Performances of biological aerated filter employing hollow fiber membrane segments of surface-improved poly(sulfone) as biofilm carriers

Using the surface of poly （sulfone） hollow fiber membrane segments as grafted layer, the hydrophilic acrylamide chain was grafted on by UV-photoinduced grafting polymerization. The gained improvement of surface wettability for the modified membrane was tested by measuring the contact-angle as well as FTIR spectra. Then correlation between the hydrophilic ability of support material and the biofilm adherence ability was demonstrated by comparing the pollutant removal rates from urban wastewater via two identical lab-scale up-flow biological aerated filters, one employed the surface wettability modified poly （sulfone） hollow fiber membrane segment as biofilm carder and the other employed unmodified membrane segment as biofilm carder. The experimental results showed that under the conditions of influent flux 5 L/h, hydraulic retention time 9 h and gas to liquid ratio （G/L） 10： 1, the removal rates of chemical oxygen demand （COD） and ammonium nitrogen （NH4^＋-N） for the modified packing filter and the unmodified packing filter was averaged at 83.64% and 96.25%, respectively, with the former filter being 5%-20% more than the latter. The effluent concentration of COD, NH4^＋-N and turbidity for the modified packing filter was 25.25 mg/L, 2 mg/L and 8 NTU, respectively. Moreover, the ammonium nitrogen removal performance of the filter packing the modified PSF was compared with the other bioreactor packing of an efficient floating medium. The biomass test indicated that the modified membrane matrixes provided better specific adhesion （3310-5653 mg TSS/L support）, which gave a mean of 1000 mg TSS/L more than the unmodified membrane did. In addition, the phenomenon of simultaneous denitrification on the inner surface of the support and nitrification on the outer surface was found in this work.

STRUCTURE AND PROPERTIES OF COMPOSITE POLYURETHANE HOLLOW FIBER MEMBRANES

Composite polyurethane(PU)-SiO_2 hollow fiber membranes were successfully prepared via optimizing thetechnique of dry-jet wet spinning,and their pressure-responsibilities were confirmed by the relationships of pure water flux-transmembrane pressure(PWF-TP)for the first time.The origin for this phenomenon was analyzed on the basis of membranestructure and material characteristics.The effects of SiO_2 content on the structure and properties of membrane wereinvestigated.The experimental results indicated that SiO_2 in membrane created a great many interfacial micro-voids andplayed an important role in pressure-responsibility,PWF and rejection of membrane:with the increase of SiO_2 content,theability of membrane recovery weakened,PWF increased,and rejection decreased slightly.

MORPHOLOGIES AND GAS SEPARATION PROPERTIES OF MELT-SPUN ASYMMETRIC POLY(4-METHYL-1-PENTENE)HOLLOW FIBER MEMBRANES

Poly(4-methyl-1-pentene) (PMP) hollow fiber membranes were prepared by the melt-spun and cold-stretch(MSCS) method. Scanning electronic microscopy (SEM) was used to characterize the section and surface structures of themembranes with special asymmetric structure. The preliminary results of gas permeation measurements indicated that the resultant hollow fiber membranes have the potential ability for oxygen/nitrogen separation.

Enhanced gas separation performance of mixed matrix hollow fiber membranes containing post-functionalized S-MIL-53

Mixed matrix hollow fiber membranes（MMHFMs）filled with metal-organic frameworks（MOFs）have great potential for energy-efficient gas separation processes,but the major hurdle is polymer/MOFs interfacial defects and membrane plasticization.Herein,lab-synthesized MIL-53 was post-functionalized by aminosilane grafting and subsequently incorporated into Ultem-1000 polymer matrix to fabricate high performance MMHFMs.SEM,DLS,XRD and TGA were performed to characterize silane-modified MIL-53（S-MIL-53）and prepared MMHFMs.Moreover,the effect of MOFs loading was systematically investigated first;then gas separation performance of MMHFMs for pure and mixed gas was evaluated under different pressures.MMHFMs containing post-functionalized S-MIL-53 achieved remarkable gas permeation properties which was better than model predictions.Compared to pure HFMs,CO2permeance of MMHFM loaded with 15%S-MIL-53 increased by 157%accompanying with 40%increase for CO2/N2selectivity,which outperformed the MMHFM filled with naked MIL-53.The pure and mixed gas permeation measurements with elevated feed pressure indicated that incorporation of S-MIL-53 also increased the resistance against CO2plasticization.This work reveals that post-modified MOFs embedded in MMHFMs facilitate the improvement of gas separation performance and suppression of membrane plasticization.

