• Membrane Journal
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.114-120
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• 2005

The purpose of this study is to obtain practical information about membrane coupled $ A_2O$ system for muncipal wastewater treatment. A flat-plate microfiltration (MF) module with a pore size $0.25\;{\mu}m$ was submerged into the aeration basin and treated water was filtrated through the membrane by continuous suction with low pressure. The system was operated with synthetic wastewater to find operational parameters of internal recycle ratio and maximum MLSS showing best water quality and long-term stability. The internal recycle was defined as type 1 for aerobic to anoxic tank and type 2 for anoxic to anaerobic tank, respectively When the flux was maintained at $0.015\;m^3/m^2/hr$ (15 LMH) with 2Q type 1 internal recycle ratio, the optimal operational setting were 10 internal recycle ratio for type 2 and maximum MLSS of 11,000 mg/L among tested conditions. At this condition, removal efficiencies of BOD, CODcr, T-N and T-P showed $97.3\%,\;94.2\%,\;64.0\%,\;63.0\%$, respectively.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.147-156
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• 2005

It is well-known that polyethersulfone (PES) has high $CO_2$ selectivity over $N_2\;(or\;CH_4)$ and excellent pressure resistance of $CO_2$ plasticization among muy commercialized engineering plastics[1-4]. Asymmetric PES hollow fiber membranes for flue gas separation were developed by dry-wet spinning technique. The dope solution consists of PES, NMP and acetone. Water and water/NMP mixtures are used in outer and inner coagulants, respectively. Gas permeation rate (i.e., permeance) and $CO_2/N_2$ selectivity were measured with pure gas, respectively and the micro-structure of hollow fiber membranes was characterized by scanning electron microscopy. The effects of polymer concentration, ratio of NMP to acetone, length of air gap, evaporation condition and silicone coating were investigated on the $CO_2/N_2$ separation properties of the hollow fibers. Optimized PES hollow fiber membranes exhibited high permeance of $25\~50$ GPU and $CO_2/N_2$ selectivity of $30\~40$ at room temperature and have the apparent skin layer thickness of about $0.1\;{\mu}m$. The developed PES hollow fiber membranes, would be a good candidate suitable for the flue gas separation process.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.65-77
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• 1991

The perstraction of ethanol and acetic acid were performed for three systems of xylene-acetic acid-water, MIBK-ethanol-water, and TBP-ethanol-water, The operating variables were pressure difference between aqueous and organic phase, and superfial velocities of aqueous and organic phases. The tortuosities of PP hollow fiber membrane of Celgard X10-400 and PTFE hollow fober membrane of Tex TA001 were found to be 1.82 and 1.43 respectively, They were obtained from mass tranfer coeffidents in membrane phase for xylene-acetic acid-water systems. The permeation flux and overall mass transfer coefficient for MIBK-ethanol-water system are larger than those for TBP-ethanol-water system. This tendency is magnified with increasing the superficial velocity of organic phase. Overall mass transfer coefficient($K_o$) increases nonlinearly with the increase of superficial velocity of organic phase($V_{or}$), and the relationship between $K_o$ and $V_{or}$ is that $K_o {\propto} V_{or}^{-0.35}$. For ethanol perstraetion using the hollow fiber membrane of Gore Tex TA001, the mass transfer in membrane phase is the rate-limiting step.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.4 no.3
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• pp.152-162
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• 1994

