The removal of bisphenol A by hollow fiber microfiltration membrane

The removal of bisphenol A (BPA) from drinking water by hollow fiber microfiltration (MF) membrane using dead-end model was investigated. The experiment was focused on the effect of various factors including BPA initial concentration, pH, ionic strength and organic matter on removal efficiency. Adsorption plays a significant role in BPA removal in MF filtration. The results showed that MF could remove BPA effectively. A higher removal was obtained at the beginning of the filtration, and the removal efficiency decreased to around 20% when the membrane became saturated due to adsorption of BPA onto the MF membrane. As pH of solution approached to pKa (9.6-11.3) of BPA, BPA removal efficiency dropped significantly. The effect of ionic strength on BPA removal was negligible. The presence of natural organic matter (NOM) demonstrated no observable impact on BPA removal. After filtration, the backwash could recover removal efficiency effectively. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.