was examined through the hollow fiber membrane in ultrafiltration system for Si colloidal solution. Flux decline with time was due to the growth of Si cake deposited on the membrane surface and the pore blocking by Si particles for the hollow fiber membrane. At the pseudo steady state of operation, the permeate flux of dead-end flow was 60 % to that of the cross flow. The ratio of permeate flux to the pure water flux, $J/J_w$, decreased with increasing the trans-membrane pressure, from 64.2 % for $0.5kg_f/cm^2$ to 45.7 % for $2.0kg_f/cm^2$. When the feed flow rate was 3 L/min, the pore blocking model was dominant at the initial period of filtration and was followed by the cake filtration model. And with increasing the feed flow rate from 1 L/min to 3 L/min, $R_c$ was $1.79{\times}10^{12}{\sim}2.34{\times}10^{12}m^{-1}$ which was the about 40 % decreased value to that of the 1 L/min while $R_p$ was not changed and was $1.71{\times}10^{12}m^{-1}$ approximately.

• Membrane Journal
• /
• v.31 no.1
• /
• pp.16-34
• /
• 2021

Water supplies are decreasing in comparison to increasing clean water demands. Using nanofiltration is one of the most effective and economical methods to meet the need for clean water. Common methods for desalination are reverse osmosis and nanofiltration. However, pristine membranes lack the essential features which are, stability, economic efficiency, antibacterial and antifouling performances. To enhance the properties of the pristine membranes, graphene oxide (GO) is a promising and widely researched material for thin film composites (TFC) membrane due to their characteristics that help improve the hydrophilicity and anti-fouling properties. Modification of the membrane can be done on different layers. The thin film composite membranes are composed of three different layers, the top filtering active thin polyamide (PA) layer, supporting porous layer, and supporting fabric. Forward osmosis (FO) process is yet another energy efficient desalination process, but its efficiency is affected due to biofouling. Incorporation of GO enhance antibacterial properties leading to reduction of biofilm formation on the membrane surface. Pressure retarded osmosis (PRO) is an excellent process to generate clean energy from sea water and the biofouling of membrane is reduced by introduction of GO into the active layer of the TFC membrane. Different modifications on the membranes are being researched, each modification with its own advantages and disadvantages. In this review, modifications of nanofiltration membranes and their composites, characterization, and performances are discussed.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
• /
• v.31 no.1
• /
• pp.51-57
• /
• 2009

Biofouling in seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) desalination process causes many problems such as flux decline, biodegradation of membrane, increased cleaning time, and increased energy consumption and operational cost. Therefore biofouling is considered as the most critical problem in system operation. To control biofouling in early stage, detection of the most problematic bacteria causing biofouling is required. In this study, six model bacteria were chosen; Bacillus sp., Flavobacterium sp., Mycobacterium sp., Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Pseudomonas fluorescens, and Rhodobacter sp. based on report in the literature and phylogenetic analysis of seawater intake and fouled RO membrane. The adhesion to RO membrane, the high pressure resistance, and the hydrophobicity of the six model bacteria were examined to find out their fouling potential. Rhodobacter sp. and Mycobacterium sp. were found to attach very well to RO membrane surface compared to others used in this study. The test of hydrophobicity revealed that the bacteria which have high hydrophobicity or similar contact angle with RO membrane ($63^{\circ}$ of contact angle) easily attached to RO membrane surface. P. aeruginosa which is highly hydrophilic ($23.07^{\circ}$ of contact angle) showed the least adhesion characteristic among six model bacteria. After applying a pressure of 800 psi to the sample, Rhodobacter sp. was found to show the highest reduction rate; with 59-73% of the cells removed from the membrane under pressure. P. fluorescens on the other hand analyzed as the most pressure resistant bacteria among six model bacteria. The difference between reduction rates using direct counting and plate counting indicates that the viability of each model bacteria was affected significantly from the high pressure. Most cells subjected to high pressure were unable to form colonies even thought they maintained their structural integrity.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
• /
• v.27 no.12
• /
• pp.1298-1304
• /
• 2005