The photodegradation efficiency of formic acid on $TiO_2$ photocatalytic membranes was investigated. A new titania membrane reactors for purification of water combining microfiltration with photocatalytic degradation of organic compounds were developed. Titania membrane tubes(average pore size of $0.2\mu m$) were prepared by the slip casting, and porous thin films of $TiO_2$ were formed on the tube surface by the sol-gel process to increase the surface area, and consequently to increase photodegradation efficiency of organic compounds. The UV light with the wavelength of 365 nm was used as a light source for photocatalytic reactions. The photodegradation efficiency of the organic compounds was strongly dependent on the flux of the solution, the microstructure of the membrane (sol pH), and the amount of $O_2$ supplied. The effects of the primary oxidant such as $H_2O_2$ and dopants such as $Nb_2O_5$ on the photodegradation efficiency were also investigated. The results showed that more than 80% of formic acid could be degraded using membrane coated with a $TiO_2$ sol of pH 1.45. The photodegradation efficiency could be improved by about 20% when adding $H_2O_2$ in feed solution or doping $TiO_2$ membranes with $Fe_2O_3$.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.101-108
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• 1996

The oxidation/degradation efficiency of formic acid through the photoelectrochemical reaction has been investigated as a basic research in order to develope the process for degrading toxic organic compounds dissolved in water. A $TiO_{2}$ photoelectro-membrane reactor for purification of water, in which filtration as well as photoelectrocatalytic oxidation of organic compounds could be carried out simultaneously, was developed. Porous $SnO_{2}$ tubes prepared by slip casting and commercial porous stainless steel tubes, being electrically conductive, were used as not only supports but also working electrodes. The UV light with the wavelength of 365 nm was applied as a light source for photocatalytic reactions. The photoelectrocatatytic composite membranes were prepared by coating the support surface with the $TiO_{2}$ sol of pH 1.45. The oxidation efficiency of formic acid increased with the reaction time and the applied voltage, but was almost independent of the solution flux. The results showed that more than 90% of formic acid could he dograded at 27V using the $TiO_{2}$/stainless steel composite membrane, while about 77% in case of the $TiO_{2}/SnO_{2}$ Composite membrane. It was also concluded that the oxidation efficiencies of formic acid could be significantly improved by about 6~7 times by the photoelectrochemical reaction in comparison with those by the photocatalytic reaction only.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.70-75
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• 2016

The reuse of wastewater is being diffused to manage and develop the water resources. Generally, the treated wastewater is discharged to the river after being treated to meet the effluent quality standard or reused for diverse uses through the reprocessing. And recently, as the reuse of the treated wastewater is activated, the technologies to utilize for the high quality water resources such as industrial water by reusing the wastewater with Membrane Distillation (MD) are under development. In this study, the direct contact membrane distillation (DCMD) process has been applied to treat sewage discharge water for water reuse. The laboratory scale experiment was performed by using a hydrophobic PVDF membrane with the pore size of $0.22{\mu}m$. The influence of operating parameters, such as feed temperature, feed flow rate, feed concentration, on the permeate flux and rejection has been investigated. All filtration tests were conducted till the feed volume reached a concentration factor of 3.0. Thus, the operating period ranged between 19 hr and 49 hr depending on filtration performance. The results showed that above 92% of TN, TP, COD and TOC in the feed could be rejected regardless of an operating condition. The water flux was ranged from 13.8 to 20.3 LMH. The lowest flux was obtained at the operating condition with the feed temperature of $50^{\circ}C$ and feed flow velocity of 500 mL/min while the highest one was measured with $60^{\circ}C$ and 900 mL/min. When the concentration factor reached 3.0, water flux declined by approximately ranged from 14.5% to 33.3%. But the fouling in MD is almost fully reversible, with more than 90% recovery of permeate water flux following a DI water rinse without the addition of chemical cleaning reagents.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.48-59
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• 2015

