Chemical Cleaning and Membrane Aging in MBR for Textile Wastewater Treatment

Membrane bioreactors have been widely used in textile wastewater treatment. Intensive chemical cleaning is indispensable in the MBR for textile wastewater treatment due to the severe membrane fouling implied. This work investigated the aging of three different membranes, polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), polyether sulfone (PES), and polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), in the MBRs for textile wastewater treatment. Pilot-scale MBRs were operated and the used membrane was characterized. Batch chemical soaking tests were conducted to elucidate the aging properties of the membranes. The results indicated that the PVDF membrane was most liable to the chemical cleaning, and the PES and PTFE membranes were rather stable. The surface hydrophobicity of the PVDF increased in the acid aging test, and the pore size and pure water flux decreased due to the elevated hydrophobic effect; alkaline oxide aging destructed the structure of the PVDF membrane, enlarged pore size, and increased pure water flux. Chemical cleaning only altered the interfacial properties (hydrophobicity and surface zeta potential) of the PES and PTFE membranes. The fluoro-substitution and the dehydrofluorination of the PVDF, chain scission of the PES molecules, and dehydrofluorination of the PTFE were observed in aging. A chemically stable and anti-aging membrane would be of great importance in the MBR for textile wastewater treatment due to the intensive chemical cleaning applied.