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Full-Text Articles in Engineering

Removal Of Heavy Metals From Mining Impacted Water By An Electrocoagulation-Ultrafiltration Hybrid Process, Long Nghiem, Duminda Kumarasinghe, Liam Pettigrew Dec 2012

Removal Of Heavy Metals From Mining Impacted Water By An Electrocoagulation-Ultrafiltration Hybrid Process, Long Nghiem, Duminda Kumarasinghe, Liam Pettigrew

Long D Nghiem

In this study, the use of an electrocoagulation-ultrafiltration (EC-UF) hybrid system for the treatment of mining impacted wastewater was investigated. A model wastewater solution containing copper, lead, cadmium and other constituents representative of mining impacted wastewater was used in this investigation. The effects of key operational parameters including electrolysis time, current density, and solution pH on the performance of the EC and EC-UF systems were systematically investigated. The removal rates of copper and lead by the EC process were consistently higher than that of cadmium. It is probable that the removal mechanism of cadmium was different from that of the …


Analysis Of N-Nitrosamines In Water By Isotope Dilution Gas Chromatography-Electron Ionisation Tandem Mass Spectrometry, James A. Mcdonald, Nick B. Harden, Long Nghiem, Stuart J. Khan Dec 2012

Analysis Of N-Nitrosamines In Water By Isotope Dilution Gas Chromatography-Electron Ionisation Tandem Mass Spectrometry, James A. Mcdonald, Nick B. Harden, Long Nghiem, Stuart J. Khan

Long D Nghiem

A method has been developed for the determination of eight N-nitrosamines in drinking water and treated municipal effluent. The method uses solid phase extraction (SPE), gas chromatography (GC) and analysis by tandem mass spectrometry (MS-MS) with electron ionization (EI). The target compounds are N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA), N-nitrosomethyethylamine (NMEA), N-nitrosodiethylamine NDEA), N-nitrosodipropylamine (NDPA), N-nitrosodi-n-butylamine (NDBuA), N-nitrosodiphenylamine (NDPhA), N-nitrosopyrrolidine (NPyr), N-nitrosopiperidine (NPip), N-nitrosomorpholine (NMorph). The use of direct isotope analogues for isotope dilution analysis of all analytes ensures accurate quantification, accounting for analytical variabilities that may occur during sample processing, extraction and instrumental analysis. Method detection levels (MDLs) were determined to describe analyte …


Effects Of Membrane Fouling And Scaling On Boron Rejection By Nanofiltration And Reverse Osmosis Membranes, Kha Tu, Allan Chivas, Long Nghiem Dec 2012

Effects Of Membrane Fouling And Scaling On Boron Rejection By Nanofiltration And Reverse Osmosis Membranes, Kha Tu, Allan Chivas, Long Nghiem

Long D Nghiem

The effects of membrane fouling on the performance of nanofiltration and reverse osmosis membranes with respect to boron rejection and permeate flux were investigated in this study. A nanofiltration (NF270) membrane and a reverse osmosis (BW30) membrane were used in this investigation. Four typical membrane fouling conditions were simulated under controlled laboratory conditions in a cross-flow membrane system using four model foulants including humic acid, sodium alginate, colloidal silica and CaSO4. Amongst these model foulants, humic acid was found to increase boron rejection whereas the other foulants led to a decrease in boron rejection. Properties of foulants were found to …


Nf/Ro Filtration Of The Hydrophobic Ionogenic Com#163 Triclosan: Transport Mechanisms And The Influence Of Membrane Fouling, Long Nghiem, Poppy Coleman Dec 2012

Nf/Ro Filtration Of The Hydrophobic Ionogenic Com#163 Triclosan: Transport Mechanisms And The Influence Of Membrane Fouling, Long Nghiem, Poppy Coleman

Long D Nghiem

Filtration phenomena of the hydrophobic ionogenic compound triclosan by three commercially availablenanofiltration (NF)/reverse osmosis (RO) membranes were investigated in this study. The separationbehaviour of triclosan was systematically related to the compound physicochemical properties and themembranes as well as the solution pH. The influence of membrane fouling on the rejection of triclosanby the three selected NF/RO membranes were also examined using three model organic foulants and onemodel colloidal foulants. Having a unique hydrophobic ionogenic profile, even when triclosan was fullydeprotonated at pH 10, considerable adsorption of the compound to the membrane could still be observed.The adsorption of triclosan to the membrane …


