Abstract
With the development of the refining industry, the treatment of refinery wastewater has become an urgent problem. In this study, a ceramic membrane (CM) was combined with Fenton-activated carbon (AC) adsorption to dispose of refinery wastewater. The effect of the combined process was analyzed using excitation–emission matrix (EEM), ultraviolet-visible (UV-vis) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopies (FTIR). Compared with direct filtration, the combined process could significantly improve the removal of organic pollution, where the removal rate of the COD and TOC could be 70% and the turbidity removal rate was above 97%. It was found that the effluent could meet the local standards. In this study, the membrane fouling was analyzed for the impact of the pretreatment on the membrane direction. The results showed that Fenton-AC absorption could effectively alleviate membrane fouling. The optimal critical flux of the combined process was increased from 60 to 82 L/(m2·h) compared with direct filtration. After running for about 20 d, the flux remained at about 55 L/(m2·h) and the membrane-fouling resistance was only 1.2 × 1012 m−1. The Hermia model revealed that cake filtration was present in the early stages of the combined process. These results could be of great use in improving the treatment efficiency and operation cycle of refinery wastewater.
Highlights
With the development of the refining industry, the threat to the environment caused by pollutants [1,2] contained in refinery wastewater has attracted more and more attention [3]
The simultaneous combination of ceramic membrane (CM) with an advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) and activated carbon (AC) adsorption is rarely applied in the deep treatment of refinery wastewater; as such, the synergistic effect and membrane-fouling behavior are still unclear, which need further research and verification
This study aimed to provide new insights to improve the efficiency of membrane processes for treating refinery wastewater and alleviate membrane fouling
Summary
With the development of the refining industry, the threat to the environment caused by pollutants [1,2] contained in refinery wastewater has attracted more and more attention [3]. Membrane fouling is the main reason that restricts the application of membranes in wastewater treatment [36]; controlling membrane fouling is the key to improving the efficiency of membrane filtration [28,32,37,38] It was found from previous studies [39] that pollutants in wastewater could be removed effectively via pretreatment so that the operating pressure of the subsequent membrane system would be decreased and membrane fouling was alleviated. The simultaneous combination of CM with an AOP and AC adsorption is rarely applied in the deep treatment of refinery wastewater; as such, the synergistic effect and membrane-fouling behavior are still unclear, which need further research and verification. This study aimed to provide new insights to improve the efficiency of membrane processes for treating refinery wastewater and alleviate membrane fouling
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