Micellar-enhanced ultrafiltration membrane (MEUF) of Batik wastewater using Cetylpyridinium chloride surfactant

Abstract

In batik production, reactive dyes such as remazol, indigosol, naphtol and rapid are used in the dying process. Batik wastewater contains high level of reactive dyes, wax and sodium salts and is characterized with high Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD), Total Suspended Solids (TSS) as well as high concentration of phenol and Ammonia. Micellar-Enhanced Ultrafiltration Membrane (MEUF) is one of promising technology to separate low molecular weight substances such as dyes. The MEUF process involves combination of ultrafiltration membrane and surfactant at concentration higher than surfactant’s Critical Micelle Concentration (CMC). This technique combines high selectivity of reverse osmosis membrane and high flux of ultrafiltration membrane but with lower pressure. Ultrafiltration of batik waste water without surfactant (UF) and with addition of surfactant (MEUF) were studied in order to compare the performance of both systems. The Batik wastewater were obtained from batik industry in Semarang and Surakarta, Central Java, Indonesia. Cetyl Pyridinium Chloride at concentration of 2 and 4 times of its CMC were used. Flatsheet ultrafiltration membrane was made from Polyethersulphone (12% w/w), N-methyl Pyrrolidone (83% w/w) and Polyethylene Glycol (5% w/w). The performance of the UF and MEUF were evaluated based on flux profiles and rejections (COD, TSS, concentration of Ammonia). The results showed that the MEUF had superior performance than the UF. Concentration of COD, TSS, phenol and ammonia were reduced significantly. The rejection of COD were 92.74% and 94.15%. Moreover, the MEUF was capable to reduce the TSS with the rejection of 86.26% and 65%. The concentration of ammonia in permeate were 0.43 ppm and below 0.01 ppm.