Coagulation-membrane Process Research Articles

Integrated Coagulation-Membrane Processes with Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD) Configuration for the Treatment of Oil Sands Produced Water

This study explores the feasibility of implementing five hybrid coagulation-membrane processes for the treatment of the boiler blow-down (BBD) water from an oil sands steam assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) operation. The processes involved (1) direct nanofiltration (NF) of the BBD water, (2) pre-treatment of the NF retentate using ion exchanger regeneration wastewater (IERW) as a chemical coagulant followed by NF, (3) pre-treatment of BBD water using IERW followed by NF, (4) dual pre-treatment of BBD water using IERW and soda ash (sodium carbonate, Na2CO3) followed by NF, and (5) forward osmosis (FO) treatment of the BBD water using IERW as a draw solution followed by NF treatment of diluted draw solution. These scenarios were compared based on total flux decline ratio (DRt), flux recovery ratio (FRR), and total dissolved solids (TDS) removal over the final NF treatment to suggest an efficient treatment technique to avoid an undesired increase in the capital and operating expenses. It was found that process-1 provided the highest selectivity toward dissolved solids (80%) with a flux decline and recovery ration of 89.6% and 97.4%, respectively. Considering the permeation flux, process-4 exhibited the lowest flux decline (86.1%) and highest recovery ratio (97.5%) compared to other processes, proving the successful role of soda ash softening, as a chemical pretreatment method, in improving the performance of membrane filtration. Process-2 presented a mediocre performance with DRt, FRR, and TDS rejection of 93.3%, 97.3%, and 74%, respectively. Finally, process-3 and process-5 showed the lowest performance among all the scenarios with low flux recovery and low permeability, respectively. In addition, process-3 was expected to be cost-efficient since it only uses an on-site generated waste as a coagulant for the chemical pretreatment of the membrane filtration unit. The optimum scenario was proposed to be the two-stage membrane process, with direct NF of BBD followed by the post-treatment of the retentate via a hybrid chemical conditioning using IERW and soda ash softening, followed by a second NF. Overall, this integrated process offered a highly efficient mean with a zero liquid discharge (ZLD) system for the treatment of high pH wastewaters into an uncontaminated stream for the boilers.

Membrane fouling control by Ca2+ during coagulation-ultrafiltration process for algal-rich water treatment.

Seasonal algal bloom, a water supply issue worldwide, can be efficiently solved by membrane technology. However, membranes typically suffer from serious fouling, which hinders the wide application of this technology. In this study, the feasibility of adding Ca2+ to control membrane fouling in coagulation-membrane treatment of algal-rich water was investigated. According to the results obtained, the normalized membrane flux decreased by a lower extent upon increasing the concentration of Ca2+ from 0 to 10mmol/L. Simultaneously, the floc particle size increased significantly with the concentration of Ca2+, which leads to a lower hydraulic resistance. The coagulation performance is also enhanced with the concentration of Ca2+, inducing a slight osmotic pressure-induced resistance. The formation of Ca2+ coagulation flocs resulted in a looser, thin, and permeable cake layer on the membrane surface. This cake layer rejected organic pollutants and could be easily removed by physical and chemical cleaning treatments, as revealed by scanning electron microscopy images. The hydraulic irreversible membrane resistance was significantly reduced upon addition of Ca2+. All these findings suggest that the addition of Ca2+ may provide a simple-operation, cost-effective, and environmentally friendly technology for controlling membrane fouling during coagulation-membrane process for algal-rich water treatment.