This paper reports a fabrication of poly(L-lactic acid) (PLLA) scaffold membranes through phase separation process using pure and mixed solvents. Chloroform and 1,4-dioxane were used as pure solvents and mixed solvents were obtained by mixing the pure solvents together. Morphologies, mechanical properties and mass transfer characteristics of the scaffold membranes were investigated through SEM, stress-strain test and glucose diffusion test. Scaffold membranes from the solution with pure chloroform showed solid-wall pore structure. In contrast, nano-fibrous membranes were fabricated from the solution with pure 1,4-dioxane. In case of mixed solvents, the scaffold membranes showed various structures with changing composition of the solvents. When 1,4-dioxane content was lower than 20 wt% in the solvent, scaffold membrane showed solid-wall pore structure. When the content was 20 wt%, scaffold membranes with macropores with the maximum size of $100{\mu}m$ was obtained. In the concentration range of 1,4-dioxane over 25 wt%, the scaffold membranes showed nano-fibrous structures. In this range, the fibers showed different diameters with changing composition of the solvent. The minimum fiber diameter was about $15{\mu}m$, when 1,4-dioxane composition was 80 wt%. These results indicate that the composition of the solvent showed a significant effect on the structure of scaffold membrane.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.281-290
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• 2016

Thin film composite (TFC) polyamide membranes were prepared on polysulfone (PSF) supports for forward osmosis (FO) applications. To understand the influence of polarity and porosity of support layer on the formation of polyamide structure and the final FO performance, clathochelate metal complex (MC) contained PSF supports were prepared via the phase inversion process from various PSF casting solutions containing 0.1-0.5 wt% of MC in dimethyl formamide (DMF) solvent (18 wt%). A crosslinked aromatic polyamide layer was then fabricated on top of each support to form a TFC membrane. For the porous PSF supports prepared with relatively low concentration casting solutions (12 wt%), the PET film was removed after phase inversion and crosslinked aromatic polyamide layer was then fabricated. The tested sample from PSF (18 wt%)/MC (0.5 wt%) casting solution presented outstanding FO performance, almost similar water flux (9.99 LMH) with lower reverse salt flux (RSF, 0.77 GMH) compared to commercial HTI FO membrane(10.97 LMH of flux and 2.2 GMH of RSF). By addition of MC in casting solution, the thickness of the active layer in FO membranes was reduced, however, the increased RSF value was obtained.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.273-280
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• 2016

Pressure assisted forward osmosis (PAFO) is recently introduced because of its improved process efficiency to overcome drawbacks of forward osmosis (FO) such as low water flux and reverse solute diffusion. However, it is known that membrane fouling becomes deteriorated by additional hydraulic pressure applied in PAFO compared to FO. This study was performed to investigate possibility of intermittent pressure-assisted forward osmosis (I-PAFO) operation for fouling mitigation using colloidal silica particles as model foulants. FO, PAFO were operated as well to compare with. Two different solution pH conditions (pH 3, 10) were applied to see the effect of electrostatic interactions between the membrane and silica particles on fouling tendency. In the results, higher water flux was observed during pressurization and pressure relaxation periods in I-PAFO than water flux of PAFO, and FO on both pH conditions. Water flux decreased less in I-PAFO than PAFO after fouling. It resulted in higher water flux recovery in I-PAFO than PAFO after physical cleaning.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.127-134
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• 2010

This study is conducted about the system that reduces organism after fermenting food waste from a food waste disposal equipment, divides gas made when food waste is fermented into gas and water, and then sends gas to a reactor again, condenses water, and apply it to the MBR system with submerged MF hollow fiber membranes. A submerged MF hollow fiber membrane module was installed to a food waste disposal equipment and a water treatment system made by Bio Hitech Co,. Ltd. to process food waste generated from a staff cafeteria in a H institute for 90 days. For initial seeding of a food waste disposal equipment, 305 kg of rice bran, chaff, and sawdust as well as 1,648 kg of food were input during the operation, and 1,600 L of condensed wastewater occurred. Fermented by-product after finishing running a food waste disposal equipment was 386 kg and its reduction was shown to be 80%. The organism was processed by applying submerged MF hollow fiber membrane module to the MBR system of condensed wastewater, and the result shows reduction rates were BOD 99.9%, COD 97.5%, SS 98.6%, T-N 54.6% and T-P 34.7% and the total colon bacillus was perfectly eliminated.