Abstract
Thin Film Composite (TFC) membrane technology has been applied in the removal of various pollutants from wastewater. TFC membranes have small pore sizes which enable the rejection of multivalent ions such as those found in Acid Mine Drainage (AMD). Also, nanoparticles with desirable properties have been added to TFC membranes to form Thin Film Nanocomposite (TFN) membranes with potentially enhanced properties. A great opportunity is provided for novel and sustainable development of TFN membranes with Carbon Nanotube (CNTs) for the treatment of AMD. CNT-Infused TFN membranes were synthesized to investigate the feasibility for use in synthetic AMD treatment. Flux and rejection under various operating conditions were measured. The addition of CNTs improved flux by up to 50% and reduced heavy metal concentration in AMD up to 95%. Furthermore, rejection followed the sequence Mg2+>Fe3+>Al3+. Design of Experiments (DOE) was used to determine the effects of process parameters (heavy metal concentration, pressure and MWCNT loading) on process optimisation and semi-empirical modelling techniques were conducted on the experimental data. Response Surface Methodology (RSM) was used to evaluate model outputs and Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used for model validation. Iron concentration, pressure and CNT loading were found to have the most significance on the process followed by magnesium concentration and aluminium concentration according to RSM results...
M.Tech. (Chemical Engineering)