Effects Of Membrane Degradation On The Removal Of Pharmaceutically Active Com#163s (Phacs) By Nf/Ro Filtration Processes, Alexander Simon, Long Nghiem, Pierre Le-Clech, Stuart J. Khan, Jorg E. Drewes Dec 2012

Effects Of Membrane Degradation On The Removal Of Pharmaceutically Active Com#163s (Phacs) By Nf/Ro Filtration Processes, Alexander Simon, Long Nghiem, Pierre Le-Clech, Stuart J. Khan, Jorg E. Drewes

Long D Nghiem

The impacts of membrane degradation due to chlorine attack on the rejection of pharmaceutically active compounds (PhACs) by nanofiltration and reverse osmosis membranes were investigated in this study. Membrane degradation was simulated by soaking the membranes in a sodium hypochlorite solution of various concentrations over 18 h. Changes in membrane surface properties were characterised by contact angle measurement, atomic force microscopy analysis, and streaming potential measurement. The impacts of hypochlorite exposure to the membrane separation processes were ascertained by comparing the rejection of PhACs by virgin and chlorine-exposed membranes. Overall, the reverse osmosis BW30 membrane and the tight nanofiltration NF90 …


Solar-Powered Compaction Garbage Bins In Public Areas: A Preliminary Economic And Environmental Evaluation, Poppy Coleman, Long Nghiem Dec 2012

Solar-Powered Compaction Garbage Bins In Public Areas: A Preliminary Economic And Environmental Evaluation, Poppy Coleman, Long Nghiem

Long D Nghiem

An excel-based model was developed to evaluate economic and environmental benefits of the solar-powered compaction garbage bins in public areas in Australia. Input data were collected from Brisbane and Wollongong City councils, and Sydney Olympic Park. The results demonstrate that solar-powered compaction garbage bins would provide environmental benefits in all scenarios. However, results of the economic analysis of the three studied areas varied significantly. The unique situation of Sydney Olympic Park made implementation in that facility particularly appealing. A lower monthly rental cost is needed for the implementation of this novel waste management practice.


Removal Of Trace Organics By Mbr Treatment: The Role Of Molecular Properties, Nichanan Tadkaew, Faisal Hai, James Mcdonald, Stuart J. Khan, Long Nghiem Dec 2012

Removal Of Trace Organics By Mbr Treatment: The Role Of Molecular Properties, Nichanan Tadkaew, Faisal Hai, James Mcdonald, Stuart J. Khan, Long Nghiem

Long D Nghiem

This study examined the relationship between specific molecular features of trace organic contaminants and their removal efficiencies by a laboratory scale membrane bioreactor (MBR). Removal efficiencies of 40 trace organic compounds were assessed under stable operating conditions. The reported results demonstrate an apparent correlation between chemical structures and the removal of trace organic contaminants by the laboratory scale MBR system. The removal of all 14 very hydrophobic (Log D > 3.2) trace organic compounds selected in this study was consistently high and was above 85%. The occurrence and types of electron withdrawing or donating functional groups appear to be important factors …


Removal Of Micropollutants By Membrane Bioreactor Under Temperature Variation, Faisal I. Hai, Karin Tessmer, Luong N. Nguyen, Jinguo Kang, William E. Price, Long Nghiem Dec 2012

Removal Of Micropollutants By Membrane Bioreactor Under Temperature Variation, Faisal I. Hai, Karin Tessmer, Luong N. Nguyen, Jinguo Kang, William E. Price, Long Nghiem

Long D Nghiem

The effects of controlled temperature variation in the range of 10–45 °C were assessed in a lab-scale MBR that treated synthetic municipal wastewater spiked with selected micropollutants. The effects were evaluated with respect to total organic carbon (TOC) and total nitrogen (TN) removal, micropollutant removal, sludge growth, level of soluble microbial products (SMPs) in the mixed liquor and membrane fouling. Overall, the temperature shifts caused high variation in the TOC and TN levels in the reactor supernatant, however that in membrane-permeate was relatively more stable, substantiating the robustness of the MBR process. Results regarding the removal of micropollutants at ambient …


