• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.1-23
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• 2012

The coupling of anaerobic biological process and membrane separation could provide excellent suspended solids removal and better biomass retention for wastewater treatment. This coupling improves the biological treatment process while allowing for the recovery of energy through biogas. This review gives a basic description of the anaerobic wastewater treatment process, summarizes the state of the art of anaerobic membrane bioreactors (AnMBRs), and describes the current research trends and needs for the development of AnMBRs. The research interest on AnMBR has grown over the conventional anaerobic processes such as upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB). Studies on AnMBRs have developed different reactor configurations to enhance performances. The AnMBR performances have achieved comparable status to other high rate anaerobic reactors. AnMBR is highly suitable for application with thermophilic anaerobic process to enhance performances. Studies indicate that the applications of AnMBR are not only limited to the high strength industrial wastewater treatment, but also for the municipal wastewater treatment. In recent years, there is a significant progress in the membrane fouling studies, which is a major concern in AnMBR application.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.91-97
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• 2019

Application of bioretention systems in Korea is highly considered due to its minimal space requirements, appropriateness as small landscape areas and good pollutant removal and peak hydraulic flow reduction efficiency. In this study, the efficiency of two lab-scale bioretention types having different physical properties, media configuration and planted with different shrubs and perennials was investigated in reducing heavy metal pollutants in stormwater runoff. Type A bioretention systems were planted with shrubs whereas type B were planted with perennials. Chrysanthemum zawadskii var. latilobum (A-CL) and Aquilegia flabellata var. pumila (A-AP) respectively were planted in each type A bioretention reactors while Rhododendron indicum linnaeus (B-RL) and Spiraea japonica (B-SJ), respectively were planted in each type B bioretention reactors. Results revealed that the four lab-scale bioretention reactors significantly reduced the influent total suspended load by about 89 to 94% (p<0.01). Type B-RL and B-SJ reactors reduced soluble Cr, Cu, Zn, and Pb by 28 to 45% that were 15 to 35% greater than the soluble metal reduction of type A-CL and A-AP reactors, respectively. Among the pollutants, total Cr attained the greatest discharged fraction of 0.52-0.81. Excluding the effect of soil media, total Pb attained the greatest retention fraction in the bioretention systems amounting to 0.15-0.34. Considering the least discharge fraction of heavy metal in the bioretention system, it was observed that the bioretention systems achieved effectual reduction in terms of total Cu, Zn and Pb. These findings were associated with the poor adsorption capacity of the soil used in each bioretention system. The results of this study may be used for estimating the maintenance requirements of bioretention systems.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.57 no.5
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• pp.596-605
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• 2019

Proton-conducting perovskite ceramic materials are highly promising for solid electrolytes as well as catalysts at high temperatures. Therefore, they possess an outstanding potential for the membrane reactor in which both reaction and separation occur at a same time. Especially, in the case of hydrogen production catalyst, hydrogen separation, and the membrane reactor coupled with catalyst and separation, extensive results have been reported on the effect of the dopant in the solid electrolytes, temperature, and composition of reactants on the performance. In this review, the recent research trend on the application of proton-conducting ceramic materials to hydrogen production catalyst, hydrogen separation, and membrane reactor is surveyed. Moreover, the potential application and prospect of these materials to the next-generation hydrogen production and separation is discussed.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.235-241
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• 2011

This study was performed to investigate the characteristics of nutrient removal of municipal wastewater in the submerged membrane bioreactor by addition of alum directly into aerobic tank. Membrane bioreactor consists of three reactors such as two intermittent anaerobic tanks and the aerobic tank with hollow fiber membrane. The removal efficiencies of $COD_{cr}$, BOD, SS, TN and TP on the membrane bioreactor were 94.0%, 99.1%, 99.9%, 66.9%, and 58.9%, respectively. In addition, The removal efficiencies of $COD_{cr}$, BOD, SS, TN and TP on the membrane bioreactor with alum addition were 93.4%, 99.0%, 99.9%, 63.2%, and 96.8%, respectively. There was little difference between them on the nutrient removal efficiencies except phophorus removal. The estimated sludge production, specific denitrification rate, specific nitrification rate and phosphorus removal content on the membrane bioreactor were 1.76 kgTSS/d, $0.055mgNO_3-N/mgVSS{\cdot}d$, $0.031mgNH_4-N/mgVSS{\cdot}d$, and 0.095 kgP/d, respectively. And The estimated sludge production, specific denitrification rate, specific nitrification rate and phosphorus removal content on the membrane bioreactor with alum addition were 2.90 kgTSS/d, $0.049mgNO_3-N/mgVSS{\cdot}d$, $0.030mgNH_4-N/mgVSS{\cdot}d$, and 0.160 kgP/d, respectively. The alum content added was 1.7 molAl/molP on an average. The increasing ratio of tran-membrane pressure on the membrane bioreactor was $0.0056kgf/cm^2{\cdot}compared$ to $0.0033kgf/cm^2{\cdot}d$ on the membrane bioreactor with alum addition. There was a slightly reduction effect on membrane fouling by alum addition.

• 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 $Fe_2O_3$.

