Membrane Fabrication Process Research Articles

Morphological and performance evaluation of highly sulfonated polyethersulfone/polyethersulfone membrane for oil/water separation

This study includes the fabrication of highly sulfonated polyethersulfone (SPES)/polyethersulfone (PES) blended membranes with superior properties for effective oil/water separation. In this regard membranes with different content of SPES and degree of sulfonation (DS) were fabricated. Highly sulfonated PES was synthesized by chlorosulfonic acid and concentrated sulfuric acid at low temperature. FTIR and DS analysis confirmed the presence of sulfonic acid groups on the PES backbone. The phase inversion process of membrane fabrication was studied by ternary phase diagram construction and dope solutions viscosity measurement. Fabricated membranes were characterized by SEM, water contact angle, porosity, pure water flux, and mechanical strength. The SEM images demonstrated that blended membranes have wider finger-like pores in their structure compared to bare PES membrane. Results indicated that by increasing SPES content and DS, permeability increased but mechanical strength decreased. The membranes fabricated by 50% SPES with 37% DS and 50% PES has the highest permeability (59.89 l/m2.h) with 93.3% oil rejection. Also antifouling properties of blended membranes improved remarkably compared to PES membrane.

Polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) based microfiltration membranes: Tailoring the structure by the non-solvent induced phase separation (NIPS) process

Within the purpose of developing more sustainable membrane systems, it is herein proposed to implement a biobased and biodegradable material, the poly(hydroxybutyrate-co-hydroxyvalerate) (PHBHV), to replace conventional polymers in a commonly used membrane fabrication process. The PHBHV based membranes were made by non-solvent induced phase separation (NIPS) using N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) as solvent. The process parameters and dope solution composition were developed in order to give structures suitable for performances characterization. In that sense, the microstructures were characterized in case of non-supported and supported membranes. The addition of hydrophilic additives, ethylene glycol (EG) and polyethylene glycol 300 g mol−1 (PEG300), was linked to the morphology changes. Porous asymmetric membranes were obtained in case of the non-supported membranes or supported membranes with a low amount of additive (1 wt%). Otherwise, symmetric porous membranes, made of interconnected crystal lamellas, were observed. The particularly high crystallinity of this biomaterial involved some different microstructures compared to classic polymers. Both types of structures demonstrated decent rejections of a clay dispersion. Due to the increased pore size, the permeabilities were greatly improved with the additives and values up to 480 L m−2 h−1.bar−1 were achieved.

Nanofiltration for Arsenic Removal: Challenges, Recent Developments, and Perspectives.

Arsenic (As) removal is of major significance because inorganic arsenic is highly toxic to all life forms, is a confirmed carcinogen, and is of significant environmental concern. As contamination in drinking water alone threatens more than 150 million people all over the world. Therefore, several conventional methods such as oxidation, coagulation, adsorption, etc., have been implemented for As removal, but due to their cost-maintenance limitations; there is a drive for advanced, low cost nanofiltration membrane-based technology. Thus, in order to address the increasing demand of fresh and drinking water, this review focuses on advanced nanofiltration (NF) strategy for As removal to safeguard water security. The review concentrates on different types of NF membranes, membrane fabrication processes, and their mechanism and efficiency of performance for removing As from contaminated water. The article provides an overview of the current status of polymer-, polymer composite-, and polymer nanocomposite-based NF membranes, to assess the status of nanomaterial-facilitated NF membranes and to incite progress in this area. Finally, future perspectives and future trends are highlighted.

Recent Progress on Improving the Sustainability of Membrane Fabrication

Although the membrane process is recognized as a green technology and is considered as a key player in the process intensification movement, it is not widely known that the fabrication of membrane itself generates significant amount of waste. With the growing membrane market, more efforts must be placed on improving the sustainability of membrane fabrication such as replacing toxic organic solvents, minimizing mass intensity of fabrication process, and treating solvent-contaminated membrane wastewater. In this review, recent progresses on improving the sustainability of membrane fabrication have been discussed. In particular, recently-identified green solvents have been compiled, as well as novel methods to apply green solvents to fabricate high performance membranes. In addition, process intensification to minimize solvent waste, and to treat solvent-contaminated wastewater from membrane fabrication process, have been discussed.