Improvement of porous polyvinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluropropylene hollow fiber membranes for sweeping gas membrane distillation of ethylene glycol solution

Porous polyvinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluropropylene(PVDF-HFP)hollow fiber membranes were fabricated through a wet spinning process.In order to improve the membrane structure,composition of the polymer solution was adjusted by studying ternary phase diagrams of polymer/solvent/non-solvent.The prepared membranes were used for sweeping gas membrane distillation(SGMD)of 20 wt% ethylene glycol(EG)aqueous solution.The membranes were characterized by different tests such as N2 permeation,overall porosity,critical water entry pressure(CEPw),water contact angle and collapsing pressure.From FESEM examination,addition of 3 wt% glycerol in the PVDF-HFP solution,produced membranes with smaller finger-likes cavities,higher surface porosity and smaller pore sizes.Increasing the polymer concentration up to 21 wt% resulted in a dense spongy structure which could significantly reduce the N2 permeance.The membrane prepared by 3 wt% glycerol and 17 wt% polymer demonstrated an improved structure with mean pore size of 18 nm and a high surface porosity of 872 m^−1.CEPw of 350 kPa and overall porosity of 84% were also obtained for the improved membrane.Collapsing pressure of the membranes relatively improved by increasing the polymer concentration.From the SGMDtest,the developed membrane represented a maximumpermeate flux of 28 kg·m^−2·h^−1 which is almost 19% higher than the flux of plain membrane.During 120 h of a long-termSGMD operation,a gradual flux reduction of 30% was noticed.In addition,EG rejection reduced from 100% to around 99.5% during 120 h of the operation.

Numerical Simulation of a Mathematical Model for Dry/Wet-Spun Nascent Hollow Fiber Membrane

In an effort to find the effect of mass transfer, surface tension and drag forces on the velocity distribution, the mathematical model of the velocity profile of a nascent hollow fiber during membrane formation in the air gap region was numerically simulated by using the Runge-Kutta method (fourth-order method). The effect of mass transfer on velocity distribution based on the complicated function (G(Cs h)) was presented and the effects of a complicated function were studied in two cases: in the first case, G(Cs h) was constant; in the second, G(Cs h) was variable. The latter was done by varying with the concentration of solvent in a nascent hollow fiber through the air-gap region. One empirical equation was used to describe this change and the predicted values had a better agreement with the experimental values. To verify the model hypotheses, hollow fiber membranes were spun from 20∶80 polybenzimidazole/polyetherimide dopes with 25.6 wt% solid in N, N-dimethylacetamide (DMAc) using water as the external and internal coagulants. Based on the experimental results of dry-jet wet-spinning process for the fabrication of hollow fiber membranes, it is found that the model calculated values were in a good agreement with the experimental values.

Effect of Polyvinylidene Fluoride Hollow Fiber Membranes on Mass Transfer of Samarium

The influence of swelling and stripping acidity on the mass transfer coefficient based on water phase and the inner diameters of membranes were studied with P507-HCl-Sm as working system in the two different kinds of hollow fiber membranes. Effects of extractant concentration, H+ concentration in aqueous phase and Sm3+ concentration on extraction rate were discussed and the corresponding reaction series were obtained. According to the investigations on the interfacial kinetics, the reaction kinetics equation and reaction rate constant were obtained.

