Development and Application of Membrane Separation Processes, 2nd Edition

A special issue of Membranes (ISSN 2077-0375). This special issue belongs to the section "Membrane Processing and Engineering".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 December 2023) | Viewed by 4494

Special Issue Editor

Frontiers Science Center for Smart Materials Oriented Chemical Engineering, School of Chemical Engineering, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024, China
Interests: gas membrane separation; membrane process; mixed matrix membrane
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Membrane technology plays an significant role in the separation of liquid and gas mixtures. In recent years, gas membrane separation (hydrogen and VOCs recovery, helium enrichment, natural gas decarbonization and carbon capture), electrochemically driven membrane processes (electrochemical separation), temperature-difference-driven membrane processes (membrane distillation), high-pressure membrane processes (nanofiltration and reverse osmosis) and dialysis-driven membrane processes (forward osmosis) have played a crucial role in the fields of process intensification and energy efficiency. Among them, the membrane system is the ultimate embodiment of the industrialization of the membrane separation process due to its advantageous characteristics: easy coupling, a small footprint, modularization and simple control. When aiming to address the scientific laws behind the membrane separation process, systematic research on the membrane separation process is of great significance for the development of membrane technology in the future.

To encourage the green development of various membrane-related separation processes, this Special Issue "Development and Application of Membrane Separation Processes, 2nd Edition" will emphasize the importance of novel membrane processes for potential industrial applications. Original contributions and reviews related to membrane processes and their applications, mainly with regard to various separation processes such as microfiltration, nanofiltration, ultrafiltration, reverse osmosis, electrodialysis, pervaporation and gas separations, are welcome. Articles addressing hybrid membrane and conventional separation processes (such as absorption, adsorption and cryogenic processes) are also welcome.

Dr. Wu Xiao
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • membrane process
  • gas membrane separations
  • wastewater membrane treatment
  • membrane distillation process
  • membrane pervaporation process
  • membrane absorption process
  • membrane crystallization process
  • hybrid membrane process