Development of high performance amine functionalized zeolitic imidazolate framework ( ZIF ‐8)/cellulose triacetate mixed matrix membranes for CO 2 / CH 4 separation

High cost and complex fabrication process of inorganic membranes and lower position of pristine polymeric membranes in the Robeson upper bound curve urged the researchers to develop mixed matrix membranes (MMMs). Cellulose acetate being most commercially used polymer, dominates the market of CO2 separation mainly because of low cost and environmental friendly resource. In the present study, MMMs consists of amine functionalized zeolitic imidazolate framework (NH2-ZIF-8) and cellulose triacetate were fabricated for the first time. NH2-ZIF-8 was used as a filler because the pore size of ZIF-8 is between the kinetic diameter of separating gases (CO2 and CH4). Moreover, NH2 group attached on the surface of ZIF-8 has affinity with condensable gases like CO2. Morphology, crystallinity, tensile strength and functional groups of fabricated membranes were investigated using different analytical techniques. Results revealed that the increase of feed pressure has increased CO2 permeability and decreased permselectivity. However, improvements in gas separation performance were observed with the addition of nanofiller. Best position in Robeson's upper bound curve at 4 bar was obtained with 10 wt% loading with CO2 permeability and CO2/CH4 permselectivity of 218 barrer and 13.84, respectively. The improvement in the gas separation performance with loading is attributed to the increased diffusion coefficients as well as solubility coefficients, which was increased to 33% and 3.8%, respectively.

Sacrificial Water-Soluble BaO Layer for Fabricating Free-Standing Piezoelectric Membranes.

The use of a sacrificial water-soluble BaO layer was investigated for the purpose of fabricating free-standing single-crystalline BaTiO3 membranes for vibrational energy harvesting applications. An epitaxial BaTiO3/SrTiO3/BaO heterostructure was deposited on a SrTiO3(001) substrate by pulsed laser deposition. The sacrificial BaO layer was dissolved by immersing the heterostructure in water. A single-crystalline BaTiO3 membrane was thereby released from the SrTiO3(001) substrate and transferred onto a glass or polyethylene terephthalate (PET) substrate coated with a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) adhesion layer. A 200 nm-thick BaTiO3 membrane was sandwiched between two flexible PDMS/ITO/PET electrode layers, forming a vibrational energy harvester test device that could operate at an average electrical power output of over 1 μW. This membrane fabrication process is applicable to various flexible structures and materials in vibrational energy harvesting or dynamic strain-sensing applications.

Fabrication and Characterization of Ice Templated Membrane Supports from Portland Cement.

Porous ceramic membranes for aqueous microfiltration and ultrafiltration processes suffer from the high-costs of material and processing. The latter is mainly due to the high-temperature sintering step. In this work, cement-based membrane supports from ultrafine Portland cement are studied as a low-cost alternative to traditional oxidic ceramic supports. An environmentally friendly freeze-casting fabrication route is applied for the fabrication of porous membrane supports. Cement membrane supports are becoming mechanically stabile after hydration reaction of cement with water, which does not require any high-temperature sintering step as in a conventional ceramic membrane fabrication process. This fabrication route, which is sintering-free, decreases the cost and environmental impact of the membrane fabrication process by eliminating extra energy consumption step during sintering. The Archimedes method, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), micro-computed tomographic (µCT), and mercury porosimetry characterize the membrane supports in respect to open porosity, pore size distribution, morphology, and connectivity. The flexural strength of the 3 mm thick membranes is in the range from 1 to 6 MPa, as obtained by the ring-on-ring tests. The obtained membrane supports possess porosity in the range between 48 and 73% depending on fabrication conditions (cooling rate and the solid content, as determined by Archimedes method enabling water flux in the range between 79 and 180 L/(h·m2) at 0.5 bar transmembrane pressure difference and 3 mm membrane thickness.

Facilitated Structure Formation in Isoporous Block Copolymer Membranes upon Controlled Evaporation by Gas Flow.

