Performance Evaluation and Kinetic Analysis of Photocatalytic Membrane Reactor in Wastewater Treatment

The objectives of the current study are to assess and compare the performance of a developed photocatalytic membrane reactor (PMR) in treating industrial waste (e.g., organic dye waste) against membrane distillation. The current PMR is composed of a feed tank, which is a continuous stirred photocatalytic reactor containing slurry Titanium dioxide (TiO2) particles that are activated by using ultraviolet lamp irradiation at a wavelength of 365 nm, and a poly-vinylidene flouride (PVDF) membrane cell. The experimental setup was designed in a flexible way to enable both separate and integrated investigations of the photocatalytic reactor and the membrane, separately and simultaneously. The experimental work was divided into two phases. Firstly, the PVDF membrane was fabricated and characterized to examine its morphology, surface charge, and hydrophobicity by using a scanning electron microscope, surface zeta potential, and contact angle tests, respectively. Secondly, the effects of using different concentrations of the TiO2 photocatalyst and feed (e.g., dye concentration) were examined. It is found that the PMR can achieve almost 100% dye removal and pure permeate is obtained at certain conditions. Additionally, a kinetic analysis was performed and revealed that the photocatalytic degradation of dye follows a pseudo-first-order reaction.

STUDI PENGARUH KONSENTRASI UMPAN GLISEROL PADA PROSES PEMURNIAN TRIASETIN BERBASIS CHEMCAD

Gliserol merupakan produk samping dari biodiesel yang dihasilkan dari proses transesterifikasi. Melalui reaksi esterifikasi gliserol dengan asam asetat akan membentuk triasetin. Triasetin merupakan bahan baku terbarukan serta ramah lingkungan yang dapat meningkatkan nilai oktan dan anti-knocking pada mesin mobil. Gliserol merupakan bahan baku utama yang dapat mempengaruhi kemurnian produk triasetin. Pengaruh konsetrasi umpan gliserol dalam penelitian ini bertujuan untuk meningkatkan kemurnian triasetin. Kemurnian produk triasetin minimal 99,8% di tetapkan dalam penelitian ini. Untuk mendapatkan triasetin dengan kemurnian dan jumlah yang tinggi dapat dilakukan dengan mempertimbangkan konsentrasi umpan gliserol pada simulasi ChemCAD. Simulasi dilakukan dengan mengutamakan penentuan konsentrasi gliserol pada aliran feed tank dengan melakukan trial mulai konsentrasi 90%. Hasil yang di dapatkan semakin tinggi konsentrasi gliserol akan dihasilkan jumlah produk triasetin yang semakin banyak, namun semakin tinggi konsentrasi gliserol akan di dapatkan produk triasetin dengan kemurnian rendah. Sehingga dari simulasi yang telah dilakukan konsentrasi gliserol optimum adalah 99% dan jumlah produk triasetin sebesar 2339 kg/jam dengan kemurnian 99,94%. Kata Kunci : ChemCAD, Feed Tank, Gliserol, Triasetin

The Application of Submerged Modules for Membrane Distillation

This paper deals with the efficiency of capillary modules without an external housing, which were used as submerged modules in the membrane distillation process. The commercial hydrophobic capillary membranes fabricated for the microfiltration process were applied. Several constructional variants of submerged modules were discussed. The influence of membrane arrangement, packing density, capillary diameter and length on the module performance was determined. The effect of process conditions, i.e., velocity and temperature of the streams, on the permeate flux was also evaluated. The submerged modules were located in the feed tank or in the distillate tank. It was found that much higher values of the permeate flux were obtained when the membranes were immersed in the feed with the distillate flowing inside the capillary membranes. The efficiency of submerged modules was additionally compared with the conventional membrane distillation (MD) capillary modules and a similar performance of both constructions was achieved.

Treatment of Wastewater Solutions from Anodizing Industry by Membrane Distillation and Membrane Crystallization

The treatment of wastewater containing various metal ions is a challenging issue in the anodizing industry. The current study investigates the application of membrane distillation/crystallization (MD/MCr) for the simultaneous recovery of freshwater and sodium sulfate from wastewater originating from a Danish anodizing industry. MD/MCr experiments were performed on supernatant from wastewater obtained after centrifugation. The effect of various feed temperatures and cross-flow velocities on flux and crystal characteristics was investigated. The crystal growth in the feed tank was monitored through the use of an online PaticleView microscope. The crystals’ morphology and form were determined by using scanning electron microscope (SEM) and X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), respectively, while inductively coupled plasma (ICP) was applied to determine the purity of the obtained crystals. The weight and dimensions of the MD/MCr unit that were required to treat the specific amount of wastewater were evaluated as a function of the feed inlet temperature. It was demonstrated that the application of MCr allows extracting high-purity sodium sulfate crystals and more than 80% freshwater from the wastewater.

Preliminary biodigestor design from swine manure generated in San Andrés island

Livestock production in San Andrés is subsistence, there are 2,223 pigs, in 205 farms. This technology generates serious contamination problems. The results of the dimensioning a biodigester are presented, with the BioDigestor© software, from swine manure, with the objective of observing the technical-economic feasibility for the implementation of this technology. The capacity of the biodigester allows the processing of 12.31 t/d of manure, generating 276 MWh/year of electrical energy through the operation of a generator engine that works with biogas. The dimensioning of the biodigester included the calculation of the volume of the feed tank, biodigester, discharge tank, biogas storage, sludge drying bed, collection and conduction systems, heating and biogas utilization. An economic study was carried out which allowed to conclude on the viability of the project. The total cost of the digester amounts to 723,986,263 COP, which is equivalent to 21,925 COP/kW installed.