The Development of Polymeric Composite Membrane Containing Plant Waste Derived Activated Carbon and TiO2 for Raw Petroleum Refinery Wastewater Treatment

Abstract

Petroleum industry results in a huge amount of harmful oily wastewater that must be properly treated. The fabricated composite membrane comprising polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), cassava peel-derived activated carbon (AC), and TiO2 was then developed for treating raw petroleum refinery wastewater containing high loading of organic and inorganic pollutants. This study applied different ratios of AC/TiO2 by 0, 1, 2, and 3% in the membrane fabrication solution to study the effect of composite ratio on the quality of permeate, fouling rate, and membrane tensile strength. The experimental work found that the ratio of AC/TiO2 by 3% in the composite membrane outperformed the other ratios. The additives addition by 3% could achieve more than 40, 71, 40, and 67.5% of COD, oil, BOD5, and phenol removal efficiency, respectively. It also reached a lower flux decline by 25% within 250 min of filtration time. Hermia’s model was then applied to study the fouling mechanism occurring during membrane operation. Additionally, it was indicated that membrane tensile strength was also influenced by composite ratio, where higher PVDF amount resulted in higher membrane tensile strength. Overall, this study concluded that composite membrane could be a reliable alternative for treating raw industrial wastewater to existing wastewater treatment technologies. Further research related to the composite membrane integration system with other treatment techniques can then be conducted to lengthen membrane lifespan and improve the permeate quality.