Performance and fouling assessment of different membrane types in a hybrid photocatalytic membrane reactor (PMR) for palm oil mill secondary effluent (POMSE) treatment

This study attempted to treat POMSE via photocatalytic membrane reactor (PMR) using different types of commercial membranes (NF-TS 40, UF-UA 60, MF-PVDF, and MF-PES membranes). The results showed that nanofiltration membrane (NF-TS 40) demonstrated the best performance due to the greater photodegradation efficiency and less fouling propensity. The best PMR condition using NF-TS 40 membrane indicated the most effective performance with greater normalized flux (0.33) and higher removal percentage of colour (99.84%), chemical oxygen demand (COD) (99.97%), biological oxygen demand (BOD) (96.24%), and turbidity (99.89%). The severity of membrane fouling based on the membrane characterisation showed a declining trend when using NF membrane in terms of foulant layer and surface roughness. Thus, the finding from this study can be set as a benchmark of an effective polishing method to treat POMSE for water reclamation due to the mitigation of membrane fouling and better performance in producing a good quality permeate. (C) 2019 Institution of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.