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Membranes
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Membrane Technologies for Water Purification
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Membrane Technologies for Water Purification

A special issue of Membranes (ISSN 2077-0375). This special issue belongs to the section "Membrane Applications for Water Treatment".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2024 | Viewed by 3294

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. José Antonio Mendoza-Roca

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Guest Editor
Research Institute for Industrial, Radiophysical and Environmental Safety (ISIRYM), Universitat Politècnica de València, Camino de Vera, s/n, 46022 Valencia, Spain
Interests: membrane technology; circular economy; microplastics; wastewater treatment; membrane fouling and cleaning
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Silvia Álvarez Blanco

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Research Institute for Industrial, Radiophysical and Environmental Safety (ISIRYM), Universitat Politècnica de València, Camino de Vera, s/n, 46022 Valencia, Spain
Interests: membrane technology; circular economy; waste valorization; wastewater treatment; membrane fouling and cleaning
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Carmen M. Sánchez-Arévalo

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Research Institute for Industrial, Radiophysical and Environmental Safety (ISIRYM), Universitat Politècnica de València, Camino de Vera, s/n, 46022 Valencia, Spain
Interests: membrane technology; circular economy; waste valorization; metabolomics

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Membrane processes are going to be essential to solving the new challenges related to water purification. For example, the presence in water and wastewater of emergent pollutants like pharmaceutical compounds, endocrine disruptors or antibiotic-resistant genes entails a change in the water treatment strategies, including processes to further treat or purify water. In addition, emergent membrane techniques such as forward osmosis or membrane distillation can also play an important role for water purification. In this Special Issue, authors are invited to submit original articles and reviews on membrane technologies for water purification. The contributions may be related to (i) membrane processes for drinking water production, (ii) membrane processes for the removal of emergent pollutants, (iii) membrane processes for the purification of water for hydrogen production, and (iv) emerging membrane processes for water purification (forward osmosis, membrane distillation, etc.).

Prof. Dr. José Antonio Mendoza-Roca
Prof. Dr. Silvia Álvarez Blanco
Dr. Carmen M. Sánchez-Arévalo
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Membranes is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2200 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 processes
  • emergent membrane processes
  • water and wastewater treatment
  • water reclamation
  • pollutants removal

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Further information on MDPI's Special Issue polices can be found here.

