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Abstract
Developing an innovative solution to minimize the environmental impact associated with the discharge of waste from the production of ethanol is required. Performance evaluation of membrane processes and advances in energy and nutrient recovery options can be applied to improve the performance of existing distillery water treatment systems, while to design the next generation of distillery water treatment plants. A range of different membrane technologies have been demonstrated for such purpose, however significant challenges remain in selecting appropriate membrane processes that are capable of providing a good salt transmission for a maximal salt recovery whilst rejecting most organics, meanwhile show low fouling propensities and consume less energy.
In this study, a membrane dialysis process for an efficient distillery waste treatment was proposed for the first time, with a focus on optimizing dialysis process for potassium harvesting and organic removal from the waste solution. The mass transfer fundamental in membrane dialysis was also studied. With the optimized operating conditions, this process delivers high potassium transmission as well as high organic rejection.
This study examined the potential application of the submerged configuration in terms of overall mass transfer performance by comparing it to the conventional cross-flow configuration for both flat sheet and hollow fiber dialysis membranes. The submerged configuration of dialysis process with the aid of membrane transverse vibration offered a promising alternative hydrodynamic approach to the cross-flow velocity in terms of overall mass transfer performance. Further improvement in the performance of the dialysis process in both configurations was studied by optimizing operating parameters including cross-flow velocity, vibration frequency, dialysate flow rate as well as distance between fibers. The results showed that there is a direct relationship between frequency and cross-flow velocity with the overall mass transfer coefficient of potassium. It was also found that the overall mass transfer coefficient was a function of the packing density of the hollow fibers. There was an optimum packing density in which the maximum mass transfer coefficient occurred. Compare to cross-flow, the water flux in submerged was higher. The theoretical analysis revealed the overall mass transfer is convection-control for a wide range of feed flow rate.