Effect of biosurfactant as a novel draw solution on photocatalytic treatment and desalination of produced water by different forward osmosis membranes

Abstract

Water stress and environmental concerns have driven research into the treatment of produced water. In this study, a combination of forward osmosis and photocatalyst system was used for simultaneous salt removal and treatment of produced water. Furthermore, biosurfactant as a novel draw solution and the three types of forward osmosis membranes (cellulose triacetate with and without titanium dioxide (TiO2) and graphene oxide (GO) nanoparticles) were investigated. The morphology and distribution of the TiO2 and TiO2/GO on the membrane surface were assessed by various analyses including field emission scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray and contact angle analysis. The results demonstrated that the reverse salt flux was only 0.2 g/m2 h. Moreover, benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene (BTEX) removal efficiency in the cellulose triacetate with TiO2 and TiO2/GO membrane under UVC radiation was 62% and 78%, respectively, while the data obtained in visible light reached 80%. The use of TiO2 and TiO2/GO membranes significantly improved the permeability, water flux, photocatalytic degradation of pollutants and desalination of produced water.

Insights into Biodegradable Polymer-Supported Titanium Dioxide Photocatalysts for Environmental Remediation

“…Another study utilizing the same technique but the triacetate derivative of cellulose as polymer matrix, was conducted by Taghizadeh et al [28]. Concerning this work, TiO 2 and TiO 2 /GO were deposited at the surface of the polymeric membranes enhancing though the hydrophilicity of the composite materials, destined for forward osmosis procedure.…”

“…The majority of studies investigated the removal of dyes such as MB, RhB, MO, crystal violet, reactive brilliant red K-2BR and cationic red X-GRL. Their degradation was more than 90% in most of the cases and the experiments were carried out under UV light, sunlight, and visible light while the irradiation time ranged from 10 to 180 min [4,9,10,[26][27][28][29][30][31][32]. Furthermore, other organic pollutants were explored with worth noticing results.…”

“…Furthermore, other organic pollutants were explored with worth noticing results. Phenol, benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene were studied under UV and visible light irradiation, while their degradation efficiency ranged between 70% and 90% [28], [27] after 180-360 min of treatment. Moreover, other toxic pollutants were examined such as stearic acid, Cr(VI), and cyanotoxins microcystin-LR or cylindrospermopsin with remarkable photocatalytic results [9,10,30].…”

“…Maryam Taghizadeh et al investigated the photocatalytic activity of two types of membranes, cellulose triacetate with TiO 2 (CT), and cellulose triacetate with TiO 2 and GO (CTG). The results revealed that the photocatalytic activity of GTC was superior under UV illumination since the synergetic effect of TiO 2 and GO reduced the band gap energy of semiconductors [28]. In another notable study, different structures of photocatalytic materials were used including 2D P25 thin-films cellulose acetate monoliths (P25-CAM), TiO 2 thin-films cellulose acetate monoliths (TiO 2 -CAM), and PET-monoliths TiO 2 loaded exterior paints (PETM).…”

Applying response surface methodology on the results of serial sequencing batch moving bed reactor

“…Previously, physical, chemical and biological processes have been used for treatment of wastewaters. Numerous studies have been conducted on the hospital wastewater treatment [4,11,25,27,28,35,51,52]. Using of nano materials and studying about nanofluids are new research interests in environmental engineering [37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44][47][48][49].…”