Polysulfone Hollow Fiber Ultrafiltration Membrane Research Articles

English

Performance of chemical deacidification of crude palm oil (CPO) using aqueous NaOH solution in a polysulfone hollow fiber ultrafiltration membrane was investigated. The effects of operating temperature, NaOH concentration and flow rates on percentage of free fatty acids (FFA) removal, oil loss, soap entrainment and overall mass transfer coefficient were evaluated. Overall mass transfer coefficients, soap content in oil and neutral oil loss all increased when the temperature was increased from 60 to 70°C due to an increase of the FFA distribution value. A minimum 0.25 N of NaOH or a NaOH to FFA molar ratio of about 7.62 was required to facilitate the expected extraction efficiency. The increased oil flowrate slightly enhanced the solute transport kinetics, while the aqueous phase flowrate did not significantly influence deacidification efficiency or mass transfer coefficient. About 97% of FFA removal was achieved within 4 hours. The maximum oil loss observed was 11% and the highest soap content in the oil without separation step was 3150 ppm. The values of the overall mass transfer coefficient varied from 2.97×10 -7 to 7.71×10 -7 m/s. These results show the potential of using the non dispersive membrane contacting process for chemical deacidification of CPO as well as other vegetable oils.

Modification of polysulfone hollow fiber ultrafiltration membranes using hyperbranched polyesters with different molecular weights

A series of hyperbranched polyesters (HBPEs) using trimethylolpropane (TMP) as a core were synthesized via an esterification reaction, and the molecular weights of these HBPEs were 1600, 2260, 3370, and 5170 g/mol, respectively. Then, these HBPEs were added into dope solutions to prepare PSf hollow fiber membranes via a wet-spinning method. When the HBPE molecule weight increased from 1600 to 5170 g/mol, the initial viscosities of the PSf–HBPE–PEG400–DMAc dope solutions increased, and the shear-thinning phenomenon of these dope solutions became increasingly obvious. When these dope solutions were immersed into the deionized water, the demixing rate increased with an increase in the HBPE molecule weight at first and then decreased; this results in the increase of membrane porosity and the coexistence of finger-like and sponge-like structures. With the addition of HBPE, the start pure water contact angle and the mean effective pore size of the membranes decreased, and the Jw increased. For the mechanical properties of the membranes, the breaking strength and the elongation of the membranes also increased. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Formation of hollow fiber membranes doped with multiwalled carbon nanotube dispersions

The structure and properties of dispersions of pristine and covalently modified multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) in N,N-dimethylacetamide (DMAc), N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP), N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF) and water have been studied. It has been shown that the dispersions in NMP have the highest stability and smallest particle size. The study of MWCNT dispersions in DMAc with various dispersing polymers, such as polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP), polyethylene glycol, block copolymers of polyethylene glycol and polypropylene glycol of various molecular weights, ethylenediamine tetrakis(ethoxylate-block-propoxylate) tetrol, and ethylenediamine tetrakis(propoxylate-block-ethoxylate) tetrol has revealed that PVP has the best dispersing capacity. It has been found that the particle size and the yield of MWCNTs dispersed in DMAc depend on the nature and molecular weight of the dispersing polymer, as well as on the solvent quality. Polysulfone hollow fiber ultrafiltration membranes with PVP-modified MWCNT additives (PVP is one of the components of the spinning solutions) have been prepared by the phase inversion method. It has been found that the addition of 0.00084-0.0048% MWCNT in a spinning solution makes it possible to vary the transport properties of the hollow fiber membranes in a wide range.

Modification of polysulfone hollow fiber ultrafiltration membranes using hyperbranched polyesters with different molecular weights