Chitosan as natural coagulant in hybrid coagulation-nanofiltration membrane process for water treatment

Water treatment industries are exploring the possibility to use environmental friendly chemicals and to discover the potential of advanced treatment technology in order to achieve sustainable development. Hybrid coagulation-membrane process has been introduced and proven to be a reliable water treatment process. In this study, the potential of chitosan as natural coagulant in hybrid coagulation-NF membrane process was studied. Three synthetic humic acid (HA) solutions with different ionic strength and composition will be used; without salt (Set 1), with NaCl only (Set 2), and with NaCl, CaCl2, and NaHCO3 (Set 3). Our findings indicated that gradual flux decline for Set 1 can be related to the continuous accumulation of neutral charged particles (pH 4.2) on the membrane surface. Formation of compact foulant layer due to further charge suppression of the foulants by dissolved ions (Set 2) resulted in severe membrane flux decline. When the pH of Set 1 and Set 2 supernatant solutions were increased to 7, fouling has been resolved due to the presence of strong electrostatic repulsion between the foulants and membrane. During the initial filtration process for Set 3, the flux has remained constant due to the strong repulsion between negatively charged foulants and membrane (pH 7). It was followed by severe flux decline which could be attributed to the effect of concentration polarization. Hence, this study highlighted that the impact of natural coagulant on the membrane process should be systematically studied in order to prevent unnecessary loss due to the incompatibility between both processes.

Treating high-turbidity storm water by coagulation-membrane process

The common strategy of drinking waterworks to deal with high-turbidity storm waters is to shut down all operations. Membrane is not regarded feasible to treat high-turbidity raw water for apparently easy fouling accompanied with drinking water production. This study for the first time tested the feasibility of utilizing pre-coagulation–sedimentation and one of three nanofiltration membranes (DK, DL from GE/Osmonics and NF270 from Dow Chemicals) and one reverse osmosis membrane (SG from GE/Osmonics) under crossflow. The tested combined process can produce drinking water at acceptance rates from Morakot storm water at original turbidity of 14120NTU.

Effect of two-stage coagulant addition on coagulation-ultrafiltration process for treatment of humic-rich water

A novel two-stage coagulant addition strategy applied in a coagulation-ultrafiltration (UF) process for treatment of humic-rich water at neutral pH was investigated in this study. When aluminum sulfate (alum) doses were set at a ratio of 3:1 added during rapid mix stage and half way through flocculation stage, the integrated process of two-stage alum addition achieved almost the same organic matter removal as that of conventional one-stage alum addition at the same overall dose. Whereas membrane fouling could be effectively mitigated by the two-stage addition exhibited by trans-membrane pressure (TMP) developments. The TMP developments were found to be primarily attributed to external fouling on membrane surface, which was closely associated with floc characteristics. The results of jar tests indicated that the average size of flocs formed in two-stage addition mode roughly reached one half larger than that in one-stage addition mode, which implied a beneficial effect on membrane fouling reduction. Moreover, the flocs with more irregular structure and lower effective density resulted from the two-stage alum addition, which caused higher porosity of cake layer formed by such flocs on membrane surface. Microscopic observations of membrane surface demonstrated that internal fouling in membrane pores could be also remarkably limited by two-stage alum addition. It is likely that the freshly formed hydroxide precipitates were distinct in surface characteristics from the aged precipitates due to formation of more active groups or adsorption of more labile aluminum species. Consequently, the flocs could further connect and aggregate to contribute to preferable properties for filtration performance of the coagulation-UF process. As a simple and efficient approach, two-stage coagulant addition strategy could have great practical significance in coagulation-membrane processes.

Role of hydrophobic natural organic matter flocs on the fouling in coagulation-membrane processes

Effects of the properties of flocs consisting of natural organic matter (NOM) contained in surface waters on membrane fouling in the coagulation-microfiltration (MF) treatment were examined in this study. Two types of waters containing different quantities of dissolved NOM primarily composed of humic substances were employed, low humic natural water and high humic lab-prepared water. Physical properties of the flocs formed in the coagulation process were analyzed by flocculation index (FI), fractal dimension, and microscopic observations. Flocs of high humic water were small and regular in shape, represented by the low FI and high fractal dimension, indicating that these flocs can be more easily compressible than those of low humic natural water. This was confirmed by direct microscopic observation and increased compressibility of the cakes formed with the high humic water flocs on the membrane surface. As a result, membrane fouling became pronounced, supported by increase of specific cake resistance and substantial decrease of water flux through the membrane. It is our expectation that these results provide useful information for the control of membrane fouling caused by flocs in the coagulation-MF membrane treatment.