Coupling of physico-chemical treatment and steel membrane filtration to enhanced organic removal in wastewater treatment

In this study, the application of steel membrane filtration was tested with the pre-treated wastewater. The pre-treatment methods tested before membrane filtration application were flocculation using FeCl3, Powdered Activated Carbon (PAC) adsorption, purolite ionexchange column and purolite ion-exchange column followed by flocculation (FeCl3). The effect of two different modes of membrane application (cross-flow and dead-end modes) was examined. The ability of these filters in removing organic matters and solids were examined. It was found that the decline of flux was slightly lower for dead-end mode of operation to that of cross-flow mode of operation. Pre-treatment increased the performance of membrane filtration. The flux decline of raw water (without pre-treatment) was 31-40%, whereas after pre-treatment, it was about 2.5-21%. Pre-treatment followed by microfiltration (MF) showed 68-91% removal efficiency of dissolved organic carbon (DOC). © 2013 Balaban Desalination Publications