Il Shik Moon

Application of Slurry Type Photocatalytic Oxidation¿Submerged Hollow Fiber Microfiltration Hybrid System for the Degradation of Bisphenol A (BPA)

Abstract A pilot scale, slurry type photocatalytic reactor, followed by submerged hollow fiber microfiltration (MF) membrane hybrid system was evaluated for simultaneous and complete destruction of toxic organic chemical bisphenol A (BPA) and separation of photocatalyst TiO2; in order to obtain a reusable quality water. With simple modification to the treatment operation, the effect of photocatalytic reaction at modest variations in temperature was examined. Adsorption pretreatment was carried out prior to photocatalysis (UV/TiO2). BPA adsorption ability on TiO2 was very less (about 15%) at 25°C. However, adsorption pretreatment followed by photocatalytic oxidation (UV/TiO2) at an elevated nearly constant temperature (about 70°C) helped in increasing the BPA degradation efficiency. The effect of ozone introduction into the treatment stream was also analyzed. Applying ozone along with UV/TiO2, brought about a synergistic effect on BPA degradation. Within 3 h, entire 10 ppm of BPA and the by‐product organic compounds were completely removed. TiO2 particle separation performance using hollow fiber membrane was enhanced by adopting a two‐stage coagulation/sedimentation pretreatment. With initial turbidity of 4000 NTU, the turbidity of the final permeate water was well below 0.1 NTU. Almost complete removal of particles was achieved. Some of the main advantages of this hybrid treatment system include, large‐scale treatment, complete and efficient BPA and its organic intermediates degradation, TiO2 easily separated after treatment and capable for reuse as it is free from chemical coagulant contaminants, reusable quality water is obtained, and the system has the potential for continuous operation with simple process modifications.

Degradation of Phthalic Acids and Benzoic Acid from Terephthalic Acid Wastewater by Advanced Oxidation Processes

Terephthalic acid (TPA) wastewater is traditionally being treated by biological method. This study investigates the degradation of three major toxic target organic species, namely terephthalic acid (TPA), isophthalic acid (IPA), benzoic acid (BA), present in the TPA wastewater, by several advanced oxidation processes. The performance of three main oxidation processes such as photofenton oxidation (UV-H2O2-Fe), photocatalytic ozonation (UV-O3-Fe) and photofenton ozonation (UV-O3-H2O2-Fe) were studied. Studies were conducted with and without dilution of TPA wastewater. Photofenton ozonation was found to be most efficient by achieving almost complete destruction of all the three target organics in less than 30 minutes of reaction. In combining several oxidation processes, a comparative study was also carried out between one step addition of oxidants and stepwise addition.

Studies on process parameters for chlorine dioxide production using IrO2 anode in an un-divided electrochemical cell

Chlorine dioxide is potentially a powerful oxidant with environmentally compatible application in several strategic areas relating to pollution control typically for water disinfection, and its sustained production is a key factor for its successful application. Although increased attention has been paid for on-line chlorine dioxide generation by several chemical and electrochemical methods, the details are mostly confined as patents. We studied in this work the electrochemical generation of chlorine dioxide from an un-buffered solution of sodium chlorite and sodium chloride mixture in an un-divided electrochemical cell under constant current mode, with a view to optimize various process parameters, which have a direct bearing on the chlorine dioxide formation efficiency under laboratory conditions. The effect of feed flow rate (10-150 ml min(-1)), feed solution pH (2.3-5.0), concentration of sodium chloride (0-169.4mM), concentration of sodium chlorite (0-7.7 mM), and the applied current (100-1200 mA) on the formation of dissolved ClO(2) gas in solution and the pH of the product-containing solution was investigated by performing single pass experiments, with no circulation, in a cell set-up with Ti/IrO(2) anode and Ti/Pt cathode. The current efficiency and the power consumption were calculated for the optimized conditions.