The conventional fabrication of isoporous membranes via the evaporation-induced self-assembly of block copolymers in combination with non-solvent induced phase separation (SNIPS) is achieved under certain environmental conditions. In this study, we report a modification in the conventional fabrication process of (isoporous) flat sheet membranes in which the self-assembly of block copolymers is achieved by providing controlled evaporation conditions using gas flow and the process is introduced as gSNIPS. This fabrication approach can not only trigger and control the microphase separation but also provides isoporous structure formation in a much broader range of solution concentrations and casting parameters, as compared to fabrication under ambient, uncontrolled conditions. We systematically investigated the structure formation of the fabrication of integral asymmetric isoporous membranes by gSNIPS. A quantitative correlation between the evaporation conditions (causing solvent evaporation and temperature drop) and the self-assembly of block copolymers beginning from the top layer up to a certain depth, orientation of pores in the top layer and the substructure morphology has been discussed empirically.

Interpenetrating networks of mixed matrix materials comprising metal-organic polyhedra for membrane CO2 capture

Mixed matrix materials (MMMs) comprising porous fillers in polymers can exhibit superior gas separation properties, yet their practical use has been limited by poor interfacial compatibility between the two components. Herein we report a bottom-up approach to synthesize the MMMs by dispersing a metal-organic polyhedron (MOP-3) in monomer solutions before rapid photopolymerization to form interpenetrating networks (IPNs), where the porous MOP-3 nanoparticles serve as molecular dopants. Specifically, MOP-3 with particle sizes of ≈5 nm was dispersed in and infiltrated by either a macromonomer of poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate (PEGDA) or poly(1,3 dioxolane) acrylate (PDXLA). The introduction of the MOP-3 in the polyethers decreases their glass transition temperatures and even induces the crystallization of polyPDXLA at high loadings. Increasing the MOP loading increases CO2 permeability with a slight decrease in CO2/gas selectivity. For example, as the MOP content increases from 0 to 30 mass% in polyPDXLA, CO2 permeability increases from 190 Barrer to 580 Barrer, and CO2/N2 selectivity decreases from 70 to 62 at 35 °C. These IPNs-based MMMs exhibit separation properties above the Robeson's upper bounds for CO2/N2 and CO2/H2 separation. As the MOPs are soluble in solvents, this approach can be easily integrated into industrial membrane fabrication processes to produce MMMs-based composite membranes in large-scale.

Durability and Recoverability of Soft Lithographically Patterned Hydrogel Molds for the Formation of Phase Separation Membranes.

Hydrogel-facilitated phase separation (HFPS) has recently been applied to make microstructured porous membranes by modified phase separation processes. In HFPS, a soft lithographically patterned hydrogel mold is used as a water content source that initiates the phase separation process in membrane fabrication. However, after each membrane casting, the hydrogel content changes due to the diffusion of organic solvent into the hydrogel from the original membrane solution. The absorption of solvent into the hydrogel mold limits the continuous use of the mold in repeated membrane casts. In this study, we investigated a simple treatment process for hydrogel mold recovery, consisting of warm and cold treatment steps to provide solvent extraction without changing the hydrogel mold integrity. The best recovery result was 96%, which was obtained by placing the hydrogel in a warm water bath (50 °C) for 10 min followed by immersing in a cold bath (23 °C) for 4 min and finally 4 min drying in air. This recovery was attributed to nearly complete solvent extraction without any deformation of the hydrogel structure. The reusability of hydrogel can assist in the development of a continuous membrane fabrication process using HFPS.

Olefin metathesis-crosslinked, bulky imidazolium-based anion exchange membranes with excellent base stability and mechanical properties