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

18 pages, 6403 KiB  
Article
Evaluating Nanofiltration and Reverse Osmosis Membranes for Pharmaceutically Active Compounds Removal: A Solution Diffusion Model Approach
by Yonghyun Shin, Tae-Mun Hwang, Sook-Hyun Nam, Eunju Kim, JeongBeen Park, Yong-Jun Choi, Homin Kye and Jae-Wuk Koo
Membranes 2024, 14(12), 250; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes14120250 - 25 Nov 2024
Viewed by 232
Abstract
Trace organic contaminants (TrOCs), including pharmaceutically active compounds (PhACs), present significant challenges for conventional water treatment processes and pose potential risks to environmental and human health. To address these issues, nanofiltration (NF) and reverse osmosis (RO) membrane technologies have gained attention. This study [...] Read more.
Trace organic contaminants (TrOCs), including pharmaceutically active compounds (PhACs), present significant challenges for conventional water treatment processes and pose potential risks to environmental and human health. To address these issues, nanofiltration (NF) and reverse osmosis (RO) membrane technologies have gained attention. This study aims to evaluate the performance of NF and RO membranes in removing TrOCs from wastewater and develop a predictive model using the Solution Diffusion Model. Experiments were conducted using a stirred cell setup at various target concentrations, stirring speeds, and operating pressures, with acetaminophen and caffeine selected as representative pharmaceutical compounds. The results demonstrated that most of the pharmaceutical compounds were effectively removed, showing excellent performance. NF membranes exhibited high permeate flux with somewhat lower removal efficiency (average 84.17%), while RO membranes demonstrated high removal efficiency (average 99.21%), highlighting their importance in trace pharmaceutical treatment. The predictive model based on the solution diffusion model correlated well with the experimental data, suggesting its potential utility for large-scale system applications. This study confirms that NF and RO membranes are effective technologies for the removal of TrOCs from wastewater, offering a promising solution to the challenges posed by trace pharmaceutical contaminants. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Membrane Technologies for Water Purification)
21 pages, 12622 KiB  
Article
Application of Polymeric Tubular Ultrafiltration Membranes for Separation of Car Wash Wastewater
by Piotr Woźniak and Marek Gryta
Membranes 2024, 14(10), 210; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes14100210 - 28 Sep 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 943
Abstract
The commercial ultrafiltration tubular polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) (100 and 200 kDa) and polyethersulfone (PES) (4 kDa) membranes were applied for filtration of car wash wastewater. Intensive fouling was noticed, which caused an over 50% flux reduction during 3–5 h of the filtration process. [...] Read more.
The commercial ultrafiltration tubular polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) (100 and 200 kDa) and polyethersulfone (PES) (4 kDa) membranes were applied for filtration of car wash wastewater. Intensive fouling was noticed, which caused an over 50% flux reduction during 3–5 h of the filtration process. This phenomenon was reduced by washing the membranes with an alkaline cleaning agent (pH = 11.5), which is used in car washes to remove insects. The filtration/membrane washing cycle was repeated many times to achieve stable operation of the membrane modules. It has been found that cyclic repeated washing did not deteriorate the performance of the membranes. Despite frequent cleaning of the membranes (every 5–7 h), irreversible fouling occurred, resulting in a 20% reduction in the initial permeate flux. However, the formation of a filter cake definitely improved the separation degree and, for the 200 kDa membranes, separation of the wastewater components was obtained as it was for the 4 kDa membranes, while, at the same time, the permeate flux was 5 times higher. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Membrane Technologies for Water Purification)
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20 pages, 4099 KiB  
Article
Treatment of Synthetic Wastewater Containing Polystyrene (PS) Nanoplastics by Membrane Bioreactor (MBR): Study of the Effects on Microbial Community and Membrane Fouling
by Anamary Pompa-Pernía, Serena Molina, Laura Cherta, Lorena Martínez-García and Junkal Landaburu-Aguirre
Membranes 2024, 14(8), 174; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes14080174 - 9 Aug 2024
Viewed by 1287
Abstract
The persistent presence of micro- and nanoplastics (MNPs) in aquatic environments, particularly via effluents from wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), poses significant ecological risks. This study investigated the removal efficiency of polystyrene nanoplastics (PS-NPs) using a lab-scale aerobic membrane bioreactor (aMBR) equipped with different [...] Read more.
The persistent presence of micro- and nanoplastics (MNPs) in aquatic environments, particularly via effluents from wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), poses significant ecological risks. This study investigated the removal efficiency of polystyrene nanoplastics (PS-NPs) using a lab-scale aerobic membrane bioreactor (aMBR) equipped with different membrane types: microfiltration (MF), commercial ultrafiltration (c-UF), and recycled ultrafiltration (r-UF) membranes. Performance was assessed using synthetic urban wastewater spiked with PS-NPs, focusing on membrane efficiency, fouling behavior, and microbial community shifts. All aMBR systems achieved high organic matter removal, exceeding a 97% COD reduction in both the control and PS-exposed reactors. While low concentrations of PS-NPs did not significantly impact the sludge settleability or soluble microbial products initially, a higher accumulation increased the carbohydrate concentrations, indicating a protective bacterial response. The microbial community composition also adapted over time under polystyrene stress. All membrane types exhibited substantial NP removal; however, the presence of nano-sized PS particles negatively affected the membrane performance, enhancing the fouling phenomena and increasing transmembrane pressure. Despite this, the r-UF membrane demonstrated comparable efficiency to c-UF, suggesting its potential for sustainable applications. Advanced characterization techniques including pyrolysis gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (Py-GC/MS) were employed for NP detection and quantification. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Membrane Technologies for Water Purification)
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