Pollution Prevention: The Case Of Aqueous Parts Cleaning In Maintenance Workshops, Liam Pettigrew, Long Nghiem Dec 2012

Pollution Prevention: The Case Of Aqueous Parts Cleaning In Maintenance Workshops, Liam Pettigrew, Long Nghiem

Long D Nghiem

Pollution prevention has recently surfaced as one of the most commonly used preventive environmental management practices. Pollution prevention aims at reducing or eliminating the creation of pollutants at the source by substituting or using less hazardous materials and increase efficiency. However, one particular area that to date has received very little attention is the generation of hazardous wastes from parts cleaning devices in maintenance workshops. Given the detrimental effects of the solvent often used in parts cleaning, it is essential to encourage maintenance workshops to adapt pollution prevention. A promising alternative is the substitution of solvent by aqueous cleaning solution, …


Evaluating Waste Concrete For The Treatment Of Acid Sulphate Soil Groundwater From Coastal Floodplains, Gyanendra Regmi, Buddhima Indraratna, Long Nghiem, Laura Banasiak Dec 2012

Evaluating Waste Concrete For The Treatment Of Acid Sulphate Soil Groundwater From Coastal Floodplains, Gyanendra Regmi, Buddhima Indraratna, Long Nghiem, Laura Banasiak

Long D Nghiem

The treatment of acidic groundwater generated from acid sulphate soil (ASS) terrain is a challenging environmental issue in coastal floodplains of Australia. In this study, a laboratory column experiment was conducted to assess the performance of waste concrete for treating the acidic groundwater leachate from ASS terrain of the Shoalhaven region of NSW. The groundwater was highly acidic (pH of 2.5–3.5) and contained elevated concentrations of iron (10–90 mg/L) and aluminium (30–45 mg/L). Passage of the acidic groundwater through the column filled with waste concrete resulted in a significant improvement in water quality. Reduction in the concentration of iron and …


Pharmaceutical Retention Mechanisms By Nanofiltration Membranes, Long Nghiem, Andrea Schaefer, Menachem Elimelech Dec 2012

Pharmaceutical Retention Mechanisms By Nanofiltration Membranes, Long Nghiem, Andrea Schaefer, Menachem Elimelech

Long D Nghiem

No abstract provided.


Effects Of Feed Solution Characteristics On The Rejection Of N-Nitrosamines By Reverse Osmosis Membranes, Takahiro Fujioka, Long Nghiem, Stuart Khan, James Mcdonald, Yvan Poussade, Jorg Drewes Dec 2012

Effects Of Feed Solution Characteristics On The Rejection Of N-Nitrosamines By Reverse Osmosis Membranes, Takahiro Fujioka, Long Nghiem, Stuart Khan, James Mcdonald, Yvan Poussade, Jorg Drewes

Long D Nghiem

The rejection of eight N-nitrosamines was investigated in this laboratory-scale study, focusing on the influence of feed solution characteristics on their separation by low pressure reverse osmosis membranes. The rejection mechanisms of N-nitrosamines were first examined using one nanofiltration (NF90) and two reverse osmosis (TFC-HR and SWC5) membranes. The TFC-HR membrane was used to investigate the effects of feed solution characteristics. The rejection of a particular N-nitrosamine was generally membrane dependent and increased in the order of NF (NF90), low pressure RO (TFC-HR) and seawater RO (SWC5) membranes. In general, the rejection of N-nitrosamines by a given membrane also increased …


Long-Term Performance Of A Permeable Reactive Barrier In Acid Sulphate Soil Terrain, Gyanendra Regmi, Buddhima Indraratna, Long Nghiem Dec 2012

Long-Term Performance Of A Permeable Reactive Barrier In Acid Sulphate Soil Terrain, Gyanendra Regmi, Buddhima Indraratna, Long Nghiem

