Important Parameters of Ceramic Membranes Derived from Oasis Waste and Its Application for Car Wash Wastewater Treatment

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to find the best parameters, which are the oasis waste concentration, molding pressure, and sintering temperature for the fabrication of ceramic membrane to be used in the treatment of car wash wastewater. These membranes were prepared from clay and oasis waste using the semidry-pressing process. Characterization of these membranes was done by the determination of their porosity, contact angle, and shrinkage. Following the experiments, we notice that when the oasis waste concentration goes from 8% to 22%, the membranes become more hydrophilic. The same evolution is observed when the sintering temperature and molding pressure increase from 700 to 900°C, and eight to 12 bars, respectively. Moreover, membrane porosity increases with the increase of sintering temperature and oasis waste concentration by 14.6% and 49.3%, respectively. In addition, permeate flux is proportional to the oasis waste concentration and the sintering temperature. The highest flux increase is 62.2% for the case of 15% of oasis waste concentration, while a drop of 23.8% for permeate flux is recorded with the rise of molding pressure. After determining the membrane specific volume, which complies with the Tunisian standards NT.106.002, the best experimental parameters for the membrane fabrication are found to be: (i) 22% of oasis waste concentration, (ii) 800°C for sintering temperature, and (iii) Eight bars for molding pressure. After 30 minutes of the experimentation of wastewater treatment of car wash using the best membrane, an oil rejection of 93% and permeate flux of 116× 10-6 m3/m²s could be achieved.