Abstract:The novel felt-metal supported PVA composite hydrophilic ultrafiltration membrane was used for the treatment of oil/water(O/W) emulsion. The effects of transmembrane pressure(TMP), cross flow velocity, feed concentration on membrane performance were investigated, and ultrasonic cleaning of the fouled membrane was also investigated. The results show the flux increases with the increase of cross-flow velocity and TMP within the given TMP range from 0.20 MPa to 0.40 MPa. With increase of initial oil concentration increases, the oil rejection increases while the permeate flux decreases. The composite membrane shows more than 90% oil rejection within the initial oil concentration range from 0.05% to 0.50% (mass fraction) at TMP of 0.30 MPa. The fouling of the composite membrane increases rapidly during the initial 20 min at given TMP range from 0.20 MPa to 0.40 MPa, and it increases slowly after 30 min. The results also show that ultrasound is very effective in removing oil fouling of the fouled membrane, and the properties of the composite ultrafiltration membrane can be completely recovered by 10 min of sonication.

Key words: ultrafiltration; concentration polarization; membrane fouling; emulsion; polyvinylalcohol