Long D Nghiem

Deep drainage technique utilised for flood mitigation in low-land coastal areas of Australia during the late 1960s has resulted in the generation of sulphuric acid in soil by the oxidation of pyritic materials. Further degradation of the subsurface environment with widespread contamination of the underlying soil and groundwater presents a major and challenging environmental issue in acid sulphate soil (ASS) terrains. Although several ASS remediation techniques recently implemented in the floodplain of Southeast Australia including operation of gates, tidal buffering and lime injections could significantly control the pyrite oxidation, they could not improve the long-term water quality. More recently, permeable …


Greywater Recycling By Direct Ultrafiltration: Understanding Fouling, Long Nghiem, Nadine Oschmann, Andrea Schaefer Dec 2012

Greywater Recycling By Direct Ultrafiltration: Understanding Fouling, Long Nghiem, Nadine Oschmann, Andrea Schaefer

Long D Nghiem

Greywater is no doubt a valuable resource that can be used to alleviate water shortage and increase water conservation in individual households. It is particularly important for arid and semiarid regions like Australia. Treated greywater can also be used for many activities within the household such as toilet flushing, garden watering, car washing, or pavement cleansing. This study examines the fouling behaviour of submerged ultrafiltration membranes in greywater recycling under concentration variation of common greywater constituents. The results indicate that the use of ultrafiltration directly for greywater recycling in individual households is promising. As expected, increase in particulate matter concentration …


Roadside Rest Area Wastewater Treatment System: Performance Evaluation And Improvement, Adam Kiss, Faisal Hai, Long Nghiem Dec 2012

Roadside Rest Area Wastewater Treatment System: Performance Evaluation And Improvement, Adam Kiss, Faisal Hai, Long Nghiem

Long D Nghiem

The performance of a decentralised sewage treatment plant located at a rest area servicing a major freeway was investigated. Long term monitoring and rigorous analyses undertaken in this study revealed several unique and challenging issues associated with such scarcely studied systems. Data collected over a six month period showed that the raw wastewater strength was well above typical household wastewater characteristics, with the average BOD5, COD, TOC, TN and TP values of 880, 4900, 350, 238 and 8 mg/L, respectively. The system performance was considerably lower than that expected of a typical wastewater treatment unit. Several shortcomings in …


Influence Of Feed Water Chemistry On The Removal Of Ionisable And Neutral Trace Organics By A Loose Nanofiltration Membrane, Long Nghiem Dec 2012

Influence Of Feed Water Chemistry On The Removal Of Ionisable And Neutral Trace Organics By A Loose Nanofiltration Membrane, Long Nghiem

Long D Nghiem

This study examined the effects of feed water chemistry and membrane fouling on the rejection of trace organics by a loose nanofiltration membrane. One ionisable and one non-ionisable trace organics were selected for investigation. Results reported here indicate that the solution pH and ionic strength can markedly influence the removal of the ionisable trace organic compound sulfamethoxazole. These observations were explained by electrostatic interactions between the solutes and the membrane surface and by the speciation of the ionisable compound. On the other hand, no appreciable effects of solution pH and ionic strength on the rejection of the neutral compound carbamazepine …


Removal Of Trace Organic Contaminants By Submerged Membrane Bioreactors, Long Nghiem, Nichanan Tadkaew, Muttucumaru Sivakumar Dec 2012

Removal Of Trace Organic Contaminants By Submerged Membrane Bioreactors, Long Nghiem, Nichanan Tadkaew, Muttucumaru Sivakumar

Long D Nghiem

Laboratory scale experiments were conducted to investigate the removal mechanisms of trace organic contaminants using a submerged MBR system. The system was equipped with a Zeenon ZW-1 membrane module. Bisphenol A (BPA) and sulfamethoxazole were selected as model trace organics for the EDCs and PhACs, respectively. Results obtained from this study demonstrate an excellent performance of MBRs regarding basic water quality parameters such as turbidity, TOC and TN. However, removal efficiency of specific trace organic contaminants was found strongly dependent on their physicochemical properties. Approximately 90% removal of BPA was recorded, while under the same condition, the removal efficiency of …


Effects Of Membrane Fouling On The Nanofiltration Of Pharmaceutically Active Com#163s (Phacs): Mechanisms And Role Of Membrane Pore Size, Long Nghiem, Simon Hawkes Dec 2012

