(387f) Comparison of Ceramic and Polymeric Low Pressure Membranes for Water Treatment Applications

In many areas of the United States, fresh water resources are over allocated and there is a need to develop new water supplies. Development of new water supplies most often requires implementation of water treatment processes to improve the water quality to useable standards. Low pressure membrane separation processes, microfiltration (MF) and ultrafiltration (UF), are widely used for water and wastewater treatment for the removal of total and dissolved organic carbon, suspended solids and particulates, and pathogens such as protozoa, bacteria and viruses.

Polymers, such as polyethersulfone and polyacrylonitrile, are the most commonly used materials for MF and UF membranes, however, ceramic materials, such as titanium oxide and zirconium oxide, have more robust physical and chemical properties, which can provide benefits for water treatment applications. The material property and configurational differences between these two types of membranes will affect the fouling behavior and solute rejection. Currently, information is lacking to predict how these differences combine to provide the best productivity, rejection, and cost for a given water treatment application. Decisions are typically made by conducting limited pilot scale investigations with both membrane materials.

This study provides an improved understanding of the material property differences that contribute to the flux and rejection behavior of ceramic and polymeric membranes in the context of a techno-economic model that will describe the trade-offs between ceramic and polymeric membranes from a process economics standpoint.