• Membrane Journal
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.283-290
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• 2003

To improve membrane performance, the dead-end and Cross-flow ultrafiltration with or without ultrasound irradiation onto the membrane module were carried out using a BSA protein solution. Intermittent or continuous irradiation of ultrasound effectively suppressed the formation of fouling on membrane or removed the fouling layers from membrane. Effect of ultrasound irradiation on the enhancement of ultrafiltration performance was more increased at the operating conditions which form more membrane fouling (at the operating conditions of higher feed concentration and TMP, and lower flow rate). The permeate flukes were enhanced up to 1.9 times in case of the dead-end ultrafiltration and 1.5 times in case of the cross-flow ultrafiltration by ultrasound irradiation onto the membrane module.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.367-372
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• 2015

In pressure-retarded osmosis (PRO) and forward osmosis (FO) processes, solvent (permeate) flux depends on which surface the draw solution faces. There are two operation modes. PRO mode indicates that the active layer faces the draw solution, and FO mode means that the porous substrate fronts the draw stream. It is often observed that the PRO mode produces higher flux than that of FO under the same operating conditions. The current work uses the method of proof by contradiction, and mathematically proves the intrinsic flux inequality between the two modes.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.20 no.9
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• pp.1079-1085
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• 2011

The purpose of this study is to find the operational characteristics of nitrifier-dominated membrane bioreactor (MBR), which has been extensively studied for organic removal, especially in terms of nitrite ($NO_2$-N) build-up and membrane fouling. Membrane fouling is one of the important factor which determines the economics of MBR system. The characteristics of membrane fouling was monitored in terms of the fouling indices such as sludge volume index (SVI), the concentration of total organic carbon (TOC) and extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) in a membrane permeate or sludge extract, the absorbance of supernatant at 260 nm. Most of index values except for protein concentration in EPS had a close relation with the increase of suction pressure and SVI value. Nitrifying MBR was superior to the conventional organic-oxidizing MBR in terms of membrane fouling since the fouling index value of nitrifying MBR was lower than that of BOD-oxidizing MBR.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.20 no.6
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• pp.767-773
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• 2011

The objectives of this research are to investigate the proper coagulation conditions which are a type and doses of coagulants, mixing conditions (velocity gradients and mixing times), pH and so on through Jar-test, to evaluate the flux variations, permeate, backwashing according to characteristics of pretreatment of the wastewater by means of MF membranes for river maintenance water reuse. The effluent water from B-city K-sewage treatment plant are used for this research. Turbidity and suspended solids(SS) are 14.2 NTU and 10.4 mg/L respectively. This condition causes fouling for membrane process. The flux decline could be reduced when coagulation pretreatment was carried out. Optimal coagulations PAC which are commonly used in the sewage treatment plant was observed in this research. The results indicate that an optimal coagulation dose and pH are 80 ppm and pH of 7 respectively, but coagulation efficiency was lower at strong acid or strong base. Results showed that continuous and steady operations in membrane separation process by means of the effective removal of organic matter and turbidity with coagulation pretreatment of sewage secondary effluent were achieved.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.1 no.3
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• pp.193-206
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• 2010

Organic fouling and biofouling pose a significant challenge to the membrane filtration process. Photocatalysis-membrane hybrid system is a novel idea for reducing these membranes fouling however, when $TiO_2 photocatalyst nanoparticles are used in suspension, catalyst recovery is not only imposes an extra step on the process but also significantly contributes to increased membrane resistance and reduced permeate flux. In this study, $TiO_2$ photocatalyst has been immobilized by coating on the microfiltration (MF) membrane surface to minimize organic and microbial fouling. Nano-sized $TiO_2$ was first synthesized by a sol-gel method. The synthesized $TiO_2$ was coated on a Poly Vinyl Difluoride (PVDF) membrane (MF) surface using spray coating and dip coating techniques to obtain hybrid functional composite membrane. The characteristics of the synthesized photocatalyst and a functional composite membrane were studied using numerous instruments in terms of physical, chemical and electrical properties. In comparison to the clean PVDF membrane, the $TiO_2$ coated MF membrane was found more effective in removing methylene blue (20%) and E-coli (99%).

• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.275-282
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• 2020

Hranfa's marl, a local natural mineral, is selected for the decontamination by adsorption of aqueous effluents in textile industry. Its physicochemical characterization is first performed. It is composed mainly of Calcite, Quartz, Ankerite and Muscovite. Its specific surface area is 40 ㎡ g^-1. Its adsorption performance is then tested in batch conditions using an industrial organic dye, Bemacid Red E-TL, as a model pollutant. The measured adsorption capacity of Hranfa's marl is 16 mg g^-1 which is comparable to that of other types of natural adsorbents. A hybrid process is tested coupling adsorption of the dye on marl in suspension and microfiltration. An adsorption reactor is inserted into the circulation loop of a microfiltration pilot using ceramic membranes. This makes possible a continuous extraction of the treated water provided that a periodic replacement of the saturated adsorbent is done. The breakthrough curve obtained by analyzing the dye concentration in the permeate is close to the ideal one considering that no dye will cross the membrane as long as the adsorbent load is not saturated. These first experimental data provide proof of concept for such a hybrid process.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.335-343
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• 2005

The objective of this research is to evaluate a feasibility of wastewater reuse by membrane treatment with vibrating membrane separation equipment. Molecular weight of compounds in wastewater, permeability of membrane and retentate characterization after membrane filtration were investigated in order to determine appropriate membrane pore size and materials for wastewater treatment. Selected membrane was evaluated with vibration membrane separation equipment to optimize operating conditions. The following conclusion are drawn. 1. We got as following test results after the distribution of particles in the semiconductor wastewater, are made up of $1\~20{\mu}m$. Si, gold and Al in turn are contained in semiconductor wastewater. 2. Recovery rate is changeless under increasing recovery rate in operation. Though a value can be if pressure can be changed, the highest value of permeate rate is presented in 150 psi. 3. The AS-100(polysulpone) was selected as the most appropriate membranes for the treatment of semi-conductor wastewater to VSEP system. The fouling almost did not occur during this experiments. The analyses of treated water with VSEP system showed conductivity: 0.059,us/cm, TDS: 40mg/l, COD: 20mg/l, SS : 5mg/l, n-Hexane: 8.3mg/l. Comparing previous systems, operating expenses is decreased by more $50\%$.

• Advances in environmental research
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.141-151
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• 2016

Large amounts of aluminum hydroxide ($Al(OH)_3$) exist in water purification sludge (WPS) because of the added aluminum coagulant in water treatment process. Notably, $Al(OH)_3$ is an amphoteric compound, can be dissolved in its basic condition using sodium hydroxide to form aluminate ions ($Al(OH)_4{^-}$). However, in a process in which pH is increasing, the humid acid can be dissolved easily from WPS and will inhibit the recovery and reuse of the dissolved aluminate ions. This study attempts to fix this problem by a novel approach to separate $Al(OH)_4{^-}$ ions using nanofiltration (NF) technology. Sludge impurity in a alkaline solution is retained by the NF membrane, such that the process recovers $Al(OH)_4{^-}$ ions, and significantly decreases the organic matter or heavy metal impurities in the permeate solution. The $Al(OH)_4{^-}$ ion is an alkaline substance. Experimental results confirm that a recovered coagulant of $Al(OH)_4{^-}$ ion can effectively remove kaolin particles from slightly acidic synthetic raw water.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.89-112
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• 2017

Dyeing wastewaters are the most problematic wastewater in textile industries and also, growing amounts of waste fibers in carpet industries have concerned environmental specialists. Among different treatment methods, membrane filtration processes as energy-efficient and compatible way, were utilized for several individual problems. In this research, novel hybrid membranes were prepared by waste fibers of mechanical carpets as useful resource of membrane matrix and industrial graphite powder as filler to eliminate Chrysophenine GX from dyeing wastewater. These membranes were expected to be utilized for first stage of hybrid membrane filtration process including (adsorption-ultrafiltration) and nanofiltration in Kashan Textile Company. For scaling of membrane filtration process, fouling mechanism of these membranes were recognized and explained by the use of genetic algorithm, as well. The graphite increased rejection and diminished permeate flux at low concentration but in high concentration, the performance was significantly worsened. Among all hybrid membranes, 18% wt. waste fibers-1% wt. graphite membrane had the best performance and minimum fouling. The maximum pore size of this optimum membrane was ranged from 16.10 to 18.72 nm.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.8 no.6
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• pp.529-541
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• 2017

A multi-effect air gap membrane distillation (ME-AGMD) module for pesticide wastewater treatment is studied with internal heat recovery, sensible heat of brine recovery, number of stages and the use of fresh feed as cooling water in a single module is implemented in this study. A flat sheet polytetrafluroethylene (PTFE) membrane was used in the 4-stage ME-AGMD module. The maximum value of permeate flux could reach $38.62L/m^2h$ at feed -coolant water temperature difference about $52^{\circ}C$. The performance parameter of the module like, specific energy consumption and gain output ratio (GOR) was investigated for the module with and without heat recovery. Also, the module performance was characterized with respect to the separation efficiency of several important water quality parameters. The removal efficiency of the module was found to be >98.8% irrespective water quality parameters. During the experiment the membrane fouling was caused due to the deposition of the salt/crystal on the membrane surface. The membrane fouling was controlled by membrane module washing cycle 9 h and also by acidification of the feed water (pH=4) using 0.1M HCl solution.