Effects Of Membrane Fouling On The Nanofiltration Of Pharmaceutically Active Com#163s (Phacs): Mechanisms And Role Of Membrane Pore Size, Long Nghiem, Simon Hawkes

Long D Nghiem

The influence of membrane fouling on the retention of pharmaceutically active com#163s (PhACs) by three nanofiltration membranes wasinvestigated in this study. Membrane fouling was achieved with a foulant cocktail containing model organic foulant in a background electrolytesolution. The effects of membrane fouling on the separation processwas delineated by comparing the retention values of clean and fouled membranesand relate them to the membrane properties as well as physicochemical characteristics of the PhACs. Fouling was more severe for the larger poresize TFC-SR2 and NF 270 membranes as compared to the smaller pore size NF 90 membrane. More importantly, the influence of membranefouling …


Geo-Environmental Approaches For The Remediation Of Acid Sulphate Soil In Low-Lying Floodplains, Buddhima Indraratna, Gyanendra Regmi, Long Nghiem, Alexandra N. Golab Dec 2012

Geo-Environmental Approaches For The Remediation Of Acid Sulphate Soil In Low-Lying Floodplains, Buddhima Indraratna, Gyanendra Regmi, Long Nghiem, Alexandra N. Golab

Long D Nghiem

Acidity generated from the oxidation of pyrite and other sulphidic compounds that exist at shallow depths in acid sulphate soils (ASS) presents a challenging environmental problem in coastal Australia. The generated acidic groundwater can adversely impact coastal ecosystems, aquaculture and agriculture. Groundwater manipulation using weirs and modified floodgates in creeks and flood mitigation drains in ASS-affected farmland, which has been practiced for over a decade for preventing pyrite oxidation, is not effective in low-lying floodplains due to the high risk of flooding. In this paper, the authors present an overview of their experience in coastal Australia, a critical evaluation of …


Removal Of Trace Organic Contaminants By A Membrane Bioreactor-Granular Activated Carbon (Mbr -Gac) System, Luong N. Nguyen, Faisal I. Hai, Jinguo Kang, William E. Price, Long Nghiem Dec 2012

Removal Of Trace Organic Contaminants By A Membrane Bioreactor-Granular Activated Carbon (Mbr -Gac) System, Luong N. Nguyen, Faisal I. Hai, Jinguo Kang, William E. Price, Long Nghiem

Long D Nghiem

The removal of trace organics by a membrane bioreactor–granular activated carbon (MBR–GAC) integrated system were investigated. The results confirmed that MBR treatment can be effective for the removal of hydrophobic (logD > 3.2) and readily biodegradable trace organics. The data also highlighted the limitation of MBR in removing hydrophilic and persistent compounds (e.g. carbamazepine, diclofenac, and fenoprop) and that GAC could complement MBR very well as a post-treatment process. The MBR– GAC system showed high removal of all selected trace organics including those that are hydrophilic and persistent to biological degradation at up to 406 bed volumes (BV). However, over an …


Implications Of Membrane Fouling Toward The Removal Of The Pharmaceutical Sulfamethoxazole By Nanofiltration Processes, Alexander Simon, William Price, Long Nghiem Dec 2012

Implications Of Membrane Fouling Toward The Removal Of The Pharmaceutical Sulfamethoxazole By Nanofiltration Processes, Alexander Simon, William Price, Long Nghiem

Long D Nghiem

The influence of membrane fouling on the retention of the trace organic contaminant sulfamethoxazole by a nanofiltration (NF) process was investigated. Organic fouling caused a severe flux decline possibly due to pore blocking and adsorption directly after the commencement of the fouling layer development. Such membrane-foulant interactions were absent for colloidal fouling, which resulted in a more gradual flux decline. Membrane charge played a significant role in the separation process of inorganic salts, where the retention was the highest in a caustic environment (high pH) due to more swollen membrane material caused by the higher negative charge on the membrane. …


Effects Of Membrane Fouling On N-Nitrosamine Rejection By Nanofiltration And Reverse Osmosis Membranes, Takahiro Fujioka, Stuart J. Khan, James A. Mcdonald, Rita K. Henderson, Yvan Poussade, Jorg E. Drewes, Long Nghiem Dec 2012

