Integrated ultrafiltration membrane unit for efficient petroleum refinery effluent treatment

Petroleum refinery effluent (PRE) needs treatment before discharge. One treatment option is the filtration of PRE through membranes but membranes can be become fouled, reducing their efficiency. This study evaluates the improvement of polymeric ultra-filtration (UF) membrane performance by integrati...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Martini, S., Ang, H., Znad, Hussein
Format: Journal Article
Published: 2016
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/37333
_version_ 1848755017905864704
author Martini, S.
Ang, H.
Znad, Hussein
author_facet Martini, S.
Ang, H.
Znad, Hussein
author_sort Martini, S.
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Petroleum refinery effluent (PRE) needs treatment before discharge. One treatment option is the filtration of PRE through membranes but membranes can be become fouled, reducing their efficiency. This study evaluates the improvement of polymeric ultra-filtration (UF) membrane performance by integrating membrane filtration with a Fenton-flocculation process to treat PRE prior to sending it through the membrane. The results show that the integrated-UF membrane system increased the permeate flux by 50% compared to only using the membrane. Similarly, the integrated system increased the chemical oxygen demand, and the oil and grease removal efficiencies by 55 and 4.23%, respectively. The integrated system was further investigated under different conditions of transmembrane pressure (TMP) (1, 1.5, 2 bar) and cross flow velocity (CFV) (250, 300, 600 mL/min). Using Hermia's model, it was found that the cake formation model controlled fouling regardless of the applied TMP and CFV conditions. The extent of fouling was analyzed and characterised via Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive spectrometry (SEM-EDS). SEM-EDS demonstrated different morphologies between fresh and fouled membrane, where irregularly distributed microparticles/oil droplets on the membrane surface and pores were dominant in the fouled membrane. The inclusion of the pre-treatment stage is therefore, important for improving polymeric UF membrane performance for treating PRE.
first_indexed 2025-11-14T08:49:37Z
format Journal Article
id curtin-20.500.11937-37333
institution Curtin University Malaysia
institution_category Local University
last_indexed 2025-11-14T08:49:37Z
publishDate 2016
recordtype eprints
repository_type Digital Repository
spelling curtin-20.500.11937-373332017-09-13T15:35:34Z Integrated ultrafiltration membrane unit for efficient petroleum refinery effluent treatment Martini, S. Ang, H. Znad, Hussein Petroleum refinery effluent (PRE) needs treatment before discharge. One treatment option is the filtration of PRE through membranes but membranes can be become fouled, reducing their efficiency. This study evaluates the improvement of polymeric ultra-filtration (UF) membrane performance by integrating membrane filtration with a Fenton-flocculation process to treat PRE prior to sending it through the membrane. The results show that the integrated-UF membrane system increased the permeate flux by 50% compared to only using the membrane. Similarly, the integrated system increased the chemical oxygen demand, and the oil and grease removal efficiencies by 55 and 4.23%, respectively. The integrated system was further investigated under different conditions of transmembrane pressure (TMP) (1, 1.5, 2 bar) and cross flow velocity (CFV) (250, 300, 600 mL/min). Using Hermia's model, it was found that the cake formation model controlled fouling regardless of the applied TMP and CFV conditions. The extent of fouling was analyzed and characterised via Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive spectrometry (SEM-EDS). SEM-EDS demonstrated different morphologies between fresh and fouled membrane, where irregularly distributed microparticles/oil droplets on the membrane surface and pores were dominant in the fouled membrane. The inclusion of the pre-treatment stage is therefore, important for improving polymeric UF membrane performance for treating PRE. 2016 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/37333 10.1002/clen.201600342 restricted
spellingShingle Martini, S.
Ang, H.
Znad, Hussein
Integrated ultrafiltration membrane unit for efficient petroleum refinery effluent treatment
title Integrated ultrafiltration membrane unit for efficient petroleum refinery effluent treatment
title_full Integrated ultrafiltration membrane unit for efficient petroleum refinery effluent treatment
title_fullStr Integrated ultrafiltration membrane unit for efficient petroleum refinery effluent treatment
title_full_unstemmed Integrated ultrafiltration membrane unit for efficient petroleum refinery effluent treatment
title_short Integrated ultrafiltration membrane unit for efficient petroleum refinery effluent treatment
title_sort integrated ultrafiltration membrane unit for efficient petroleum refinery effluent treatment
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/37333