Abstract
The lack of access to clean water remains a severe issue all over the world. Coupling photocatalysis with the membrane separation process, which is known as a photocatalytic membrane reactor (PMR), is promising for water treatment. PMR has developed rapidly during the last few years, and this paper presents an overview of the progress in the configuration and operational parameters of PMRs. Two main configurations of PMRs (PMRs with immobilized photocatalyst; PMRs with suspended photocatalyst) are comprehensively described and characterized. Various influencing factors on the performance of PMRs, including photocatalyst, light source, water quality, aeration and membrane, are detailed. Moreover, a discussion on the current problems and development prospects of PMRs for practical application are presented.
Highlights
With the fast expansion of industrialization and population growth, in addition to increasing water pollution, shortage of clean water sources has turned into a severe problem all over the world.Over 15% of the world’s population lack access to reliable water sources, which are essential for public health [1]
The results showed that 99.9% of hydrocarbons were removed by the photocatalytic membrane reactor (PMR) system after the 8 h process, and only 1.0 ppb TiO2 leaching was detected in the permeate tank, indicating that TiO2 was immobilized tightly with the membrane
The results showed that the LiCl‐TiO2‐polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) membrane was able to achieve high natural organic matters (NOM) removal efficiency as well as decreased membrane fouling in cross flow mode
Summary
With the fast expansion of industrialization and population growth, in addition to increasing water pollution, shortage of clean water sources has turned into a severe problem all over the world. The most frequently used membrane technologies in the water treatment field are microfiltration (MF), ultrafiltration (UF), nanofiltration (NF) and reverse osmosis (RO), in descending order of membrane pore sizes [19] It has been widely proved in practice that the membrane separation process can remove the majority of the suspended solids, colloids and microorganisms effectively. It requires smaller floor space and sustains a more stable effluent quality than traditional water treatment technologies, attracting an increasing number of industrial applications. Molinari et al [34] gave a systematic introduction of PMR configurations for water treatment and configurations for water treatment and chemical production in 2013 They presented different types chemical production in 2013. Various influencing factors on the performance of PMR including photocatalyst, light source, water quality, aeration and membrane are detailed
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