Hydrophilic polypropylene microporous membrane for using in a membrane bioreactor system and optimization of preparation conditions by response surface methodology

Journal Title: Polyolefins Journal - Year 2018, Vol 5, Issue 2

Abstract

In this study, the response surface methodology (RSM) based on the central composite design (CCD) was used to optimize the preparation condition of polypropylene-grafted maleic anhydride (PP-g-MA) microporous membrane by thermally-induced phase separation (TIPS) method. A mixture of dibutyl phthalate (DBP) and dioctyl phthalate (DOP) was used as diluent. The effect of polymer composition and quenching bath temperature on the morphology and performance of the fabricated microporous membranes was investigated by using RSM. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to determine which variables and interactions between variables had a significant effect on our responses. The ANOVA revealed that the bath temperature was the most significant variable associated with porosity and pure water flux responses and the polymer concentration was the most significant variable associated with tensile response. The obtained results also showed that with increasing the polymer concentration and decreasing the quenching bath temperature, the membrane porosity and pure water flux decreased, whereas the membrane tensile increased. The regression equations were reasonably validated and used to predict and optimize the performance of PP-g-MA membranes within the limits of the variables. Finally, the maximum responses (flux of 115.6 L/m2h, porosity of 62% and tensile of 1.6 MPa) were obtained under the following conditions: polymer concentration of 28.5 wt% and temperature of 329 K. Further, comparison of laboratory-made and commercial membranes in a membrane bioreactor (MBR) system showed that the rate of membrane fouling was decreased by 4.2 times.

Authors and Affiliations

Hossein Hazrati, Nader Jahanbakhshi, Mohammad Rostamizadeh

Keywords

Related Articles

Selective production of light olefins from methanol over desilicated highly siliceous ZSM-5 nanocatalysts

Highly siliceous ZSM-5 nanocatalysts can dehydrate methanol to a wide range of hydrocarbons. In this study, the development of hierarchical H-ZSM-5 nanocatalysts (Si/Al=200) were reported for the methanol-toolefins (MTO)...

Embedding neat and carboxylated nanodiamonds into polypropylene membranes to enhance antifouling properties

The aim of the present work is to enhance the antifouling properties of polypropylene (PP) membrane based on hydrophilicity improvement. Different contents of neat and modifed nanodiamond (0.25, 0.50, 0.75 and 1.00 wt.%)...

Electrical and electromagnetic properties of isolated carbon nanotubes and carbon nanotube-based composites

solated carbon nanotubes (CNTs), CNT films and CNT-polymer nanocomposites are a new generation of materials with outstanding mechanical, thermal, electrical and electromagnetic properties. The main objective of this arti...

Electrical properties of UHMWPE/graphite nanoplates composites obtained by in-situ polymerization method

There are described nanocomposites based on ultra high molecular weight polyethylene and graphite nanoplates prepared by in-situ polymerization method. It is carried out a comprehensive study of electric properties of th...

Reaction dynamics during the testing of polymerization catalyst

The olefins polymerization process in a slurry reactor is discussed. The reaction rate dynamics was analyzed and the contributions of feed flow, gas-liquid mass transfer, polymerization reaction, and catalyst deactivatio...

Download PDF file
  • EP ID EP312074
  • DOI 10.22063/poj.2017.1945.1104
  • Views 111
  • Downloads 0

How To Cite

Hossein Hazrati, Nader Jahanbakhshi, Mohammad Rostamizadeh (2018). Hydrophilic polypropylene microporous membrane for using in a membrane bioreactor system and optimization of preparation conditions by response surface methodology. Polyolefins Journal, 5(2), 97-109. https://europub.co.uk/articles/-A-312074