Nanofiltration and reverse osmosis are investigated as a possible alternative to the conventional methods of Cr(VI) removal from model water and industrial effluent. The influences of feed concentration, water recovery, pH, and the coexisting anions were studied. The results have shown that retention rates of hexavalent chromium can reach 99.7% using nanofiltration membrane (NF-HL) and vary from 85 to 99.9% using reverse osmosis membrane (RO-SG) depending upon the composition of the solution and operating conditions. This work was also extended to investigate the separation of Cr(VI) from car shock absorber factory effluent. The use of these membranes is very promising for Cr(VI) water treatment and desalting industry effluent. Spiegler-Kedem model was applied to experimental results in the aim to determine phenomenological parameters, the reflection coefficient of the membrane (σ), and the solute permeability coefficient (Ps). The convective and diffusive parts of the mass transfer were quantified with predominance of the diffusive contribution.

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Ultrafiltration (UF) is investigated as a possible alternative to remove organic compounds from aqueous synthetic solution. This paper presents a comprehensive study towards a better understanding of phenolic compound retention mechanisms during UF processes. Thus, removal of phenol and resorcinol was studied using a polyethersulfone ultrafiltration (PES-UF) membrane. The influence of main operating conditions (feed concentration, transmembrane pressure, and pH) on the retention was evaluated. Membrane-solute interactions were found to play an important role during the process, suggesting the adsorption of the target compounds on the PES-UF membrane. The level of adsorption was consequently evaluated by measuring the quantity of each compound per surface unit of membrane. According to the kinetic study, the pseudo-first order model was found to fit better the experimental values. The adsorption equilibrium data fit the Langmuir model. In addition, the adsorption mechanism was evaluated by the intraparticle diffusion model and appeared to be a complex mechanism.

Natural organic matter (NOM) is a major water constituent that affects the performance of water treatment processes. Several studies have shown that NOM can be adsorbed on the surface of oxides and may compete with other ions. The overall goal of this study was essentially to investigate the competitive adsorption between fluoride and NOM on activated alumina (AA). For this purpose, a humic acid (HA) was used as a model compound for NOM. The interaction of NOM with fluoride, the simultaneous competitive adsorption, and the effect of preloading AA with NOM were investigated. The specific absorbance of HA was determined at 254 nm. Size-exclusion chromatography measurements confirmed the adsorption of aromatic fractions of NOM onto AA. The presence of HA in the system inhibited fluoride sorption onto AA and the removal yield using fresh AA decreased from 70.4 % to 51.0 % in the presence of HA. The decrease was more pronounced using AA preloaded with HA, reaching 37.7 %. The interference of coexisting ions and their effect on fluoride removal capacity were evaluated, showing a severe impact of the presence of phosphate on the removal capacity unlike nitrates and sulfates, which slightly improved the fluoride sorption.