To improve the mechanical properties of anion exchange membranes (AEMs) with bulky imidazolium cations, a series of anion-conductive poly(2,6-dimethyl-phenylene oxide)s (PPO)s with crosslinkable terminal double bonds were synthesized by the Menshutkin reaction. Following crosslinking via olefin metathesis at room temperature catalyzed by a Grubb's second generation catalyst, tough, transparent, and flexible PPO-based AEMs were obtained. The crosslinked AEMs exhibited good mechanical properties (tensile strength at maximum load of 20.8–49.9 MPa and values of elongation at break of 1.5–3.0%) though their bulky imidazolium cation groups which could destroy the film-forming ability of polymer. And the obtained mechanical properties were considerably better than those of the non-crosslinked AEMs with a similar architecture, which broke into small pieces during the process of membrane fabrication using solvent casting. Furthermore, the crosslinked AEMs exhibited an extremely low water uptake (up to 13.9 wt% at 80 °C) and minimal swelling (<7% at 80 °C), attributed to the high-density crosslinking network. A high bromide conductivity (22.9 mS/cm at 80 °C) was achieved despite the low water uptake for the crosslinked AEM. Moreover, long-term alkaline stability testing in 1 M NaOH at 80 °C, no obvious degradation of the imidazolium ring was observed, with the conductivity of aged crosslinked membranes remaining at ~100% after 960 h. It was assumed that the bulky substituents at the C2, C4, and C5 positions of imidazolium cations and the crosslinked architecture prevented H2O and/or OH− from attacking the cationic center. Moreover, the AEM fuel cell performance and durability was further explored for the membrane electrode assembly (MEA) with crosslinked and uncrosslinked bulky imidazolium-based ionomers in catalyst layers. An optimistic cell performance (a peak power density of 173 mW/cm2 at 410 mA/cm2) and improved short-term durability at a constant current density of 200 mA/cm2 were obtained for the crosslinked ionomers, and its lifetime was ca. 3 times longer than that of benzyltrimethylammonium functionalized PPO ionomer.

Water permeability in MXene membranes: Process matters

Recent studies have shown impressive transport behaviors of water and ions within lamellar MXene membranes, which endows great promise in developing advanced separation application based high performance MXene membranes. However, most of the researches focused on modification of MXene nanoflakes and optimizing interlayer distance, leaving the impact of membrane fabrication process marginal. In this work, we studied the water flux of membranes made by vacuum filtration using delaminated MXene nanoflakes as the building-blocks. Our results show that the water permeability is extremely sensitive to the process, especially at the drying process, loading and deposit rate of nanoflakes (the feeding concentration). We find that the voids from less ordered stack rather than in-plane defects and interlayer galleries contribute to the large water permeability. The voids can be effectively avoided via deposition of MXene nanoflakes at a slow rate. Manipulating the stack of MXene nanoflakes during vacuum filtration and drying are critical for development of MXene membranes with desired performance for water permeation.

Controlled Postassembly Functionalization of Mesoporous Copolymer Membranes Informed by Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy

The need for nanofiltration membranes with tailored selectivity and reduced fouling propensity has led to the development of a multitude of processes that incorporate targeted functionality on membrane surfaces. These processes are often time-consuming, and additional development is needed to realize functionalization protocols that are compatible with roll-to-roll membrane fabrication processes. This work investigated the use of copper-catalyzed azide–alkyne cycloaddition (CuAAC) click reactions whereby a reactive solution containing an alkynyl-terminated molecule is deposited on a copolymer membrane with azide-functionalized surfaces. The progress of the reaction was quantified by using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy to monitor the decreasing intensity of the peak associated with the azide groups as a function of time. The rate of membrane functionalization was controlled through the concentrations of the copper catalyst and alkynyl-terminated molecule in the reactive solution. Reactive solutio...

Improving the electrospinning process of fabricating nanofibrous membranes to filter PM2.5

To mitigate PM2.5 emissions is becoming a pressing concern, because these particles pose a threat to public health. Evidence shows that bead-free nanofiber with diameter of <100 nm is more likely to capture the PM2.5, however, currently it is impossible to fabricate bead-free nanofiber with such diameter without introduction of other substances. To fabricate bead-free polyacrylonitrile (PAN) nanofibers with diameter of <100 nm, we improved the electrospinning process of membrane fabrication via design of experiment (DOE), and we then used these nanofibers to filter PM2.5 emissions from burning cigarettes and fused deposition modeling (FDM) three-dimensional (3D) printing. The DOE was based on a L27 (313) orthodoxy array, which consists of six controllable factors, that is, the concentration of solution, the spinning voltage, the rotating speed, the tip-to-collector distance, the flow rate of the syringe pump, and the electrospinning temperature, each of them has three levels. The results showed that the nanofibers of the least diameter (i.e., 77 nm) can be fabricated under the following condition: 8 wt% PAN solution, 12 kV voltage, 5000 r/min, 12 cm tip-to-collector distance, 0.6 ml/h flow rate, and 50 °C electrospinning temperature. Range analysis and analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed that the concentration of PAN solution has the most significant effect on the diameter, and their values are positively correlated. An examination in a two-chamber filtering device showed the PAN membrane with the least fiber diameter has a PM2.5 filtration efficiency of 99.26%. A filtration test on standard FDM 3D printing process showed the membrane has a PM2.5 removal efficiency of 81.16%. This work could mitigate PM2.5 emissions from cigarette tobacco and FDM 3D printing, and it would be used to other scenarios, such as industrial and traffic emissions.

