Extrusion of Silicon Carbide Based Tubular Membrane Incorporated With Coal Fly Ash and Performance Evaluation in Water Treatment

Abstract

Development of an efficient membrane from waste resources has been receiving growing interest. The utilization of industrial waste coal fly ash (CFA) for the preparation of SiC based tubular membrane has reduced the raw material cost and sintering temperature, and hence beneficial in both economic and environmental points. In the present work, tubular membrane was prepared by extrusion of ceramic paste formulated using SiC powder, CFA, suitable dispersant, plasticizer and additives. The extruded green body was dried and then sintered at 850°C. The membrane was characterized by measuring porosity, morphology by scanning electron microscopy, linear shrinkage, mechanical strength. The membrane performance was evaluated using synthetically prepared oil-water emulsion, turbid water, kitchen wastewater and industrial wastewater. The membrane was found to remove 93-95% of oil depending on the oil concentration in the feed water. The oil rejection potential of the membrane was compared with other membranes reported in the literature and the results indicated that the membrane prepared in this study had a strong potential applications in wastewater treatment.