MEMBRANE PROCESSES

Reverse Osmosis
Ultrafiltration
Microfiltration

What Are Membranes?

Membranes are thin films of synthetic organic
or inorganic (ceramic) materials, which can
bring about a very selective separation
between a fluid and its components. The
fluid may be a gas or a liquid but in
Environmental Engineering we are more
concerned with water and wastewater.

Microfiltration
Dead-end Filtration
Feed

Filter Cake

Membrane

Permeate

Microfiltration
Crossflow Microfiltration
Feed

Retentate
Membrane

Permeate
Notes: The retentate may be recirculated to the feed
A dynamic membrane may be created by adding Lime or
KMnO4 to the feed, to precipitate MnO2 on membrane

Membrane Operation
100%

50% !

Feed

Concentrate

Suspended Solids
Colloids
Dissolved Solids

Suspended Solids
Colloids
Dissolved Solids

Membrane
Permeate
Low molecular
weight dissolved
solids
Liquid

50% !

To River, Sewer or Re-use

Applications of Membranes in
Wastewater Treatment
Pressure driven solid liquid separation processes
Tertiary treatment of wastewaters following
secondary sedimentation
Production of high quality effluent in re-use
schemes
Alternative to sedimentation tank for solid/liquid
separation in:
aerobic biological treatment
anaerobic biological treatment

Aerobic Biological Treatment

with Membrane Separation

Pretreatment
Influent
BOD 300
SS 300
TKN 50
PO4 15

Sed
Tank

Primary
Sludge

Final Effluent
BOD <2
SS
0

Aerobic
Biological
Process

MF

Secondary
Sludge

Membrane Anaerobic Reactor

Gas
Anaerobic Reactor
UF/MF Unit
Effluent

Influent
Recycle

Wastage

Advantages of Membrane Processes

They are usually continuous

Comparatively low energy utilisation
No phase change of contaminants
Small temperature change
Modular design
Minimum of moving parts
Physical separation of contaminants

Filtration Range
Ionic

micro-molecular
macro-molecular

range

Reverse Osmosis

microns

100 200
0.001

coarse
particles

Ultrafiltration

Nanofiltration

MWCO

microorganisms

Microfiltration

20000

100000
0.01

500000
0.1

APPLIED PRESSURES

Reverse Osmosis:
Ultrafiltration:
Microfiltration:

100-800 psi
1000-5500 kPa
5-100 psi
35-695 kPa
Low

Microfiltration Design Considerations

High flux
Back-flushable
High membrane area/volume ratio allowing low pressure
drop whilst maintaining high tangential velocities
Simple installation and continuous operation with
minimum supervision
Low operating pressure
Easy maintenance and simple membrane replacement
Low energy consumption
Relatively low capital costs

Microfiltration Applications
Current

Future

Wine
Dextrose clarification
Haze removal from gelatin
Beer clarification
Pharmaceutical/biological
Municipal Wastewater Treatment

Drinking Water
Hydrocarbon Separation
Milk-fat Separation
Food and Beverage
Industrial Wastewater
Paint
Biotechnology

Ultrafiltration Applications
Current

Future

Juice clarification
Increase cheese yield
Gelatin concentration
Electroplating wastewater
Protein from cheese whey
Concentration of oil emulsions
Pharmaceutical industry
Grey water
Industrial Wastewater

Domestic wastewater
More industrial wastewaters
Protein harvesting
Petroleum processing
Wastewater re-use
Potable water (THM concern)
Abattoir (blood recovery)
Pulp and paper industry
etc etc

Reverse Osmosis
Very different process to MF of UF. It is a
solubilisation diffusion technique that makes use
of a semi-permeable membrane which in turn acts
as a barrier to dissolved salts and inorganic
molecules.
It also confines organics with molecular weights
greater than 100
RO membranes do not have identifiable pores as in
MF or UF (i.e. too small - atomic size)

Applications of Reverse Osmosis

Current
Desalination for potable water
,,
from sea water
,,
from brackish water
,,
for effluent re-use
Ultrapure water for semiconductors
,,
,, for pharmaceuticals
,,
,, for medical use
Boiler feed water
Treatment of hazardous materials

Future
Chemical process industries
Metals recovery
Food processing WWT
Textile wastewater re-use
Pulp and paper WWT
Contaminated land
remediation
Dairy industry WWT

Comparison of Membrane Processes

Ultrafiltration

Reverse Osmosis

Microfiltration

Operates on difficult
colloidal water

Requires extensive pretreatment of colloids

Rapidly fouled by colloids

giving high replacement costs

Low pressure (2-6 bar)

High pressure (10-30 bar)

Low pressure (2-4 bar)

Low energy consumption

High energy

Low energy

High recovery (up to 95%)

Low recovery (50-80%)

100% recovery

Chemical tolerance pH 1-13

pH 2-11

pH 1-13

High temperature up to 80oC

High resistance to oxidising
agents

45oC max.
Limited resistance to
oxidising agents

High temperatures possible

High resistance to oxidising
agents

Stream sterilisable
membranes available

Stream sterilisation not

possible

Stream sterilisation possible

Hygienic module designs

available

Modules not as hygienic

Hygienic designs available

Some Properties of Typical Commercial

Ultrafiltration Membranes
Material pH
(bar)

Maximum Pressure
(bar)

Polysulphone

2-12

15

70

Polyarcylonitrile 2-10

10

60

Cellulose Acetate 3-6

25

30

Polyethersulfone 2-12

30

70

Fluoropolymer

10

60

2-12

Maximum Temp.

Polyvinylidene fluoride

2-12

10

70

Poly vinyl chloride

2-12

10

50