Preparation and characterization of low-pressure and high MgSO4 rejection thin-film composite NF membranes via interfacial polymerization process

Low-pressure nanofiltration membrane produced by FILMTEC-DOW is generally considered by membrane industries as the commercial standard; according to its specification, for a 2000 ppm MgSO4(aq) feed, it yields 98.2% MgSO4 rejection and 22 GFD permeate flow at 70 psi applied cross-flow filtration pressure. Here we want to report our nanofiltration membrane development works on improved reactant formulation and fabrication process to produce our nanofiltration membrane having 98.2% MgSO4 rejection and 33 GFD permeate flow for the similar test conditions as FILMTEC-DOW did. Our near 50% improvement on water permeate flux over FILMTEC-DOW low-pressure nanofiltration membrane was due to the fact that an adduct salt named TEACSA was added to the aqueous piperazine aqueous solution during our membrane fabrication process. Besides evaluating the nanofiltration performances of our NF membranes, characterizations of the polyetherimide (PEI) microporous supports fabricated in our laboratory in the areas of pure water permeate fluxes at 40 psi cross-flow filtration pressure, wet–dry studies of hydrophobic porous polyetherimide and polysulfone supports, AFM and SEM were performed.

A novel green solvent alternative for polymeric membrane preparation via nonsolvent-induced phase separation (NIPS)

The membrane market has grown rapidly over the past several decades, supported by continuous improvements in membrane performance, module and process design, and fouling control. However, such growth will be unsustainable with current membrane fabrication methods that employ significant amounts of toxic solvents (e.g., N-methylpyrrolidone, dimethylacetamide, and dimethylformamide), thereby producing billions of liters of contaminated wastewater each year. A possible solution is to identify greener alternatives with appropriate properties that are compatible with conventional polymers. In this work, we employed a novel green solvent, Rhodiasolv PolarClean®, that is less toxic than current solvents and eco-friendly, while exhibiting the necessary properties to be employed as a solvent for membrane preparation via the nonsolvent-induced phase separation (NIPS) method. Rhodiasolv PolarClean® has been successfully applied to membrane preparation for water desalination and reclamation by ultrafiltration (UF) and nanofiltration (NF) with conventional polymers, including polysulfone (PSF), polyethersulfone (PES), and cellulose acetate (CA). The UF membranes prepared from PES/Pluronic F127 and PSF/polyvinylpyrrolidone exhibited pure water permeabilities greater than 314.5 ± 57.8 L m−2 h−1 bar−1 and tensile strength 3.78 ± 0.12 MPa with BSA rejection of 98.1 ± 0.4%. Cellulose acetate membrane used for NF applications demonstrated pure water permeability of 1.5 ± 0.25 L m−2 h−1 bar−1 with NaCl and MgCl2 rejection of 85.1 ± 5.7% and 93.2 ± 4.7%, respectively. The performance of the prepared membranes was competitive with current state-of-the-art membranes across all applications, indicating immediate applicability to improving the sustainability of membrane fabrication processes.

Experimental investigation and mathematical modeling of nano‐composite membrane fabrication process: Focus on the role of solvent type

In this study, the effect of fabrication parameters on the performance of nano-SiO2-embedded membranes fabricated by three prevalent solvents was investigated. Genetic programming was applied for modeling and estimating the best preparation conditions to obtain a proper membrane for oily wastewater microfiltration. Membranes were prepared via a combination of vapor-induced phase separation and nonsolvent-induced phase separation methods. Different types of solvents such as N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone, N,N-dimethyl formamide, and dimethyl sulfoxide were used in cooperating with SiO2 nanoparticles to improve hydrophilicity properties of polyethersulfone. Thermodynamic behavior of solvents and their interaction with polymer and nonsolvent were considered as criteria for forming a suitable membrane with the maximum effectiveness of nanoparticles. The results showed that nanoparticles are more influential along with a solvent that has a weak affinity with a polymer, which subsequently can produce efficient membranes under conditions with a balance between exposure time and relative humidity. The optimum amounts of parameters were estimated by genetic algorithm to introduce a condition for having a membrane with the maximum permeate flux. Membranes fabricated with dimethyl sulfoxide represented the highest pore size and the most hydrophilic surface, which, in turn, led to the desired membrane (permeate flux 300L/m(2)hr and oil rejection 97%).

