Abstract
This chapter discusses significant and potential applications in wastewater treatment. Wastewater treatment methods include physical processes, for example, adsorption, and sand filtration, chemical processes, for example, flocculation by addition of aluminum salts, iron salts, and polymeric substances and biological processes, for example, the activated sludge process and anaerobic digestion. These processes are efficient and can provide water that meets different regulatory requirements. However, problems are encountered if toxic levels of different organic compounds and/or heavy metals are present in wastewater. This can lead to the breakdown of treatment performance, for example, in biological processes. Liquid membrane (LM) processes take advantage of the already established principles of biological treatment and solvent extraction but provide the advantage of reduction in treatment costs. Therefore, a wide variety of the flat-sheet supported liquid membrane (SLM) systems are used. The advantages of the flat-sheet SLM arrangement in the removal of organic compounds from wastewater can be achieved, if low-cost extractants/diluents, such as vegetable oils, are used. However, the energy considerations will probably lead to the preferential application of hollow-fiber SLM systems in the industry. On the basis of the laboratory study results, the SLM technology provides an ideal tool for the removal of trace amounts of the antibiotics, and potentially even other pharmaceutical products, from wastewaters. This will prevent the exposure of the MOs in the environment to antibiotics, thus eliminating the potential for the selection of microbial strains resistant to the respective antibiotic(s).
Published Version
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