A CONDENSED REVIEW ON THE FABRICATION OF HOLLOW FIBER MEMBRANES FOR GAS SEPARATION:HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT AND TECHNOLOGY CHALLENGES AHEAD

A review on the polymeric hollow fibers membranes for gas separation has been conducted. In order to deyelop high performance membranes for gas separation, there are a few technology challenges awaiting the chemical engineers to overcome. There are four major challenges, namely: 1) material selection and synthesis; 2) fabrication of hollow fiber membranes with an ultra- thin dense selective layer; 3) materials against plasticization; and 4) aging. In each area, we summarize the scientific accomplishments and technical difficulties.

Covalent Immobilization of Lipase on Poly(acrylonitrile-co-maleic acid) Ultrafiltration Hollow Fiber Membrane

Lipase from Candida rugosa was covalently immobilized on the surface of an uhrafihration hollow fiber membrane fabricated from poly （ acrylonitrile-co-maleic acid） （ PANCMA ） in which the carboxyl groups were activated with 1-ethyl-3-（ dimethylaminopropyl ） carbodiimide hydrochloride （ EDC ） and dicyclohexyl carbodiimide （ DCC ）/ N-hydroxyl succinimide（NHS）, respectively. The properties of the immobilized lipase were assayed and compared with those of the free enzyme. The maximum activities were observed in a relatively broader pH value range at high temperatures for the immobilized lipase compared to the free one. It was also found that the thermal and pH stabilities of lipase were improved upon immobilization and at 50 ℃ the thermal inactivation rate constant values are 2. 1 × 10^ -2 for the free lipase, 3.2 × 10^-3 for the immobilized lipase on the EDC-activated PANCMA membrane and 3.5 × 10^-3 for the immobilized lipase on the DCC/NHS-activated PANCMA membrane, respectively.

Extraction kinetics of phenol with N, N-di (1-methyl-heptyl)acetamide-kerosene using hollow fiber membrane extractor

Extraction kinetics of phenol with N,N-di(1-methyl-heptyl) acetamide-kerosene using hollow fiber membrane extractor has been studied. The rate regularities and kinetic types of forward and backward extraction were obtained respectively by determining the forward and backward extraction rate under various experimental conditions. The mass transfer mechanism was discussed. Both the forward and backward extraction of phenol might be controlled by diffusion processes, and the diffusion resistance for both forward and backward extraction mainly exists in aqueous phase. In addition, ways to optimize the extraction process of phenol were discussed as well.

Numerical Analysis of Conjugated Heat and Mass Transfer of Helical Hollow Fiber Membrane Tube Bank for Seawater Distillation

A numerical study on the conjugated heat-mass transfer of helical hollow fiber membrane tube bank(HFMTB)for seawater desalination was carried out.Physical and mathematical models of fluid flow,temperature and humidity distribution were constructed to investigate the influences of flow type,Reynolds number,and temperature on the conjugated heat-mass transfer performance of hollow fibers in the distillation membrane module.The conjugated heat-mass transfer characteristics of HFMTB were discussed by utilizing the friction coefficient,Nusselt number(Nu),and Sherwood number(Sh).Results demonstrate that a distillation efficiency enhancement of 29%compared to the straight HFMTB has been detected for four-helical HFMTB configuration,though the friction coefficient of such a module is about 4 times of their straight counterparts.The values of average Nu and Sh numbers are increasing with tube number,which improves distillation efficiency.The effect of flow type has been studied by employing the upstream and downstream flows to the double-helical HFMTB,demonstrating upstream flow type is more conducive to the heat-mass transfer process.Both the outlet air humidity(ω)and distillation efficiency(η)decrease with the air-side Reynolds number(Rea)and inlet air temperature in the helical HFMTB while increasing with the solution-side Reynolds number(Re_(S))and inlet solution temperature.Overall,the obtained results indicate that helical HFMTB applying upstream flow has great potential to achieve high-performance SGMD for seawater desalination.It is anticipated that the present work can assist in a better understanding of the membrane desalination process in HFMTB and thus provide theoretical suggestions for further optimization and development.

