Impact of e-beam irradiation of municipal secondary effluent on MF and RO membranes performances

• Published in: Journal of membrane science Vol. 471; pp. 1 - 8
• Main Authors: Meng, Meng, Pellizzari, Fabien, Boukari, Sahidou O.B., Vel Leitner, Nathalie Karpel, Teychene, Benoît
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier B.V 01.12.2014; Elsevier
• Subjects: Advanced oxidation process; Catalysis; Chemical Sciences; Chemistry; Colloidal state and disperse state; e-Beam; Exact sciences and technology; General and physical chemistry; Membrane fouling; Membranes; Secondary effluent; e-Beam; Secondary effluent; Membrane fouling; Advanced oxidation process; Fouling; Membrane; Oxidation; Effluent; Waste water
• ISSN: 0376-7388; 1873-3123
• DOI: 10.1016/j.memsci.2014.07.046

Due to water scarcity, development of innovative processes for wastewater reuse has become a priority. Hence, hybrid processes coupling membrane separation with advanced oxidation processes could play a decisive role in the production of safe water. However, membrane fouling is still one of the main limitations to process widespread application. Thus, the present study investigates the impact of e-beam irradiation on the fouling ability of a secondary effluent (SE) filtered on MF and subsequently on RO membranes. For this, two electron beam radiation doses (1 and 5kGy) were investigated. Results demonstrate that whatever the radiation dose investigated, no change in terms of TOC in SE was observed (prior to filtration). However, a strong decrease in UV254 and fluorescence signal was observed for organic matter (OM) exhibiting a MW ranging from 135 to 10kDa. Pre-oxidation was found to efficiently optimize MF filtration permeate flux whereas no improvement could be observed regarding RO separation. Moreover it was demonstrated that MF efficiently removed the high-MW compounds and was barely efficient in low-MW compounds removal. Energetic balance based on experimental results demonstrates that 1kGy was a sufficient dose to operate the hybrid e-beam irradiation and MF process. [Display omitted] •e-Beam irradiation significantly affects organic matters structure.•MF performances are strongly improved during filtration of irradiated samples.•Energetic balance shows that 1kGy is a sufficient dose to improve MF performances.