Effects Of Membrane Fouling On N-Nitrosamine Rejection By Nanofiltration And Reverse Osmosis Membranes, Takahiro Fujioka, Stuart J. Khan, James A. Mcdonald, Rita K. Henderson, Yvan Poussade, Jorg E. Drewes, Long Nghiem

Long D Nghiem

The impact of fouling on N-nitrosamine rejection by nanofiltration (NF) and reverse osmosis (RO) membranes was investigated in this study. Membrane fouling was simulated using tertiary treated effluent and several model fouling solutions (that contained sodium alginate, bovine serum albumin, humic acid or colloidal silica) to elucidate the changes in rejection behaviour of N-nitrosamines. In general, the rejection of N-nitrosamines increased when the membranes were fouled by tertiary effluent. The rejection of small molecular weight N-nitrosamines was most affected by membrane fouling. In particular, the rejection of N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA) by the ESPA2 membrane increased from 34 to 73% after membrane …


A Neural Network Approach To Predict The Performance Of Recycled Concrete Used In Permeable Reactive Barriers For The Treatment Of Acidic Groundwater, B Guruprasad, Buddhima Indraratna, Long Nghiem, G Regmi Dec 2012

A Neural Network Approach To Predict The Performance Of Recycled Concrete Used In Permeable Reactive Barriers For The Treatment Of Acidic Groundwater, B Guruprasad, Buddhima Indraratna, Long Nghiem, G Regmi

Long D Nghiem

This study developed a neural network model for examining the performance of recycled concrete for the treatment of acidic groundwater. Concentrations of Al, Fe and Ca and alkalinity of the effluent were selected as the output parameters to simulate the performance of recycled concrete for neutralizing acidic groundwater. The input variables were the number of pore volumes, pH, oxidation reduction potential and the average hydraulic conductivity. Of the 658 experimental datasets available, 409 datasets were used for training, 184 datasets were used for validation, and the remaining datasets were used for cross-validation. The reported results indicate that the neural model …


Aqueous Cleaning Of Manufactured Parts/Components: Establishing The Role Of Solution Quality, Liam Pettigrew, Long Nghiem Dec 2012

Aqueous Cleaning Of Manufactured Parts/Components: Establishing The Role Of Solution Quality, Liam Pettigrew, Long Nghiem

Long D Nghiem

Parts cleaning has gradually replaced solvent based cleaning during the manufacturing of parts and in maintenance workshop as a much more sustainable and cost benefit technology. In this study, the performance of aqueous parts cleaning was evaluated using two industrial parts cleaning systems. One system was equipped with a microfilter and oil skimmer to prolong the cleaning solution lifetime and the other was a generic parts cleaning system, which was not equipped with any contaminant control devices. It appears that aqueous parts cleaning could offer a high degree of cleanliness suitable for most typical maintenance workshops. However, the cleaning equipment …


Metallic Ion Extraction Using Polymer Inclusion Membranes (Pims): Optimising Physical Strength And Extraction Rate, Chris Lukey, Long Nghiem, Joel Peterson, Alex Upitis Dec 2012

Metallic Ion Extraction Using Polymer Inclusion Membranes (Pims): Optimising Physical Strength And Extraction Rate, Chris Lukey, Long Nghiem, Joel Peterson, Alex Upitis

Long D Nghiem

This study investigated both extraction performance and physical properties of a novel type of facilitated transport membrane known as polymer inclusion membrane (PIM). Five different types of poly(vinyl chloride) representing a wide range of viscosity and average molecular weights were used as the base polymer and Aliquat 336 was used as the carrier. Physical properties including membrane hydrophobicity and tensile strength were measured and systematically correlated against the fraction of PVC and Aliquat 336 in the PIMs. Selective extraction between Cd(II) and Cu(II) of the membranes from aqueous solution was then investigated. Results reported in this study indicate that tensile …


Fouling Autopsy Of Hollow-Fibre Mf Membranes In Wastewater Reclamation, Long Nghiem, Andrea Schafer Dec 2012

Fouling Autopsy Of Hollow-Fibre Mf Membranes In Wastewater Reclamation, Long Nghiem, Andrea Schafer

Long D Nghiem

No abstract provided.


