Design and performance study of hybrid photocatalytic reactor-PVDF/MWCNT nanocomposite membrane system for treatment of petroleum refinery wastewater

CATEGORY: WASTEWATER TREATMENT 
Design and performance study of hybrid photocatalytic reactor-PVDF/MWCNT nanocomposite membrane system for treatment of petroleum refinery wastewater

Type	Journal Article
Author	A. Moslehyani
Author	A. F. Ismail
URL	http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0011916415000727
Series	Hybrid Systems for Desalination
Volume	363
Pages	99-111
Publication	Desalination
Date	May 1, 2015
Abstract	Focuses on the design and performance of a hybrid system consisting of a photocatalytic reactor and a membrane permeation cell. Researchers installed an ultraviolet lamp in the photocatalytic reactor to decompose the organic pollutants in the presence of 200 ppm titanium-dioxide (TiO2). They identified individual hydrocarbon pollutants using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) analysis of wastewater samples. Polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF)/multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) nanocomposite membranes were fabricated to enhance the rejection, flux and fouling resistance for full filtration of pollutants from photocatalytic reactor such as decomposed refinery wastewater and TiO2 photocatalyst. The nanocomposite membranes were characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The TiO2 cross-over during permeation was detected by using an atomic adsorption spectrometer, which proved that TiO2 rejection was more than 99% for oxidized MWCNT nanocomposite membranes. Researchers found tThe nanocomposite membrane with 1.0 wt.% of oxidized MWCNTs incorporated in PVDF matrix to be the best nanocomposite membrane among all of the fabricated membranes for the filtration purposes, due to the over 99% rejection and excellent anti-fouling property.