Enhancement of the flux for polypropylene hollow fiber membrane in a submerged membrane-bioreactor by surface modification

To improve its limiting flux and antifouling characteristics in a submerged membrane-bioreactor （SMBR） for wastewater treatment, polypropylene hollow fiber microporous membrane （PPHFMM） was surface-modified by the plasma-induced immobilization of poly （N-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone） （PVP） and the plasma treatment with different gases respectively. Attenuated total reflection-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy （FT-IR/ATR）, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy （XPS） and field emission scanning electron microscope （FE-SEM） were used to characterize the structural and morphological changes on the membrane surface. Water contact angle was measured by the sessile drop method. It was found that the water contact angle was 128.8, 72.3, 62.7, 74.4, 79.1, 86.3, and 71.3° for the nascent, PVP-immobilized, air, 02, Ar, CO2 and H2O plasma treated PPHFMM, respectively. The SMBR was operated at fixed transmembrane pressure to determine the limiting flux for the PPHFMM before and after surface modification. Results showed that the limiting flux appeared to be 103, 159, 117, 133, 136, 121 and 152 L/（m^2· h） for the nascent, PVP-immobilized, air, O2, At, CO2 and H2O plasma treated PPHFMM, respectively. After continuous operation for about 50 h in the SMBR, the antifouling characteristics were improved to some extent.

PREPARATION OF POLYVINYLIDENE FLUORIDE/POLYVINYL DIMETHYLSILOXANE COMPOSITE HOLLOW FIBER MEMBRANES AND THEIR SEPARATION PROPERTIES

Microporous polyvinylidene fluoride(PVDF)hollow fibre membranes were spun using the dry-wet phaseinversion method.By means of dip-coating technique,a uniform coating with thickness of around 5-12 μm of polyvinyldimethylsiloxane(PVDMS)was formed on the surface of porous PVDF hollow fibers.The structural parameters of PVDFsubstrate membrane were estimated by gas permeation test.Using N_2/O_2 as the medium,the separation properties ofPVDMS-PVDF composite hollow fiber membranes were also evaluated experimentally.The experimental data of bothpermeability and selectivity are in good agreement with the theoretical results predicted by the presented pore-distributionmodel.In order to obtain the compact composite membrane free of defects by the dip-coating technique,the thickness ofPVDMS skin must be higher than 5 μm.

Fabrication and Performance of a Low Operating Pressure Nanofiltration Poly(vinyl chloride) Hollow Fiber Membrane

A low operating pressure nanofiltration membrane is prepared by interfacial polymerization between m-phenylenediamine （MPDA） and trimesoyl chloride （TMC） using PVC hollow fiber membrane as supporting. A series of PVC nanofiltration membranes with different molecular weight cutoff （MWCO） can be obtained by controlling preparation conditions. Chemical and morphological characterization of the membrane surface was carried out by FTIR-ATR and SEM. MWCO was characterized by filtration experiments. The preparation conditions were investigated in detail. At the optimized conditions （40 min air-dried time, aqueous phase containing 0.5% MPDA, 0.05% SDS and 0.6% acid absorbent, oil phase containing 0.3% TMC, and 1 min reaction time）, under 0.3 MPa, water flux of the gained nanofiltration membrane reaches 17.8 L/m2-h, and the rejection rates of methyl orange and MgSO4 are more than 90% and 60%, respectively.

Gas-initiation under UV and liquid-grafting polymerization on the surface of polysulfone hollow fiber ultrafiltration membrane by dynamic method

Using the inner-surface of polysulfone hollow fiber ultrafiltration membranes as grafted layer, the method of gas-initiation and liquid-polymerization has been studied, which aimed to adjust the diameter of the pores in the membranes. The degree of polymerization varied with the changes of the parameters, such as irradiation time, monomer concentration, temperature and time of polymerization and so on. The results indicated that using benzophenone(BP) which is in a gaseous condition as photo-initiator, acrylamide as graft monomer, the polyacrylamide chain was grafted on the surface of membranes. After the surface membrane being modified, the water flux and retention altered,and thus it can be seen that the diameter of the pores in the membrane was altered. These experiments contribute to finding a new way to produce the hollow fiber membrane with the small pore size and are extraordinarily worth developing and studying.