A series of hyperbranched polyesters (HBPEs) using trimethylolpropane (TMP) as a core were synthesized via an esterification reaction, and the molecular weights of these HBPEs were 1600, 2260, 3370, and 5170 g/mol, respectively. Then, these HBPEs were added into dope solutions to prepare PSf hollow fiber membranes via a wet‐spinning method. When the HBPE molecule weight increased from 1600 to 5170 g/mol, the initial viscosities of the PSf–HBPE–PEG400–DMAc dope solutions increased, and the shear‐thinning phenomenon of these dope solutions became increasingly obvious. When these dope solutions were immersed into the deionized water, the demixing rate increased with an increase in the HBPE molecule weight at first and then decreased; this results in the increase of membrane porosity and the coexistence of finger‐like and sponge‐like structures. With the addition of HBPE, the start pure water contact angle and the mean effective pore size of the membranes decreased, and the Jw increased. For the mechanical properties of the membranes, the breaking strength and the elongation of the membranes also increased. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Preparation and Performance of Polysulfone Hollow Fiber Ultrafiltration Membranes

Polysulfone (PSF) hollow fiber ultrafiltration membranes were successfully prepared by dry-wet spinning technology. Dimethylacetamide (DMAC) was used as a solvent, water was used as bore liquid and coagulation bath, polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) was used as polymeric additive. The effects of spinning conditions on membrane structures and properties were investigated in present study. The results indicated that with the increase of PVP concentration, pure water flux increased and developed finger-like pores were formed. High coagulation bath temperature restricted pure water flux, 30°C was the best for the preparation of high-performance ultrafiltration membranes. When the air length was 11cm, the membrane comprehensive performance was the best.

Recovery of Tungsten (VI) from Aqueous Solutions by Complexation-ultrafiltration Process with the Help of Polyquaternium

Polyquaternium-6 (PQ6) as the water-soluble polymer was used for complexing the anion forms of tungsten (VI) before ultrafiltration. Tungsten (VI)-PQ6 complex was retained by polysulfone hollow fiber ultrafiltration membrane in the complexation-ultrafiltration process. Effects of various operating parameters such as polymer metal ratio(PMR), pH and chloride ion concentration on permeate flux (J) and tungsten rejection coefficient (R) were investigated. The integration of four experiments including concentration, decomplexation, diafiltration and reuse of regenerated polymer was carried out. In the process of concentration, J declines slowly and R is about 1 at PMR of 3 and pH of 7. Tungsten concentration in the retentate increases linearly with volume concentration factor. Tungsten is concentrated efficiently with the membrane. The concentrated retentate was used further for the decomplexation. It takes about 6 min to reach the decomplexation equilibrium at chloride ion concentration of 50 mgL−1. The decomplexation percentage of tungsten (VI)-PQ6 complex reaches 56.1%. In the diafiltration process, tungsten (VI) can be extracted effectively by using 50 mgL−1 chloride ion solution, and the purification of the regenerated PQ6 is acceptably satisfactory. The regenerated PQ6 was used to bind tungsten (VI) at various pH values. The binding capacity of the regenerated PQ6 is close to that of fresh PQ6, and the recovery percentage of binding capacity is higher than 90%.

Characterization of polysulfone hollow-fiber ultrafiltration membrane and its cleaning efficiency by streaming potential and flux method

Polysulfone (PS) hollow-fiber ultrafiltration membrane was characterized combined with flux and streaming potential in single electrolyte solutions. The effects of trans-membrane pressure, electrolyte concentration, ion valence and pH value of electrolyte solution on the streaming potential (SP) of the membrane were investigated. The zeta potential and surface charge density of the membrane were calculated on the basis of Helmholtz-Smoluchowski equation and Gouy-Chapmann theory. The results indicate that the valence and concentration of cation have a greater influence on the SP and surface charge density of PS membrane than those of anion, and the pH value of electrolyte solution has great effects on the SP and zeta potential of the membrane surface. Both the absolute value of the streaming potential and water flux of the adsorbed membrane decrease, compared with those of the clean membrane. The streaming potential and flux of the cleaned membrane can be completely recovered by cleaning with the mass fraction of 0.8% EDTA at pH=10.