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

13 pages, 4179 KiB  
Article
High-Degree Concentration Organic Solvent Forward Osmosis for Pharmaceutical Pre-Concentration
by Ryoichi Takada, Ryosuke Takagi and Hideto Matsuyama
Membranes 2024, 14(1), 14; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes14010014 - 4 Jan 2024
Viewed by 1502
Abstract
Over half of the pharmaceutical industry’s capital investments are related to the purification of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs). Thus, a cost-effective purification process with a highly concentrated solution is urgently required. In addition, the purification process should be nonthermal because most APIs and [...] Read more.
Over half of the pharmaceutical industry’s capital investments are related to the purification of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs). Thus, a cost-effective purification process with a highly concentrated solution is urgently required. In addition, the purification process should be nonthermal because most APIs and their intermediates are temperature-sensitive. This study investigated a high-degree concentration organic solvent forward osmosis (OSFO) membrane process. A polyketone-based thin-film composite hollow fiber membrane with a polyamide selective layer on the bore surface was used as the OSFO membrane to achieve a high tolerance for organic solvents and an effective concentration. MeOH, sucrose octaacetate (SoA), and 2M polyethylene glycol 400 (PEG-400)/MeOH solution were used as the solvent, model API, and a draw solution (DS), respectively. OSFO was performed at room temperature (23 ± 3 °C). Consequently, the 11 wt% SoA/MeOH solution was concentrated to 52 wt% without any SoA leakage into the DS. To our knowledge, there are no studies in which up to a 5 wt% concentration by OSFO has been demonstrated. However, the final feed solution contained 17 wt% PEG-400. This study demonstrates the promising potential of OSFO for pharmaceutical pre-concentration and the technical problems that need to be solved for social implementation. Full article
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19 pages, 5937 KiB  
Article
Study on UF PES Membranes Spray-Coated with Polymerizable Bicontinuous Microemulsion Materials for Low-Fouling Behavior
by Sneha De, Jonathan Heer, Suwetha Sankar, Fabian Geiger, Ephraim Gukelberger, Francesco Galiano, Raffaella Mancuso, Bartolo Gabriele, Alberto Figoli and Jan Hoinkis
Membranes 2023, 13(12), 893; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes13120893 - 29 Nov 2023
Viewed by 1363
Abstract
The low-fouling propensity of commercially available polyethersulfone (PES) membranes was studied after modification of the membrane surface via coating with polymerizable bicontinuous microemulsion (PBM) materials. The PBM coating was polymerized within 1 min using ultraviolet (UV) light exposure. It was detected on the [...] Read more.
The low-fouling propensity of commercially available polyethersulfone (PES) membranes was studied after modification of the membrane surface via coating with polymerizable bicontinuous microemulsion (PBM) materials. The PBM coating was polymerized within 1 min using ultraviolet (UV) light exposure. It was detected on the PES membrane surface via attenuated total reflectance-Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy. The PBM coating led to an average 10% increase in the hydrophilicity of the PES membrane surface and an increase in total organic content (TOC) removal by more than 15%. Flux-step tests were conducted with model foulant comprising 100 mg L−1 humic acid (HA) solution to detect the onset of critical fouling, characterized by a rapid and substantial increase in TMP, and to compare the fouling propensity of commercially available PES membranes with PBM-coated membranes. The critical flux was found to be about 40% higher for PBM spray-coated membrane and 20% lower for PBM casting-coated membrane than the commercial PES membrane. This demonstrates the performance advantages of the thin PBM layer spray-coated on PES membrane compared to the thick casting-coated PBM layer. The study showcases the potential of PBM spray-coated membranes over commercial PES membranes for use in membrane bioreactors (MBR) for wastewater treatment systems with reduced maintenance over longer operation periods. Full article
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23 pages, 6065 KiB  
Article
Evaluation of Organic and Inorganic Foulant Interaction Using Modified Fouling Models in Constant Flux Dead-End Operation with Microfiltration Membranes
by Muhammad Qasim, Ali Akbar, Imtiaz Afzal Khan, Mumtaz Ali, Eui-Jong Lee and Kang Hoon Lee
Membranes 2023, 13(11), 853; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes13110853 - 25 Oct 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1323
Abstract
The goal of this study was to elucidate the interaction of complex feed solutions under modified membrane fouling models for constant flux operation. The polyvinylidene fluoride membrane (PVDF) was tested for three types of solutions containing inorganic foulants (Al, Mn, and Fe), organic [...] Read more.
The goal of this study was to elucidate the interaction of complex feed solutions under modified membrane fouling models for constant flux operation. The polyvinylidene fluoride membrane (PVDF) was tested for three types of solutions containing inorganic foulants (Al, Mn, and Fe), organic foulants, and suspended solids at 0.5 mM Ca2+ ionic strength. The membrane’s performance was evaluated by measuring the increase in transmembrane pressure (TMP) during two different filtration scenarios: continuous filtration lasting 1 h and cyclic filtration lasting 12 min, with 3 min backwashing cycles included. Statistical analysis (linear regression results (R2), p-value) was used to verify the fouling model propagation along with the determination of the contributing constant of each fouling model. An increasing TMP percentage of 164–302%, 155–300%, and 208–378% for S1 (HA + Ca2+), S2 (inorganics + kaolin + Ca2+), and S3 (HA + inorganics + kaolin + Ca2+) was recorded for 1 h filtration, respectively. Furthermore, a five percent increase in irreversible resistance was noted for the S3 solution due to the strong adsorption potential of foulants for the PVDF membrane caused by the electrostatic and hydration forces of foulants. In addition to that, the participation equation elucidated the contribution of the fouling model and confirmed that complete blocking and cake layer contribution were dominant for the S1 and S3 solutions, while standard blocking was dominant for the S2 solution with a high significance ratio. Moreover, R2 and cyclic filtration analysis also confirmed the propagation of these fouling models. The statistical confirmation and regression results analysis of the modified model gave comparative results and satisfied the filtration mechanism and can be used for the constant flux dead filtration analysis of water treatment. Full article
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