Preparation of Hydrophilic UHMWPE Hollow Fiber Membranes by Chemically Bounding Silica Nanoparticles

In this work, ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) microfiltration hollow fiber membranes prepared via the thermally induced phase separation (TIPS) method were modified by chemically bounding hydrophilic silica (SiO2) nanoparticles onto the surface to improve anti-fouling performance. A range of testing techniques including attenuated total reflection Flourier transformed infrared spectroscopy(ATR-FTIR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), water contact angle, mechanical test,filtration and anti-fouling performance were carried out to discuss the influence of different modification conditions on the properties of the membranes. The prepared hollow fiber membranes display the significantly excellent performance when the vinyl trimethoxy silane (VTMS) concentration was 13%, the pH value of the hydrolyzate was 4 and the hydrolysis reaction time was 6 h. In particular, the hydrophilicity of modified membranes was improved effectively, resulting in the enhancement of membrane anti-fouling properties. The results of this work can be consulted for improving the anti-fouling performance of the UHMWPE microfiltration hollow fiber membrane applied in the field of water purification.

Preparation of high concentration polyaluminum chloride by chemical synthesis-membrane distillation method with self-made hollow fiber membrane

A method of direct contact membrane distillation （DCMD） with a self-made hollow polyvinylidene fluoride membrane was applied to prepare high concentration polyaluminum chloride （PACl） with high Alb content based on chemical synthesis. The permeate flux and Al species distribution were investigated. The experimental results showed that the permeate flux decreased from 14 to 6 kg/（m2·hr） at the end of the DCMD process, which can be mainly attributed to the formation of NaCl deposits on the membrane surface. The Alb content decreased slightly, only from 86.3% to 84.4%, when the DCMD experiment finished, correspondingly the Alc content increased slightly from 7.2% to 8.5%, and the Ala content remained at 7% during the whole DCMD process. A PACl with Alb content of 84% at total aluminum concentration 2.2 mol/L was successfully prepared by the chemical synthesis-DCMD method.

Preparation and characterization of EVAL hollow fiber membrane adsorbents filled with cation exchange resins

EVAL hollow fiber membrane adsorbents filled with powder D061-type cation exchange resin were prepared through dry-wet spinning process,using hydrophilic copolymer EVAL as the fiber substrate.The microstructures of the membrane adsorbents were observed,and the pure water fluxes,BSA rejection,and static adsorption capacities of membrane adsorbents for BSA were measured.The effect of the resin-filled content on membrane performance has been discussed.The results showed that EVAL hollow fiber membrane adsorbents filled with D061-type cation exchange resins had good adsorption capacity,and the adsorption capacity increased with the quantity of the resin-filled content.The static protein adsorption capacity was 77.14 mg BSA/g membrane adsorbents when D061 resin loading content was 65%at pH 4.5.

Electrolyte transfer separation of hollow fiber composite nanofiltration membrane

Using Donnan Steric Partitioning Model(DSPM),the data for the rejection of four salts having common co-ion(LiCl, NaCl,KCl,Na2SO4)were obtained and they show the characters of the polyethersulfone(PES)nanofiltration(NF)membrane in terms of three parameters:an effective pore radius(rp),the ratio of effective thickness over porosity(λ/Ak)and an effective charge density(X).Good agreement between experimental data and prediction data using the three parameters mentioned above was obtained.A theoretical model was developed to predict the transport performance of electrolyte through the hollow fiber composite NF membrane.The model prediction is in good agreement with experimental results based on the method by modern numerical solution.

Removal of 2,4-dichlorophenol from wasterwater by vacuum membrane distillation using hydrophobic PPESK hollow hiber membrane

2,4-Dichlorophenol was removed from wasterwater using a new hydrophobic poly（phthalazinone ether sulfone ketone） （PPESK） hollow fiber membrane by vacuum membrane distillation （VMD）.