A Combined Forward Osmosis and Membrane Distillation System for Sidestream Treatment

Taqsim Husnain; Baoxia Mi; Rumana Riffat

doi:10.4236/jwarp.2015.714091

Home > Journals > Earth & Environmental Sciences > JWARP

Journal of Water Resource and Protection > Vol.7 No.14, September 2015

A Combined Forward Osmosis and Membrane Distillation System for Sidestream Treatment ()

Taqsim Husnain^1*, Baoxia Mi², Rumana Riffat¹

¹Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, George Washington University, Washington DC, USA.
²Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Maryland, Maryland, USA.

DOI: 10.4236/jwarp.2015.714091 PDF HTML XML 2,832 Downloads 3,724 Views Citations

Abstract

Separate treatment of high-nutrient sidestream is an efficient and cost effective way to decrease the loading on the main plant, resulting in lower effluent nutrient concentration. This study investigated the use of a combined forward osmosis-membrane distillation (FO-MD) system for the removal of nitrogen present in high concentration in sidestream from anaerobic digestion process. The combined system was able to achieve almost 100% rejection of solids and acetic acid, and more than 98% rejection of NH3-N from the sidestream. The high rejection of NH3-N was mainly achieved by the FO process. The solids in the feed solution contributed to fouling problem in both FO and MD, resulting in significant decline in flux. However, 76% or higher flux recovery was achieved for FO membrane by cleaning with tap water. We observed that flux recovery was due to removal of solids from the membrane surface by the cleaning process. FO membrane also demonstrated excellent performance for continuous operation when cleaned for 15 min in every 24 h interval. Overall, the combined FO-MD system was found to be an effective solution for treatment of nutrient rich sidestream.

Keywords

Forward Osmosis, Membrane Distillation, Sidestream Treatment, Nutrient Removal

Share and Cite:

Husnain, T. , Mi, B. and Riffat, R. (2015) A Combined Forward Osmosis and Membrane Distillation System for Sidestream Treatment. Journal of Water Resource and Protection, 7, 1111-1120. doi: 10.4236/jwarp.2015.714091.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

References

[1]	Katehis, D., Murthy, S., Wett, B., Locke, E. and Bailey, W. (2005) Nutrient Removal from Anaerobic Digester Side-Stream at the Blue Plains AWTP. Proceedings of the Water Environment Federation, WEFTEC, Dallas.
[2]	Bilyk, K., Taylor, R., Pitt, P. and Wankmuller, D. (2011) Process and Economic Benefits of Sidestream Treatment. Proceedings of the North Carolina AWWA-WEA Annual Conference, 1-11.
[3]	Solley, D. (2000) Upgrading of Large Wastewater Treatment Plant for Nutrient Removal. Churchill Fellowship 2000 Report, The Winston Churchill Memorial Trust of Australia.
[4]	Phillips, H.M., Kobylinski, E., Barnard, J. and Wallis-Lage, C. (2006) Nitrogen and Phosphorus-Rich Sidestreams: Managing the Nutrient Merry-Go-Round. Proceedings of the Water Environment Federation’s 79th Annual Technical and Educational Conference, Dallas. http://dx.doi.org/10.2175/193864706783763309
[5]	Mackinnon, I.D.R., Barr, K., Miller, E., Hunter, S. and Pinel, T. (2003) Nutrient Removal from Wastewaters Using High Performance Materials. Water Science and Technology, 47, 101-107.
[6]	Warakomski, A., van Kempen, R. and Kos, P. (2006) Microbiology/Biochemistry of the Nitrogen Cycle Innovative Process Applications. Proceedings of the International Water Association, New Brunswick.
[7]	Kotay, S.M., Mansell, B.L., Hogsett, M., Pei, H. and Goel, R. (2012) Anaerobic Ammonia Oxidation (ANAMMOX) for Side-Stream Treatment of Anaerobic Digester Filtrate Process Performance and Microbiology. Biotechnology and Bioengineering, 110, 1180-1192. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/bit.24767
[8]	Holloway, R.W., Childress, A.E., Dennett, K.E. and Cath, T.Y. (2007) Forward Osmosis for Concentration of Anaerobic Digester Centrate. Water Research, 41, 4005-4014. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2007.05.054
[9]	Nguyen, N.C., Chen, S.S., Yang, H.Y. and Hau, N.T. (2013) Application of Forward Osmosis on Dewatering of High Nutrient Sludge. Bioresource Technology, 132, 224-229. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2013.01.028
[10]	Zhang, J.F., She, Q.H., Chang, V.W.C., Tang, C.Y.Y. and Webster, R.D. (2014) Mining Nutrients (N, K, P) from Urban Source-Separated Urine by Forward Osmosis Dewatering. Environmental Science and Technology, 48, 3386-3394. http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/es405266d
[11]	Hue, N.T., Chen, S.S., Nguyen, N.C., Huang, K.Z., Ngo, H.H. and Guo, W.S. (2014) Exploration of EDTA Sodium Salt as Novel Draw Solution in Forward Osmosis Process for Dewatering of High Nutrient Sludge. Journal of Membrane Science, 455, 305-311. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.memsci.2013.12.068
[12]	National Water Commission (2008) Emerging Trends in Desalination: A Review. Waterlines Report Series No. 9, UNESCO, Canberra.
[13]	Husnain, T. (2014) Combined Forward Osmosis and Membrane Distillation System for Wastewater Treatment and Reuse. Ph.D. Dissertation, George Washington University, Washington DC.
[14]	Xie, M., Nghiem, L.D., Price, W.E. and Elimelech, M. (2014) Toward Resource Recovery from Wastewater: Extraction of Phosphorus from Digested Sludge Using a Hybrid Forward Osmosis-Membrane Distillation Process. Environmental Science and Technology Letters, 1, 191-195. http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/ez400189z
[15]	APHA (2012) Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater. 22nd Edition, American Public Health Association, Washington DC.
[16]	Metcalf and Eddy/EPA (1987) EPA Design Information Report: Sidestreams in Wastewater Treatment Plants. Journal of Water Pollution Control Federation, 59, 54-59.
[17]	Martinetti, C.R. (2008) Membrane Contactor Processes for Desalination of Brackish Water Reverse Osmosis Brines. Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Nevada, Reno.
[18]	Mi, B. and Elimelech, M. (2010) Organic Fouling of Forward Osmosis Membranes: Fouling Reversibility and Cleaning without Chemical Reagents. Journal of Membrane Science, 348, 337-345. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.memsci.2009.11.021