The combined removal of methyl mercaptan and hydrogen sulfide via an electro-reactor process using a low concentration of continuously regenerable Ag(II) active catalyst

In this study, an electrocatalytic wet scrubbing process was developed for the simultaneous removal of synthetic odorous gases namely, methyl mercaptan (CH(3)SH) and hydrogen sulfide (H(2)S). The initial process consists of the absorption of CH(3)SH and H(2)S gases by an absorbing solution, followed by their mediated electrochemical oxidation using a low concentration of active Ag(II) in 6M HNO(3). Experiments were conducted under different reaction conditions, such as CH(3)SH and H(2)S loadings, active Ag(II) concentrations and molar flow rates. The cyclic voltammetry for the oxidation of CH(3)SH corroborated the electro-reactor results, in that the silver in the 6M HNO(3) reaction solution significantly influences the oxidation of CH(3)SH. At a low active Ag(II) concentration of 0.0012 M, the CH(3)SH removal experiments demonstrated that the CH(3)SH degradation was steady, with 100% removal at a CH(3)SH loading of 5 gm(-3) h(-1). The electro-reactor and cyclic voltammetry results indicated that the removal of H(2)S (100%) follows a mediated electrocatalytic oxidation reaction. The simultaneous removal of 100% of the CH(3)SH and H(2)S was achieved, even with a very low active Ag(II) concentration (0.0012 M), as a result of the high efficiency of the Ag(II). The parallel cyclic voltammetry results demonstrated that a process of simultaneous destruction of both CH(3)SH and H(2)S follows an H(2)S influenced mediated electrocatalytic oxidation. The use of a very low concentration of the Ag(II) mediator during the electro-reactor process is promising for the complete removal of CH(3)SH and H(2)S.

A total solution for simultaneous organic degradation and particle separation using photocatalytic oxidation and submerged microfiltration membrane hybrid process

Advanced oxidation process (AOP) with reactor capacity of 150 L, using ultraviolet (UV) radiation and titanium dioxide (TiO2) photocatalyst, was evaluated for the destruction of toxic organic chemical, bisphenol A (BPA). TiO2 in the form of powder, was suspended as slurry in the water, as against the commonly adopted practice of immobilizing it onto a carrier material such as glass, concrete or ceramics. Adsorption of BPA by TiO2 was evaluated and was performed as a pretreatment to AOP. The combined effect of ozone with the AOP process was also studied. Applying ozone along with UV/TiO2, brought about a synergistic effect on BPA degradation. Within three hours, entire 10 ppm of BPA and the intermediate organic compounds were completely removed. The highlight of this study was the simultaneous degradation of BPA and separation of TiO2 particles from water after photocatalysis, in order to obtain reusable quality water. Separation of TiO2 particles was carried out by a unique two stage coagulation and settling process followed by submerged hollow fiber microfiltration membrane technique. With initial turbidity of 4,000 NTU, the turbidity of the final permeate water was well below 0.1 NTU. Almost complete removal of TiO2 particles was achieved. Some of the main advantages of this hybrid treatment system include, large scale treatment, complete and efficient BPA and its organic intermediates degradation; easy separation of TiO2 after treatment and reuse as it is free from chemical coagulant contaminants; reusable quality water, and the potential for continuous operation with simple process modifications.

Utilization of solar energy for direct contact membrane distillation process: An experimental study for desalination of real seawater

Membrane distillation (MD), a non-isothermal membrane separation process, is based on the phenomenon that pure water in its vapor state can be extracted from aqueous solutions by passing vapor through a hydrophobic microporous membrane when a temperature difference is established across it. We used three commercially available hydrophobic microporous membranes (C02, C07 and C12; based on the pore size 0.2, 0.7 and 1.2 μm respectively) for desalination via direct contact MD (DCMD). The effects of operating parameters on permeation flux were studied. In addition, the desalination of seawater by solar assisted DCMD process was experimentally investigated. First, using solar power only short-term (one day), successful desalination of real seawater was achieved without temperature control under the following conditions: feed inlet temperature 65.0 °C, permeate inlet temperature 25.0 °C, and a flow rate of 2.5 L/min. The developed system also worked well in the long-term (150 days) for seawater desalination using both solar and electric power. Long-term test flux was reduced from 28.48 to only 26.50 L/m2hr, indicating system feasibility.

