Download Hybrid membrane process for water treatment

Hybrid membrane process for water treatment
The goal of the project is to develop a novel, active and sustainable hybrid wastewater treatment process that
removes simultaneously heavy metals, arsenic, nutrients and organic compounds from water streams. The
process is based on membrane technology, photocatalysis and adsorption (separate and hybrid structures)
and it has self-cleaning properties, long term stability and ability to recover nutrients.
Need
Companies are increasingly being forced both by
regulatory and cost pressures to reduce the amount
and environmental hazard of the waste they produce. One specific problem existing in the mining
and metallurgical industries is the need for more
efficient treatment technologies for the removal of
metals and nutrients from wastewaters. Nutrients,
such as nitrates, are also valuable compounds for
example for fertilizer industry. In addition, the European Union has launched a thematic strategy on
the sustainable use of natural resources with the
aim to reduce the depletion and pollution of natural resources, such as water, in a growing economy.
Therefore, there is a substantial need for innovative
environmental technologies and clean, cost-effective, sustainable industrial processes to meet the
global efforts on combating pollution.
ALD-technique and other selected preparation
techniques.
2) Selection, activation and testing of adsorption
materials for separate removal of harmful compounds and for combined use in the membrane
structure.
3) Design, modification, characterization and testing of coatings to meet the required surface properties in membrane structures.
4) Design, modification, characterization and testing of photocatalytic materials for the visible light
region and for the use in catalytic membranes.
Approach
In this project a novel hybrid wastewater treatment
process will be developed based on membrane
technology, photocatalysis and adsorption as follows,
1) Design and development of reactive catalytic
membranes with proper porous structure and activity by immobilization of photocatalysts and adsorption materials on the membrane surface, by
Benefits
The purification of wastewater will reduce the harm
towards the environment by eliminating nutrient
and heavy metal discharges, improve the resource
efficiency of valuable compounds and promote water re-use reducing freshwater consumption. The
conduction of this research helps industry to employ an eco-efficient and innovative hybrid process
that removes water pollutants from effluents with
The developed hybrid process will be applied for
the separate and simultaneous removal of heavy
metals, arsenic and nutrients from industrial wastewaters. In addition, the sustainability assessment of
the developed new process will be conducted.
high efficiency. Further, this study reinforces the co-operation between companies by converting wastes and
side products from one enterprise into a valuable and
recyclable raw material for another enterprise. Therefore,
the recovery and reuse of such valuable compounds as
well as the removal of pollutants from wastewaters improves the sustainability of many industrial processes.
Companies that design water treatment facilities benefit
from the results of this project by improving their competitiveness at national and international level due to
the developed hybrid water treatment technology. Disadvantages of each separated process can be overcome
and in that way sustainability and process efficiency can
be improved. For example, one of the biggest challenges
in membrane technology is membrane fouling which
can be prevented by the development of self-cleaning
membranes. Further, there is high a marketing potential
due to the possibility to extend the markets to drinking
water treatment.
Competition
The developed new hybrid process will compete with
existing and often well establish wastewater treatments
technologies such as oxidation/precipitation, ion exchange, electrodeposition, crystallization, evaporation
and liquid-liquid extraction. However, these processes
are often not efficient at diluted systems, they need high
amounts of chemicals and often the pollution is not
eliminated but transformed into another kind of pollution such as sludge. The hybrid process overcomes these
limitations of the traditional techniques.
End users
• Water and wastewater treatment sector
• Industry e.g. mining industry, paper and wood industry, chemical industry, metal industry
–> Recovery of valuable materials, new products from
waste
Corvinus University of Budapest (CUB), Department of Food
Engineering, Hungary
Institute of Chemical Process Fundamentals of the Academy
of Sciences of the Czech Republic (ICCP), v.v.i., Department
of Catalysis and Reaction Engineering
National University of Engineering, Universidad Nacional de
Ingenería, (UNI) Lima, Peru, Science Faculty, Functional Materials Laboratory
Companies
Agnico-Eagle Finland Oy
Aquator Oy
Beneq Oy
Envitop Oy
Honkajoki Oy
Kemira Oyj
Miktech Oy
Outokumpu Stainless Oyj
Outotec Oyj
Sachtleben Pigments Oy
Talvivaaran Kaivososakeyhtiö Oyj
Watman Engineering Ltd Oy
More information
Prof. Riitta Keiski, responsible leader of the project
Mass and Heat Transfer Process Laboratory
Department of Process and Environmental Engineering
University of Oulu
Tel. +358 40 726 3018, E-mail: [email protected]
Prof. David Cameron
ASTRaL –Research Laboratory
Lappeenranta University of Technology
Tel. +358 40 835 2649, E-mail: [email protected]
Water Programme
Project participants
Research parties
University of Oulu, Mass and Heat Transfer Process
Laboratory
Lappeenranta University of Technology
ASTRaL – Research Laboratory
Laboratory of Membrane Technologies
Laboratory of Green Chemistry
International research partners
The Tekes Water Programme is aimed at modernising and internationalising the water sector. The programme is a response to sectoral changes and major
growth in the global market. It seeks to promote networking among water sector players and to harness
multi-sector competencies in order to generate new
innovations, products and services. Funding provided
by the programme totals about EUR 90 million, of which
Tekes is contributing some EUR 40 million. The Water
Programme is being implemented from 2008 to 2012.
www.tekes.fi/programmes/Vesi/