This study was performed to evaluate the characteristics of the competition between two electron acceptors, perchlorate and nitrate, with Citrobacter Amalonaticus strain JB101. In addition, the applicability of membrane bioreactor(MBR) for perchlorate removal was evaluated. The maximum growth rate of strain JB101 on perchlorate and nitrate are 0.27 and 0.58 $hr^{-1}$, and maximum substrate utilization rates were 35.1 mg $ClO_4^-/g$ protein-day and 45.6 mg $NO_3^-/g$ protein-day, respectively. Nitrate was a competitive inhibitor for perchlorate, and strain JB101 prefer nitrate to perchlorate as electron acceptor. Complete removal of perchlorate could be achieved up to the surface leading rate of 4.6 g $ClO_4^-/m^2-day$ with the MBR fed with 20 mg $ClO_4^-/L$(HCMBR). When 5 mg/L of nitrate was added to the same influent, perchlorate removal efficiency decreased to 96.5%, while nitrate was completely removed. For the MBR fed with 0.7 mg/L of perchlorate (LCMBR), the maximum perchlorate removal efficiency was 100% up to the loading rate of 0.23 g $ClO_4^-/m^2-day$. Membrane fouling was found to be a problem at high leading rate for both MBRs. The acetate consumption ratio per perchlorate was $13.7{\sim}51.7\;e^-eq./e^-eq.$ in LCMBR, while the value was $2.5{\sim}3.6\;e^-eq./e^-eq.$ in HCMBR. This difference could be related to the acetate consumption with oxygen as electron acceptor. Therefore, the amount of acetate addition must be determined considering the concentrations of other electron acceptors in the influent.

• Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering
• /
• v.27 no.7
• /
• pp.380-394
• /
• 2015

This article reviews the papers published in the Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering during 2014. It is intended to understand the status of current research in the areas of heating, cooling, ventilation, sanitation, and indoor environments of buildings and plant facilities. Conclusions are as follows. (1) The research works on the thermal and fluid engineering have been reviewed as groups of heat and mass transfer, cooling and heating, and air-conditioning, the flow inside building rooms, and smoke control on fire. Research issues dealing with duct and pipe were reduced, but flows inside building rooms, and smoke controls were newly added in thermal and fluid engineering research area. (2) Research works on heat transfer area have been reviewed in the categories of heat transfer characteristics, pool boiling and condensing heat transfer and industrial heat exchangers. Researches on heat transfer characteristics included the results for thermal contact resistance measurement of metal interface, a fan coil with an oval-type heat exchanger, fouling characteristics of plate heat exchangers, effect of rib pitch in a two wall divergent channel, semi-empirical analysis in vertical mesoscale tubes, an integrated drying machine, microscale surface wrinkles, brazed plate heat exchangers, numerical analysis in printed circuit heat exchanger. In the area of pool boiling and condensing, non-uniform air flow, PCM applied thermal storage wall system, a new wavy cylindrical shape capsule, and HFC32/HFC152a mixtures on enhanced tubes, were actively studied. In the area of industrial heat exchangers, researches on solar water storage tank, effective design on the inserting part of refrigerator door gasket, impact of different boundary conditions in generating g-function, various construction of SCW type ground heat exchanger and a heat pump for closed cooling water heat recovery were performed. (3) In the field of refrigeration, various studies were carried out in the categories of refrigeration cycle, alternative refrigeration and modelling and controls including energy recoveries from industrial boilers and vehicles, improvement of dehumidification systems, novel defrost systems, fault diagnosis and optimum controls for heat pump systems. It is particularly notable that a substantial number of studies were dedicated for the development of air-conditioning and power recovery systems for electric vehicles in this year. (4) In building mechanical system research fields, seventeen studies were reported for achieving effective design of the mechanical systems, and also for maximizing the energy efficiency of buildings. The topics of the studies included energy performance, HVAC system, ventilation, and renewable energies, piping in the buildings. Proposed designs, performance performance tests using numerical methods and experiments provide useful information and key data which can improve the energy efficiency of the buildings. (5) The field of architectural environment was mostly focused on indoor environment and building energy. The main researches of indoor environment were related to the evaluation of work noise in tunnel construction and the simulation and development of a light-shelf system. The subjects of building energy were worked on the energy saving of office building applied with window blind and phase change material(PCM), a method of existing building energy simulation using energy audit data, the estimation of thermal consumption unit of apartment building and its case studies, dynamic window performance, a writing method of energy consumption report and energy estimation of apartment building using district heating system. The remained studies were related to the improvement of architectural engineering education system for plant engineering industry, estimating cooling and heating degree days for variable base temperature, a prediction method of underground temperature, the comfort control algorithm of car air conditioner, the smoke control performance evaluation of high-rise building, evaluation of thermal energy systems of bio safety laboratory and a development of measuring device of solar heat gain coefficient of fenestration system.