Commercial
nanofiltration (NF) membranes have been used to separate
dyes and salts in industry; however, NF membrane’s high rejection
to divalent salts (i.e., Na2SO4) leads to a
reduction of salt recovery. In this study, a tight ultrafiltration
(t-UF) ceramic membrane (MWCO 8800 Da) is proposed to fractionate
dyes and mixed salts (NaCl/Na2SO4) for textile
wastewater treatment. Performance of the t-UF ceramic membrane and
DK polymeric membrane (from GE) has been compared regarding to permeability,
retention of reactive dyes, and permeation of salts. The t-UF ceramic
membrane presents better permeability, competitive rejection of dye
molecules (>98%), and reduced rejection of NaCl (<10%) and Na2SO4 (<30%) in comparison with DK membrane; the
pure water permeability of t-UF membrane is at least 6 times that
of DK membrane. In particular, the operation parameters (TMP, temperature,
and pH) and solution environment (concentration and charges) have
been intensively evaluated for dye/dual-salts separation efficiency
in the membrane process. It also reveals that the t-UF ceramic membrane
has performed negative rejection to chloride ions at low operating
pressure in the dye and NaCl/Na2SO4 solution
due to the electrostatic Donnan effect. Concentration of salt, valence
of inorganic ions, and charge of dyes are found as having a significant
effect on membrane separation performance. In conclusion, the strong
retention of dyes and free permeation of salts (i.e., low retention)
by the t-UF ceramic membrane proves that it can be applied to desalinate
dyeing wastewater of high salinity and recover dyes and salts separately.