Membrane-Based Technologies for Post-Combustion CO Capture from Flue Gases: Recent Progress in Commonly Employed Membrane Materials.

Carbon dioxide (CO), which results from fossil fuel combustion and industrial processes, accounts for a substantial part of the total anthropogenic greenhouse gases (GHGs). As a result, several carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) technologies have been developed during the last decade. Chemical absorption, adsorption, cryogenic separation and membrane separation are the most widely used post-combustion CO capture technologies.

Effect of Operating Conditions on Membrane Fouling in Pilot-Scale MBRs; Filaments Growth, Diminishing Dissolved Oxygen and Recirculation Rate of the Activated Sludge.

This is the first study that examines the effect of operating conditions on fouling of Membrane Bio-Reactors (MBRs), which treat municipal wastewater in field conditions, with specific regard to the controlled development of filamentous microorganisms (or filaments). The novelty of the present work is extended to minimize the dissolved oxygen (DO) in recirculated activated sludge for improving the process of denitrification. For this purpose, two pilot-scale MBRs were constructed and operated in parallel: i) Filament-MBR, where an attempt was made to regulate the growth of filaments by adjustment of DO, the Food-to-Microorganisms (F/M) ratio and temperature, and ii) Control-MBR, where a gentle stirring tank was employed for the purpose of zeroing the DO in the recycled sludge.

Fouling control in a lab-scale MBR system: Comparison of several commercially applied coagulants.

The Membrane bioreactors (MBRs) integrate the biological degradation of pollutants with membrane filtration-separation during wastewater treatment. Membrane fouling, which is considered as the main process drawback, stems from the interaction between the membrane material and the (organic or inorganic) foulants, leading to membrane's efficiency deterioration. It is widely recognized that the mixed liquor colloidal and Soluble Microbial Products (SMP) are in principal responsible for this undesirable situation.

Nanocrystalline Akaganeite as Adsorbent for Surfactant Removal from Aqueous Solutions.

The present study presents the effective use of nanocrystalline akaganeite for the adsorption of an anionic (SDS), a cationic (CTAB), and a nonionic (tween80) surfactant from wastewater. Equilibrium experiments, as well as thermodynamic analysis, were performed. The maximum SDS adsorption occurs at the lowest pH value (5), the opposite is observed for CTAB (pH = 11), while for tween80, the change of pH value did not affect the adsorption.

Iron-modified hydrotalcite-like materials as highly efficient phosphate sorbents.

Highly efficient sorbents for phosphate removal from aqueous solutions based on the calcined forms of Fe(III)-substituted Layered Double Hydroxides (LDH) materials have been developed in this study. Hydrotalcite-like materials with Mg/M(3+) approximately 3 (where M=Al(3+), Fe(3+) or combined) have been synthesized following simple co-precipitation method and were subsequently calcined in air at 450 degrees C. Both as-synthesized and calcined materials were characterized by means of X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectroscopy (ICP-AES), elemental (C) analysis, N(2) porosimetry, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM).