Abstract
In the research reported in this paper, membrane distillation was employed to recover water from a concentrated saline petrochemical effluent. According to the results, the use of membrane distillation is technically feasible when pre-treatments are employed to mitigate fouling. A mathematical model was used to evaluate the fouling mechanism, showing that the deposition of particulate and precipitated material occurred in all tests; however, the fouling dynamic depends on the pre-treatment employed (filtration, or filtration associated with a pH adjustment). The deposit layer formed by particles is not cohesive, allowing its entrainment to the bulk flow. The precipitate fouling showed a minimal tendency to entrainment. Also, precipitate fouling served as a coupling agent among adjacent particles, increasing the fouling layer cohesion.
Highlights
Access to water has sustained the development of human society
The experimental data that were obtained from the tests of membrane distillation, coupled with mathematical modeling, showed that the pre-treatments of filtrate or its association with the pH control over the processing time affects the mechanism and the dynamics of fouling that were obtained from concentrated saline effluent
Based on the results described and discussed in the present research work, the fouling formation, occurring when processing concentrated saline effluent, could be mitigated by employing filtration and by adjusting the pH of the solution during the processing
Summary
Access to water has sustained the development of human society. Irrigation was as essential for the development of ancient civilizations as it is today for modern society, considering the demand for food which is imposed by a constantly growing world population. Modern human society demands the diversified manufacturing of goods to maintain its lifestyle. Regardless of the final product, industrial processes usually employ a large amount of water to convert the raw materials into proper goods for human consumption. This features the petrochemical and chemical companies, which have predominantly used water from natural resources, reducing its availability for nobler uses, such as the production of potable water. Due to the growing demand, water becomes a scarce natural resource for both domestic and industrial users, mainly for countries with developing economies where larger demands of water are needed to sustain industrialization [3,4]
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