Destruction of commercial pesticides by cerium redox couple mediated electrochemical oxidation process in continuous feed mode.

Mediated electrochemical oxidation was carried out for the destruction of commercial pesticide formulations using cerium(IV) in nitric acid as the mediator electrolyte solution in a bench scale set up. The mediator oxidant was regenerated in situ using an electrochemical cell. The real application of this sustainable process for toxic organic pollutant destruction lies in its ability for long term continuous operation with continuous organic feeding and oxidant regeneration with feed water removal. In this report we present the results of fully integrated MEO system. The task of operating the continuous feed MEO system for a long time was made possible by continuously removing the feed water using an evaporator set up. The rate of Ce(IV) regeneration in the electrochemical cell and the consumption for the pesticide destruction was matched based on carbon content of the pesticides. It was found that under the optimized experimental conditions for Ce(III) oxidation, organic addition and water removal destruction efficiency of ca. 99% was obtained for all pesticides studied. It was observed that the Ce(IV) concentration was maintained nearly the same throughout the experiment. The stable operation for 6h proved that the process can be used for real applications and for possible scale up for the destruction of larger volumes of toxic organic wastes.

Separation of Water and Nitric Acid with Porous Hydrophobic Membrane by Air Gap Membrane Distillation (AGMD)

Abstract This study investigates the effect of operation parameters on the separation of nitric acid‐water mixture using air gap membrane distillation (AGMD). Porous hydrophobic PTFE membrane was used. The performance was evaluated based on the permeate flux and the nitric acid selectivity. Operating parameters such as feed solution temperature, feed concentration, flow rate, and air gap width were varied. Nitric acid selectivity was found to increase with the increase in feed solution temperature, feed concentration, flow rate, and air gap width. Permeate flux increased, when the feed temperature and the flow rate were increased. The effect of recirculation of the feed solution was also studied. With the recirculation mode, at different initial solution volumes, it was observed that the nitric acid concentration in the feed and the permeate, increased. The rate of flux decline was greater, when the initial feed solution volume was lower.

Chromatographic separation of maltopentaose from maltooligosaccharides

An experimental study on the chromatographic separation of maltopentaose from a mixture, including glucose, maltose, maltotriose, and maltopentaose, was carried out in a nonionic polymeric sorbent column while varying the operating conditions, such as the solution pH, buffer contents, and isopropyl alcohol (IPA) concentration. Unlike the pH and buffer contents, the IPA concentration had a significant impact on the single component chromatograms for maltopentaose. The retention times of the maltooligosaccharides with the nonionic polymeric sorbent SP207 were in the following order: glucose<maltose<maltotriose<maltopentaose. From the experimental binary, ternary, and quaternary chromatograms, gradient chromatographic separation with a changing IPA concentration as a function of time was required to obtain high-purity maltopentaose and reduce the elution time.

Using RuO2 anode for chlorine dioxide production in an un-divided electrochemical cell.

Chlorine dioxide is a well known powerful disinfectant. Although there are several chemical and electrochemical methods developed for on-line chlorine dioxide generation, the details are mostly confined as patents. We studied in this work the electrochemical generation of dissolved chlorine dioxide from an un-buffered solution of sodium chlorite and sodium chloride mixture in an un-divided electrochemical cell set-up with RuO(2)-coated-Ti anode and Pt-coated-Ti cathode under constant current mode. Various process parameters including feed flow rate (10 to 150 ml/min), feed solution pH (2.3 to 9.4), concentration of sodium chloride (0 to 170 mM), concentration of sodium chlorite (0 to 7.7 mM), and the applied current (100 to 1,200 mA) were optimized. Experiments were conducted by performing single pass experiments, with no circulation. The current efficiency and the power consumption were calculated for the optimized conditions, and compared with IrO(2) electrode of our previous investigation.