Pervaporation separation of water/isopropanol mixtures through crosslinked carboxymethyl chitosan/polysulfone hollow‐fiber composite membranes

AbstractCarboxymethyl chitosan (CMCS)/polysulfone (PS) hollow‐fiber composite membranes were prepared through glutaraldehyde (GA) as the crosslinking agent and PS hollow‐fiber ultrafiltration membrane as the support. The permeation and separation characteristics for dehydration of isopropanol were investigated by the pervaporation method. Pure chitosan, carboxymethyl chitosan, and crosslinked carboxymethyl chitosan membranes were characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FT‐IR) spectroscopy and X‐ray diffraction (XRD) to study the crosslinking reaction mechanism and degree of crystallinity, respectively. The effects of feed composition, crosslinking agent, membrane thickness, and feed temperature on membrane performance were investigated. The results show that the crosslinked CMCS/PS hollow‐fiber composite membranes possess high selectivity and promising permeability. The permeation flux and separation factor for isopropanol/water is 38.6 g/m2h and 3238.5, using 87.5 wt % isopropanol concentration at 45°C, respectively. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 103: 1959–1965, 2007

Removal of Cd 2+ from synthetic wastewater using micellar-enhanced ultrafiltration with hollow fiber membrane

Micellar-enhanced ultrafiltration (MEUF) was used to remove Cd 2+ from synthetic wastewater by applying polysulfone hollow fiber ultrafiltration membrane and with SDS as surfactant. The effects of some important parameters were investigated, including operating time, the concentration of SDS, transmembrane pressure, solution pH, the concentration of feed electrolyte and the mixture of SDS and Brij. The results show that the rejection of Cd 2+ can reach 99%. But MEUF is not feasible when the synthetic wastewater is intensively acidic. The presence of electrolyte can decrease the efficiency of MEUF, while the mixture of SDS and Brij can increase it.

Decolorization of dye-containing aqueous solutions by the polyelectrolyte-enhanced ultrafiltration (PEUF) process using a hollow fiber membrane module

Polysulfone (PSf) asymmetric hollow fiber membranes with molecular weight cut-off (MWCO) of 13,000 Da have been prepared and employed for removal of the triphenylmethane dyes including malachite green (MG), brilliant green (BG) and new fuchsin (NF) from aqueous solutions. Several water-soluble polymers such as poly(diallydimethyl ammonium chloride) (PDADMAC), poly(sodium-4-styrenesulfonate) (PSS) and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) have been examined for the polyelectrolyte-enhanced ultrafiltration (PEUF). The experimental results indicate that all the three triphenylmethane-type dyes can be removed effectively using the PSf hollow fiber ultrafiltration membrane with the aid of the anionic PSS polymer. The enhancement is primarily due to the formation of complexes between the anionic polymer and the cationic dye molecules through electrostatic attraction. The cationic and nonionic polymers such as PDADMAC and PVA are not suitable for the decolorization of MG, BG and NF aqueous solutions. The decolorization performances of the PSf membrane module can be fully restored by the back-washing operation using alcohol after each experiment.

Fractionation of casein hydrolysates using polysulfone ultrafiltration hollow fiber membranes

The objective of this study was to characterize the fractionation profile of casein hydrolysates obtained with polysulfone hollow fiber ultrafiltration membranes. The two-step ultrafiltration process developed by Turgeon and Gauthier [J. Food Sci., 55 (1990) 106] was used: a caseinate solution was submitted to proteolysis with chymotrypsin or trypsin, and the reaction mixture (RM) was subsequently ultrafiltered using a 30 kDa (MWCO) hollow-fiber polysulfone membrane. The total hydrolysate permeating from this first step was further fractionated using a 1 kDa (MWCO) membrane, producing the mixture of polypeptides (retentate) and the amino acid fraction (permeate). The effect of enzyme specificity and of membrane retentivitiy on the total composition (total nitrogen, fat, lactose, minerals) and amino acid profile of the fractions was studied. The overall composition of the fractions was not significantly affected by the nature of the enzyme but the degree of hydrolysis and the molecular weight distribution profile analyses showed a marked effect of the enzyme specificity, with trypsin giving a larger proportion of small peptides (< 200 Da) in the mixture of polypeptides. Amino acid profile analyses provided useful information on the phenomena governing the fractionation of amino acids with a polysulfone membrane: (1) the target amino acids of the enzyme are concentrated in the permeate as a result of their presence in all peptides produced by hydrolysis, (2) polar amino acids are retained by the membrane, (3) non-polar amino acids are not selectively rejected by the membrane. Our results suggest that the charge/hydrophobicity balance of the peptides produced is the predominant factor determining the fractionation of casein hydrolysates.