Retention of mycoestrogens in nanofiltration. Impact of feed water chemistry, membrane properties and operating process conditions

Abstract

The membrane process, i.e. nanofiltration, was considered a method for removal of mycoestrogens, compounds recently identified in aqueous environment, from water. The study was focused on the determination of the separation mechanism and on the possibility of removal of mycoestrogens in the applied process. Retention of zearalenone and α-zearalenol was investigated depending on the water matrix composition, the membrane applied, filtration mode and operating conditions of the process. As removed mycoestrogens reveal hydrophobic character, the separation mechanisms is based on the adsorption. Retention of those compounds is also dependent on the membrane type and the filtration mode. The highest effectiveness of mycoestrogens removal was obtained for cellulose membrane (CK), which characterized the highest values of the contact angle and the degree of NaCl removal in comparison with other composite membranes applied. Additionally, the CK membrane showed the highest ability to adsorb investigated micropollutants. However, the variation of retention of mycoestrogens was observed as the membrane surface was modified by inorganic and/or organic substances present in filtrated water. The degree of removal of mycoestrogens during nanofiltration exceeded 81% and considering the effectiveness and the capacity of the process, the cross-flow mode should be applied.

Application of Waste Polymers as Basic Material for Ultrafiltration Membranes Preparation

“…These results also indicate slightly better properties than for unmodified membranes. We can also observe a similar phenomenon as in the first part of the study, where the best retention membrane had the lowest α coefficient [27]. However, ultrafiltration is not the absolute method for wastewater treatment.…”

“…For the best membrane in contaminant removal, the decrease was about 31% (for 240 min α = 0.69), which corresponds to expectations. A similar tendency was received by Dudziak [27], where the membrane with the lowest relative permeability had the highest removal performance.…”

Experience from the Implementation and Operation of the Biological Membrane Reactor (MBR) at the Modernized Wastewater Treatment Plant in Wydminy

“…As a rule, the main role of the membrane module is to separate activated sludge from treated wastewater, and the module itself serves as a classic secondary settling tank. Biological membrane reactors or membrane bioreactors (MBRs) have many advantages over traditional activated sludge reactors, the most important of which are very high phase separation efficiency, high quality of treated wastewater and the possibility to remove specific micro pollutants (e.g., pharmaceuticals), smaller reactor volume due to the higher sludge concentration used, and smaller amount of extra sludge produced [7,[14][15][16][17].…”

“…Designed small sewage treatment plants located in northeastern Poland in the 1970s and 1980s were designed especially for villages, small towns, or industrial plants [9,15]. Most of these plants still operate today.…”

Application of Pressure-Driven Membrane Processes in Treatment of Swimming Pool Water System

“…Ultrafiltration membranes make it possible to stop small suspended solids, colloids, bacteria, and viruses. Nanofiltration is based on a sieve transport mechanism and the Donnan exclusion principle, and nanofiltration membranes make it possible to completely stop particles with the diameter of 1 nm or larger and to divide ions with different valence [4,5]. Given the above, both techniques were evaluated with regard to treatment of washings from swimming pool systems.…”