Treatment of Hydrothermal-Liquefaction Wastewater with Crossflow UF for Oil and Particle Removal

Abstract

This study aims to evaluate the application of ceramic ultrafiltration membranes in the crossflow mode for the separation of particles and oil in water emulsions (free oil droplets and micelles) from hydrothermal-liquefaction wastewater (HTL-WW) from the hydrothermal liquefaction of municipal sewage sludge. The experiments were carried out using one-channel TiO2 membranes with pore sizes of 30, 10 and 5 nm. The results showed that the highest stable permeability could be achieved with a membrane-pore size of 10 nm, which experienced less fouling, especially through pore blockage, in comparison to the two other pore sizes. Instead of observing an increase in the permeability, the application of a higher feed temperature as well as backwash cycles led to a clear increase in irreversible fouling due to the presence of surfactants in the HTL-WW. Among several physical and chemical cleaning methods, alkaline cleaning at pH 12 proved to be the most efficient in removing fouling and maintaining stable performance on a long-term basis. Ceramic-membrane ultrafiltration can be considered as an adequate first-stage treatment of real HTL wastewater.

Treatment of Boiler Condensate by Ultrafiltration for Reuse

“…In addition, consistent with the hydrocarbon limit, such limits have been achieved in permeate with similar hydrocarbon values in the effluent and concentration factors of up to 60 [9]. In this way, the ultrafiltration membrane process is considered effective for purification [4] even if permeate flux decreases over time due to membrane fouling [10]. This inevitably leads to chemical cleaning of the membrane where the effectiveness of using alkaline and acidic cleaning agents at high temperatures for oil wastewater has been widely studied [11,12].…”

“…Moreover, they must not be expensive, use toxic chemicals, need space for installation or produce secondary pollution [1]. For years, membrane technology has shown its reliability for the separation of oil wastewater [2][3][4][5]. In the context of the petroleum site studied, the current filter treatment is insufficient for chronic pollution in terms of hydrocarbon retention but becomes irreversibly fouled after a few hours during accidental pollution.…”