Extraction And Transport Of Metal Ions And Small Organic Com#163s Using Polymer Inclusion Membranes (Pims), Long Nghiem, Patrick Mornane, Ian Potter, Jilska Perera, Robert Cattral, Spas Kolev Dec 2012

Extraction And Transport Of Metal Ions And Small Organic Com#163s Using Polymer Inclusion Membranes (Pims), Long Nghiem, Patrick Mornane, Ian Potter, Jilska Perera, Robert Cattral, Spas Kolev

Long D Nghiem

The stability of polymer inclusion membranes (PIMs) relative to other liquid membranes is amongst the major reasons for the recent rejuvenation of interest in carrier-mediated transport for selective separation and recovery of metal ions as well as numerous organic solutes. This is reflected by an increasing number of PIM investigations reported in the literature over the last two decades. Given the outstanding performance of PIMs compared to other types of liquid membranes particularly in terms of membrane lifetime, it has been predicted that practical industrial applications of PIMs will be realized in the near future. This review provides a comprehensive …


Comparison Of The Removal Of Hydrophobic Trace Organic Contaminants By Forward Osmosis And Reverse Osmosis, Ming Xie, Long D. Nghiem, William E. Price, Menachem Elimelech Dec 2012

Comparison Of The Removal Of Hydrophobic Trace Organic Contaminants By Forward Osmosis And Reverse Osmosis, Ming Xie, Long D. Nghiem, William E. Price, Menachem Elimelech

Long D Nghiem

We compared the rejection behaviours of three hydrophobic trace organic contaminants, bisphenol A, triclosan and diclofenac, in forward osmosis (FO) and reverse osmosis (RO). Using erythritol, xylose and glucose as inert reference organic solutes and the membrane pore transport model, the mean effective pore size of a commercial cellulose-based FO membrane was estimated to be 0.74 nm. When NaCl was used as the draw solute, at the same water permeate flux of 5.4 L/m2 h (or 1.5 mm/s), the adsorption of all three compounds to the membrane in the FO mode was consistently lower than that in the RO mode. …


Simultaneous Activated Carbon Adsorption Within A Membrane Bioreactor For An Enhanced Micropollutant Removal, Xueqing Li, Faisal I. Hai, Long Nghiem Dec 2012

Simultaneous Activated Carbon Adsorption Within A Membrane Bioreactor For An Enhanced Micropollutant Removal, Xueqing Li, Faisal I. Hai, Long Nghiem

Long D Nghiem

Significant adsorption of sulfamethoxazole and carbamazepine to powdered activated carbon (PAC) was confirmed by a series of adsorption tests. In contrast, adsorption of these micropollutants to the sludge was negligible. The removal of these compounds in membrane bioreactor (MBR) was dependent on their hydrophobicity and loading as well as the PAC dosage. Sulfamethoxazole exhibited better removal rate during operation under no or low (0.1 g/L) PAC dosage. When the PAC concentration in MBR was raised to 1.0 g/L, a sustainable and significantly improved performance in the removal of both compounds was observed – the removal efficiencies of sulfamethoxazole and carbamazepine …


Pesticide Removal By A Mixed Culture Of Bacteria And White-Rot Fungi, Faisal I. Hai, Oska Modin, Kazuo Yamamoto, Kensuke Fukushi, Fumiyuki Nakajiam, Long Nghiem Dec 2012

Pesticide Removal By A Mixed Culture Of Bacteria And White-Rot Fungi, Faisal I. Hai, Oska Modin, Kazuo Yamamoto, Kensuke Fukushi, Fumiyuki Nakajiam, Long Nghiem

Long D Nghiem

Combining activated sludge cultures with microbes harboring specific degradation pathways could constitute a relevant process for the removal of toxic and recalcitrant organic substances from wastewater. Enhanced removal of three widely used recalcitrant pesticides from their liquid mixture was demonstrated by implementing a non-acclimated mixed culture of bacteria and white-rot fungus. During an incubation period of 14 days, the mixed fungus–bacteria culture achieved 47, 98, and 62% removal of aldicarb, atrazine and alachlor from the liquid phase, respectively. This compared favorably to batches containing only non-acclimated fungus or previously published removal rates with nonacclimated bacterial cultures. Biosorption along with biodegradation …