• Proceedings of the Membrane Society of Korea Conference
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• 1998.10a
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• pp.11-14
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• 1998

1. Introduction : Research progresses in Chemistry and Chemical Engineering have been made during the last decades with important contributions to the industrial development and to the quality of our life. An interesting case is related to the membrane science and technology continuous impact to innovative processes and products, particularly appropriate for a sustainable industrial growth. Membrane operations have been familiar for many years to biologists and chemists working in their laboratorier or studying biological phenomena. Only recently engineers started to operate in' this area. The preparation of asymmetric CA membranes at University of California, Los Angeles in the early 60s is generally recognized as a crucial moment for membranology (1). Loeb and Sourirajan with their discovery of how to increase significantly the permeability of polymeric membranes without significant changes in their selectivity, made realistic the possibility of their use in large scale operations for desalting brackish and sea water by reverse osmosis and for various other molecular separations in different industrial areas. Reverse osmosis is today a well recognized basic unit operations, togheter with ultrafiltration, crossflow microfiltration,. nanofiltration, all pressure driven membrane processes. Already in 1992 more than 4 milIions m$^3$/day were the total capacity of RO desalination plants and in 1995 more than 180.000 m$^2$ of ultrafiltration membranes were installed for the treatment of wheys and milk (2) (3).

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Gas
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• v.8 no.3 s.24
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• pp.16-23
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• 2004

A membrane reactor concept, which combines the typical characteristics of chemical reaction with separation process, has been analyzed and simulated in this study. The advantages of the use of a membrane reactor include chemical equilibrium shift towards higher reactant conversion and purer product than the traditional reactors. A membrane reactor model which incorporates a catalytic reaction zone and a separation membrane is proposed. The water-gas shift reaction to produce hydrogen was chosen as a model reaction to be investigated. The membrane reactor is divided into smaller parts by number of n and each part (named cell), which contains both reaction and product separation function is modeled. One of the membrane outlet streams is connected to the next cell, which is repeated up to the last cell. The simulation results can be used for various purposes including decision of optimum operating condition and membrane reactor design.

• Korean Membrane Journal
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.1-7
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• 1999

Pd-ceramic composite membranes and catalytic membrane reactors(CMR) have been studied for hydrogen and its isotopes (deuterium and tritium) purification and recovery in the fusion reactor fuel cycle. Particularly a closed-loop process has been studied for recovering tritium from tritiated water by means of a CMR in which the water gas shift reaction takes place. The development of the techniques for coating micro-porous ceramic tubes with Pd and Pd/Ag thin layers is described : P composite membranes have been produced by electroless deposition (Pd/Ag film of 10-20 $\mu$m) and rolling of thin metal sheets (Pd and Pd/Ag membranes of 50-70 $\mu$m). Experimental results of the electroless membranes have shown a not complete hydrogen selectivity because of the presence of some defects(micro-holes) in the metallic thin layer. Conversely the rolled thin Pd and Pd/ag membranes have separated hydrogen from the other gases with a complete selectivity giving rise to a slightly larger (about a factor 1.7) mass transfer resistance with respect to the electroless membranes. Experimental tests have confirmed the good performances of the rolled membranes in terms of chemical stability over several weeks of operation. Therefore these rolled membranes and CMR are adequate for applications in the fusion reactor fuel cycle as well as in the industrial processes where high pure hydrogen is required (i.e. hydrocarbon reforming for fuel cell)

• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.35-45
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• 2023

Biofilms significantly affect the performance of wastewater treatment processes in which biodegradability of numerous microorganisms are actively involved, and various technologies have been applied to secure microbial biofilms. Understanding changes in biofilm characteristics by regulating expression of signaling molecules is important to control and regulate biofilms in membrane bioreactor, i.e., biofouling. This study investigated effects of addition of acyl-homoserine lactones (AHL) as a controllable factor for the microbial signaling system on biofilm formation of Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 and multiple strains in membrane bioreactor. The addition of three AHL, i.e., C4-, C6-, and C8-HSL, at a concentration of 200 ㎍/L, enhanced the formation of the PAO1 biofilm and the degree of increases in the biofilm formation of PAO1 were 70.2%, 76.6%, and 72.9%, respectively. The improvement of biofilm formation of individual strains by C4-HSL was an average of 68%, and the microbial consortia increased by approximately 52.1% in the presence of 200 ㎍/L C4-HSL. CLSM images showed that more bacterial cells were present on the membrane surface after the AHL application. In the COMSTAT results, biomass and thickness were increased up to 2.2 times (PAO1) and 1.6 times (multi-strains) by C4-HSL. This study clearly showed that biofilm formation was increased by the application of AHL to individual strain groups, including PAO1 and microbial consortia, and significant increases were observed when 50 or 100 ㎍/L AHL was administered. This suggests that AHL application can improve the biofilm formation of microorganisms, which could yield an enhancement in efficiency of biofilm control, such as in various biofilm reactors including membrane bioreactor and bioflocculent systems in water/wastewater treatment processes.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.85-93
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• 2023

Membrane separation is widely used for several applications such as water treatment, membrane reactors and climate change. Cross-linked organic-inorganic hybrid polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) / Tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) was adopted for the preparation of optimized hollow membrane (HFM) for membrane distillation or other low pressure separators for mechanical properties and permeability under varying pretreatment schemes. HFMs were prepared on semi-pilot membrane fabrication system. Novel adopted post-treatment schemes involved soaking in glycerol, magnesium sulphate (MgSO₄), sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl), and isopropanol for different durations. All fibers were characterized for morphology using a scanning electron microscope (SEM), surface roughness using atomic force microscope (AFM), elemental composition by examining Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS), water contact angle (CA°) and porosity. The performance of the fibers was evaluated for pure water permeation flux (PWF). Post-treatment with MgSO₄ gave the highest both tensile modulus and flux. Assessment of properties and performance revealed comparable results with other organic-inorganic separators, HF or flat. In spite of few reported data on post treatment using MgSO₄ in presence of TEOS, this proves the potential of low cost treatment without negative impact on other membrane properties. The flux is also comparable with hypochlorite which manifests substantial precaution requirements in actual industrial use.The relatively high values of flux/bar for sample treated with TEOS, post treated with MgSO₄ and hypochlorite are 88 and 82 LMH/bar respectively.