Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Preparation and characterization of hydrothermally engineered TiO2-fly ash composite membrane

  • Research Article
  • Published:
Frontiers of Chemical Science and Engineering Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This work targets the preparation and characterization of an inexpensive TiO2-fly ash composite membrane for oily wastewater treatment. The composite membrane was fabricated by depositing a hydrophilic TiO2 layer on a fly ash membrane via the hydrothermal method, and its structural, morphological and mechanical properties were evaluated. The separation potential of the composite membrane was evaluated for 100–200 mg·L–1 synthetic oily wastewater solutions. The results show that the composite membrane has excellent separation performance and can provide permeate stream with oil concentration of only 0.26–5.83 mg·L–1. Compared with the fly ash membrane in the average permeate flux and performance index (49.97 × 10–4 m3·m–2·s–1 and 0.4620%, respectively), the composite membrane exhibits better performance (51.63 × 10–4 m3·m–2·s–1 and 0.4974%). For the composite ash membrane, the response surface methodology based analysis inferred that the optimum process parameters to achieve maximum membrane flux and rejection are 207 kPa, 200 mg·L–1 and 0.1769 m·s–1 for applied pressure, feed concentration and cross flow velocity, respectively. Under these conditions, predicted responses are 41.33 × 10–4 m3·m–2·s–1 permeate flux and 98.7% rejection, which are in good agreement with the values obtained from experimental investigations (42.84 × 10–4 m3·m–2·s–1 and 98.82%). Therefore, we have demonstrated that the TiO2-fly ash composite membrane as value added product is an efficient way to recycle fly ash and thus mitigate environmental hazards associated with the disposal of oily wastewaters.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Ezzati A, Gorouhi E, Mohammadi T. Separation of water in oil emulsions using microfiltration. Desalination, 2005, 185(1-3): 371–382

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Arnot T C, Field R W, Koltuniewicz A B. Cross-flow and dead-end microfiltration of oily-water emulsions. Journal of Membrane Science, 2000, 169(1): 1–15

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Cumming I W, Holdich R G, Smith I D. The rejection of oil by microfiltration of a stabilised kerosene/water emulsion. Journal of Membrane Science, 2000, 169(1): 147–155

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Mohammadi T, Pak A, Karbassian M, Golshan M. Effect of operating conditions on microfiltration of an oil-water emulsion by a kaolin membrane. Desalination, 2004, 168: 201–205

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Hua F L, Tsang Y F, Wang Y J, Chan S Y, Chuand H, Sin H N. Performance study of ceramic microfiltration membrane for oily wastewater treatment. Chemical Engineering Journal, 2007, 128(2-3): 169–175

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Chakrabarty B, Ghoshal A K, Purkait M K. Ultrafiltration of stable oil-in-water emulsion by polysulfone membrane. Journal of Membrane Science, 2008, 325(1): 427–437

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Srijaroonrat P, Julien E, Aurelle Y. Unstable secondary oil/water emulsion treatment using ultrafiltration: Fouling control by backflushing. Journal of Membrane Science, 1999, 159(1-2): 11–20

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Zhou J E, Chang Q, Wang Y, Wang J, Meng G. Separation of stable oil-water emulsion by the hydrophilic nano-sized ZrO2 modified Al2O3 microfiltration membrane. Separation and Purification Technology, 2010, 75(3): 243–248

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Cui J, Zhang X, Liu H, Liu S, Yeung K L. Preparation and application of zeolite/ceramic microfiltration membranes for treatment of oil contaminated water. Journal of Membrane Science, 2008, 325(1): 420–426

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Cheryan M, Rajagopalan N. Membrane processing of oily streams. Wastewater treatment and waste reduction. Journal of Membrane Science, 1998, 151(1): 13–28

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Campos J C, Borges RMH, Filho AMO, Nobrega R, Sant’Anna G L Jr. Oilfield wastewater treatment by combined microfiltration and biological processes. Water Research, 2002, 36(1): 95–104

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Zare M, Ashtiani F Z, Fouladitajar A. CFD modeling and simulation of concentration polarization in microfiltration of oil-water emulsions; Application of an Eulerian multiphase model. Desalination, 2013, 324: 37–47

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Sun S P, Hatton T A, Chan S Y, Chung T S. Novel thin-film composite nanofiltration hollow fiber membranes with double repulsion for effective removal of emerging organic matters from water. Journal of Membrane Science, 2012, 401–402: 152–162

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Pan Y, Wang T, Sun H, Wang W. Preparation and application of titanium dioxide dynamic membranes in microfiltration of oil-inwater emulsions. Separation and Purification Technology, 2012, 89: 78–83

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Montgomery D C. Response Surface Methods and Designs, Design and Analysis of Experiment. 8th ed. New York: JohnWiley & Sons, 2013, 478–553

    Google Scholar 

  16. Montgomery D C. Response Surface Methods and other Approaches to Process Optimization, Design and Analysis of Experiments. 5th ed. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 2001, 427–510

    Google Scholar 

  17. Abadikhah H, Ashtiani F Z, Fouladitajar A. Nanofiltration of oily wastewater containing salt: Experimental studies and optimization using response surface methodology. Desalination and Water Treatment, 2015, 56: 2783–2796

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Suresh K, Pugazhenthi G. Development of ceramic membranes from low-cost clays for the separation of oil-water emulsion. Desalination and Water Treatment, 2016, 57(5): 1927–1939

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. Suresh K, Srinu T, Ghoshal A K, Pugazhenthi G. Preparation and characterization of TiO2 and γ-Al2O3 composite membranes for the separation of oil-in-water emulsions. RSC Advances, 2016, 6(6): 4877–4888

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. Vasanth D, Pugazhenthi G, Uppaluri R. Cross-flow microfiltration of oil-in-water emulsions using low cost ceramic membranes. Desalination, 2013, 320: 86–95

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  21. Aleboyeh A, Daneshvar N, Kasiri M B. Optimization of C.I. Acid Red 14 azo dye removal by electrocoagulation batch process with response surface methodology. Chemical Engineering and Processing: Process Intensification, 2008, 47(5): 827–830

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  22. Khataee A R, Dehghan G. Optimization of biological treatment of a dye solution by macro algae Cladophora sp. using response surface methodology. Journal of the Taiwan Institute of Chemical Engineers, 2011, 42(1): 26–33

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  23. Liu H L, Chiou Y R. Optimal decolorization efficiency of Reactive Red 239 by UV/TiO2 photocatalytic process coupled with response surface methodology. Chemical Engineering Journal, 2005, 112(1-3): 173–179

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  24. Mittal P, Jana S, Mohanty K. Synthesis of low cost hydrophilic ceramic-polymeric composite membrane for treatment of oily wastewater. Desalination, 2011, 282: 54–62

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  25. Mueller J, Cen Y, Davis R H. Cross flow microfiltration of oily water. Journal of Membrane Science, 1997, 129(2): 221–235

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  26. Jonsson A S, Tragardh G. Ultrafiltration applications. Desalination, 1990, 77(1-3): 135–179

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Zhu L, Chen M, Dong Y, Tang C Y, Huang A, Li L. A low-cost mullite-titania composite ceramic hollow fiber microfiltration membrane for highly efficient separation of oil-in-water emulsion. Water Research, 2016, 90: 277–285

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  28. Sriharsha E, Uppaluri R, Purkait M K. Cross flow microfiltration of oil-water emulsions using kaolin based low cost ceramic membranes. Desalination, 2014, 341: 61–71

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  29. Li H J, Cao Y M, Qin J J, Jie X M, Wang T H, Liu J H, Yuan Q. Development and characterization of anti-fouling cellulose hollow fiber UF membranes for oil-water separation. Journal of Membrane Science, 2006, 279(1-2): 328–335

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  30. Chang Q, Zhou J E, Wang Y, Liang J, Zhang X, Cerneaux S, Wang X, Zhu Z, Dong Y. Application of ceramic microfiltration membrane modified by nano-TiO2 coating in separation of a stable oil-in-water emulsion. Journal of Membrane Science, 2014, 456: 128–133

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  31. Salahi A, Noshadi I, Badrnezhad R, Kanjilal B, Mohammadi T. Nano-porous membrane process for oily wastewater treatment: Optimization using response surface methodology. Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering, 2013, 1(3): 218–225

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  32. Wang P, Xu N, Shi J. A pilot study of the treatment of waste rolling emulsion using zirconia microfiltration membranes. Journal of Membrane Science, 2000, 173(2): 159–166

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  33. Jokic A, Zavargo Z, Zeres Z, Tekic M. The effect of turbulence promoter on cross-flow microfiltration of yeast suspensions: A response surface methodology approach. Journal of Membrane Science, 2010, 350(1-2): 269–278

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We would like to express our sincere gratitude to the Central Instruments Facility of IIT Guwahati for providing facilities to conduct FESEM analysis. Contact angle instrument used in this work was financially supported by a grant for Center of Excellence for Sustainable Polymers at IIT Guwahati from Department of Chemicals & Petrochemicals, Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers, Government of India. We sincerely acknowledge the support of Dr. S. Senthilkumar, Department of Biosciences and Bioengineering, IIT Guwahati for his valuable suggestions to improve data collection and RSM model analysis at critical operating conditions.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati, Assam, 781039, India

    Kanchapogu Suresh, G. Pugazhenthi & R. Uppaluri

Authors
  1. Kanchapogu Suresh
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. G. Pugazhenthi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. R. Uppaluri
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to G. Pugazhenthi.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Suresh, K., Pugazhenthi, G. & Uppaluri, R. Preparation and characterization of hydrothermally engineered TiO2-fly ash composite membrane. Front. Chem. Sci. Eng. 11, 266–279 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11705-017-1608-4

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11705-017-1608-4

Keywords

Search

Navigation