Modeling of arsenic, chromium and cadmium removal by nanofiltration process using genetic programming

In this paper, genetic programming (GP) as a novel approach for the explicit formulation of nanofiltration (NF) process performance is presented. The objective of this study is to develop robust models based on experimental data for prediction the membrane rejection of arsenic, chromium and cadmium ions in a NF pilot-scale system using GP. Feed concentration and transmembrane pressure were considered as input parameters of the models. The ions rejection is considered as output parameter of the models. Some statistical parameters were considered and calculated in order to investigate the reliability of each model. The results showed quite satisfactory accuracies of the proposed models based on GP. The results also nominated GP as a potential tool for identifying the behavior of a NF system. (C) 2011 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.