Molecular Scale Modeling of Membrane Water Treatment Processes

Membrane processes have become commonplace in the water industry since the 1990s, with low-pressure microfiltration (MF) and ultrafiltration (UF) membranes used for the removal of particles and bacteria, whereas high-pressure membranes, such as reverse osmosis (RO) and nanofiltration (NF) membranes,...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Ridgway, H., Gale, Julian, Hughes, Zak, Stewart, M., Orbell, J., Gray, S.
Format: Book Chapter
Published: Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA 2013
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/4531
_version_ 1848744542250991616
author Ridgway, H.
Gale, Julian
Hughes, Zak
Stewart, M.
Orbell, J.
Gray, S.
author_facet Ridgway, H.
Gale, Julian
Hughes, Zak
Stewart, M.
Orbell, J.
Gray, S.
author_sort Ridgway, H.
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Membrane processes have become commonplace in the water industry since the 1990s, with low-pressure microfiltration (MF) and ultrafiltration (UF) membranes used for the removal of particles and bacteria, whereas high-pressure membranes, such as reverse osmosis (RO) and nanofiltration (NF) membranes, are used for desalination and removal of color and trace organics of interest. Water transport and salt/color rejection in RO membranes occurs at the molecular scale, and molecular models have been used to develop an understanding of these processes. For MF/UF membranes, organic fouling is an operational problem that lends itself to modelling at the molecular scale, but there has been little emphasis on this approach to date. This chapter examines three distinct areas relevant to the molecular modeling of membrane-based water treatment processes. First, Section 10.2 critically discusses the progress and methods used to study, at the molecular level, the structure and properties of high-pressure polymeric membranes, as well as the deficiencies currently present in this approach. Second, Section 10.3 analyzes the current state of research on zeolites as the most promising candidate for inorganic membrane material and describes the application of molecular modeling in studying the transport of water and ions through zeolite materials, as well as providing further insights into ion selectivity. Finally, Section 10.4 investigates the potential of molecular modelling to be applied to the problem of organic fouling of polymeric membranes. Such an approach could provide insights into the new methods to ameliorate organic fouling.
first_indexed 2025-11-14T06:03:07Z
format Book Chapter
id curtin-20.500.11937-4531
institution Curtin University Malaysia
institution_category Local University
last_indexed 2025-11-14T06:03:07Z
publishDate 2013
publisher Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA
recordtype eprints
repository_type Digital Repository
spelling curtin-20.500.11937-45312017-09-13T14:39:15Z Molecular Scale Modeling of Membrane Water Treatment Processes Ridgway, H. Gale, Julian Hughes, Zak Stewart, M. Orbell, J. Gray, S. thin-film composite membrane fouling zeolites molecular mechanics molecular dynamics microfiltration reverse osmosis Membrane processes have become commonplace in the water industry since the 1990s, with low-pressure microfiltration (MF) and ultrafiltration (UF) membranes used for the removal of particles and bacteria, whereas high-pressure membranes, such as reverse osmosis (RO) and nanofiltration (NF) membranes, are used for desalination and removal of color and trace organics of interest. Water transport and salt/color rejection in RO membranes occurs at the molecular scale, and molecular models have been used to develop an understanding of these processes. For MF/UF membranes, organic fouling is an operational problem that lends itself to modelling at the molecular scale, but there has been little emphasis on this approach to date. This chapter examines three distinct areas relevant to the molecular modeling of membrane-based water treatment processes. First, Section 10.2 critically discusses the progress and methods used to study, at the molecular level, the structure and properties of high-pressure polymeric membranes, as well as the deficiencies currently present in this approach. Second, Section 10.3 analyzes the current state of research on zeolites as the most promising candidate for inorganic membrane material and describes the application of molecular modeling in studying the transport of water and ions through zeolite materials, as well as providing further insights into ion selectivity. Finally, Section 10.4 investigates the potential of molecular modelling to be applied to the problem of organic fouling of polymeric membranes. Such an approach could provide insights into the new methods to ameliorate organic fouling. 2013 Book Chapter http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/4531 10.1002/9783527668502.ch10 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA restricted
spellingShingle thin-film composite
membrane fouling
zeolites
molecular mechanics
molecular dynamics
microfiltration
reverse osmosis
Ridgway, H.
Gale, Julian
Hughes, Zak
Stewart, M.
Orbell, J.
Gray, S.
Molecular Scale Modeling of Membrane Water Treatment Processes
title Molecular Scale Modeling of Membrane Water Treatment Processes
title_full Molecular Scale Modeling of Membrane Water Treatment Processes
title_fullStr Molecular Scale Modeling of Membrane Water Treatment Processes
title_full_unstemmed Molecular Scale Modeling of Membrane Water Treatment Processes
title_short Molecular Scale Modeling of Membrane Water Treatment Processes
title_sort molecular scale modeling of membrane water treatment processes
topic thin-film composite
membrane fouling
zeolites
molecular mechanics
molecular dynamics
microfiltration
reverse osmosis
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/4531