Effective modeling and optimization of PVDF–PTFE electrospinning parameters and membrane distillation process by response surface methodology

ABSTRACTPloy(vinylidene fluoride)–polytetrafluoroethylene nanofibrous membrane fabrication and direct contact membrane distillation (DCMD) process were simulated and optimized by response surface methodology (RSM). Analysis of variance was applied to develop and verify the models that predict the objectives. The three‐dimensional response surfaces of different objectives were obtained. Results showed that the membrane with thickness of 70.7 μm, contact angle of 146.2°, and liquid entry pressure of 53.5 kPa was obtained within investigated experimental range under the optimum electrospinning conditions. Rejection rate of 99.99% and the permeate flux of 67.5 kg m−2 h−1 were gained under the optimum membrane distillation (MD) process parameters. The actual and predicted values show good consistency verifying the accuracy of the models. In addition, an overall investigation of the influence of heat‐press temperature on the morphological and mechanical properties of electrospun membrane was carried out. Results indicated that electrospinning process and MD performance can be enhanced after the corresponding variables were optimized by RSM. This study provides a scientific way to optimize the electrospinning and DCMD parameters. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2019, 136, 47125.

Polyethersulfone Membranes Prepared with 3-Aminopropyltriethoxysilane Modified Alumina Nanoparticles for Cu(II) Removal from Water.

In this study, 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTES) modified γ-alumina nanoparticles were utilized to improve the copper removal efficiency of polyethersulfone (PES) membranes. Alumina nanoparticles were first modified by APTES silane coupling agent before impregnating into PES composite membranes. The PES membranes were fabricated by incorporating three different amounts of modified nanoparticles by a phase inversion process. The prepared membranes were characterized using field emission scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared, X-ray diffraction, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), dynamic mechanical analysis, water contact angle, water flux, and porosity measurements. The Cu(II) removal and adsorption capacity of the membranes were also analyzed. The addition of nanoparticles increased the thermal stability, hydrophilicity, total porosity, Brunauer–Emmett–Teller surface area, and glass transition temperature of the membranes. TGA confirmed a suitable uptake of the nanoparticles during the membrane fabrication process. The water permeation of the membranes also increased significantly. Membranes synthesized with 4 wt % nanoparticles showed the highest rejection for copper ions of 87%. Adsorption isotherms were tested using Langmuir and Freundlich models, where the Freundlich isotherm model resulted in the best fitting.

Environmental impact of nanomaterials in composite membranes: Life cycle assessment of algal membrane photoreactor using polyvinylidene fluoride – composite membrane

This study assessed the environmental impacts of a composite polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) membrane (incorporating nanomaterials) and compared with neat PVDF membrane on algal membrane photoreactor (A-MPR) system's overall sustainability. The life cycle assessment (LCA) was carried out using Simapro 8.4.0 with cradle-to-gate approach, including raw materials, equipment, transportation and electricity consumption using ReCiPe 1.13 (H) and IPCC 2013 GWP 100a methodology. From the LCA analysis, silver/graphene oxide - polyvinylidene fluoride (Ag/GO-PVDF) membrane fabrication showed higher environmental impact than the neat PVDF membrane fabrication due to the addition of Ag/GO nanohybrids into the polymer. However, the A-MPR system using the Ag/GO-PVDF membrane exhibited better environmental footprint due to the improved performance of the modified membrane in producing higher volume of permeate as the output. Therefore, the A-MPR system using Ag/GO-PVDF membrane had outweighed the additional environmental impact of the Ag/GO-PVDF membrane fabrication process. Energy demand was identified as the main environmental hotspot in the LCA analysis. Subsequently, sensitivity analysis was performed to find out the effect of various energy mix for electricity generation towards the environment. The analysis revealed that the energy source for electricity generation had significant influence on the overall sustainability of the A-MPR system. The use of grid with 100% renewable energy (hydropower and geothermal) and solar photovoltaic might be able to mitigate 94.8% and 97.5% of CO2 emission, respectively.