Preparation of Polyether Sulfone Ultrafiltration Membrane and Investigation of Factors Affecting Its Performance for Hospital Wastewater Treatment

Abstract

Hospital wastewater may contain high levels of pathogen microorganisms, drug and laboratory residues, metabolites from medicinal substances, radioactive elements, or other hazardous chemicals. Such pollutants has made hospital wastewater one of the most dangerous materials for the health of humans and the environment. In this research, the construction and evaluation of the function of poly-sulfone ultrafiltration membrane in the treatment of hospital wastewater were discussed and evaluated. In the first part of this study, the poly-sulfone ultrafiltration membrane was constructed by phase inversion method, using water-soluble and N-methyl-pyrrolidone (NMP) solvent. In the second part, an ultrafiltration system was designed and developed, then the membrane was evaluated by this system. The flux passing through the membrane was measured at pressures of 3 and 5 bar with ultrafiltration system. The effect of concentration, thickness, coagulation bath temperature and opacity on flux was discussed in this research after the measurement.