Reclamation of Aqueous Solution Synthetically Polluted With Endocrine Disturbing Chemicals by Commercial NF Membrane

The target of this study is the removal of Di butyl phthalate, Bisphenol - A and Paracetamol as endocrine disrupting chemicals from aqueous solution using NF99 as a commercial nanofiltration membrane at different operating parameters of pressures (10, 20 and 30 bar), pH (3-11) and different EDCs concentrations using % TOC removal as indicator for the efficiency of the understudied membrane. It was found that the % TOC rejection of Paracetamol was the highest (86 %) at pH 10. The endocrine disrupting chemicals rejection was detected to be increased with the increase of operating pressure till 20 bar. The impact of pH on % TOC removal of EDCs was altered depending on the pka of each compound. Moreover, the antifouling property of NF 99 membrane has been investigated by evaluating the membrane rejection and flux using humic acid as a common natural organic matter. The experimental design was estimated by MINITAB software and the results was analyzed by the factorial analysis which suggest that the pH is the most significant factor affecting the removal process.