• Membrane and Water Treatment
• /
• v.8 no.1
• /
• pp.19-34
• /
• 2017

Boron exists in dilute concentrations in sea water, ground water and waste waters. Reactive liquid extraction can be used for removing boron to make the treated water suitable for drinking and irrigation, with its final concentration less than 0.5 ppm. The results of equilibrium experiments are reported on the removal of boron using 2-butyl-2-ethyl-1, 3-propanediol (BEPD as a nonionic carrier) in sunflower oil, a non-traditional solvent. The results of removal of boron from aqueous solutions in the concentration range 0.5-20 ppm are presented. It is shown that this new liquid membrane system, is able to remove boron from ground waters at their natural pH of 6-8 (without any chemical addition for pH adjustments). The removal efficiency is good when the process is upgraded to a hollow-fibre membrane contactor and approximately 45% boron can be removed in a single-stage contact. There are additional advantages of this new approach that includes reduced operational health and safety and environmental issues. The results reported here provide guidelines to the development of boron removal process using renewable, biodegradable, safe and cheap solvent system such as sunflower oil.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
• /
• v.4 no.2
• /
• pp.95-108
• /
• 2013

Metal ions exist in seawater, groundwater and industrial wastewaters. These source waters can be recycled if their concentrations are reduced. A number of processes can be applied for this purpose. Liquid-liquid extraction is one of the promising methods. In this paper, experimental results are presented on the removal of Cr(VI) using Aliquat-336, a reactive carrier, in sunflower oil (a non-toxic solvent). The performance of this new system is compared with those of kerosene (a toxic solvent). The extent of removal of Cr(VI) from samples with high and low concentrations are presented. The process was upgraded to a bench-scale module that can selectively remove about 50-90% Cr(VI) from samples of groundwater. Thus this process can produce water within the acceptable range for recycling and for use in secondary purposes such as irrigation.