Preparation, Characterization and Properties of New Low Cost Multi-Channel Ceramic Membrane Tube for Water Treatment

Abstract

Multi-channel tubular macroporous ceramic membrane supports were successfully prepared via a plastic extrusion method, using α-Al2O3 with a purity of 94wt% and aluminum hydroxide as starting materials, the ash of burned rice hull as the pore-forming agent and a small amount of talc and kaolin as sintering aids. The effects of the kinds of sintering aids, content of aluminum hydroxide and ash of burned rice hull on the porosity, pore size and distribution, compressive strength, acid and alkali corrosion resistance and permeability of the new multi-channel ceramic membrane supports were investigated. The results showed that aluminum hydroxide effectively improved the mechanical strength, and the support sintered at 1450°C for 4h with the aluminum hydroxide content of 20wt% exhibited higher performance: average pore size diameter and porosity were nearly 5μm and 50% respectively, the compressive strength was around 7MPa, the pure water flux was 26m3/m2h at 0.1MPa and changed to nearly 20m3/m2h after the acid and alkali treatment at 90°C for 48h. The support possesses excellent corrosion resistance and can be used in the water treatment process with large range of pH value.