Project “Monitoring and removal of antibiotics from wastewater by membrane separation”
The leader of this project and research group from China – Prof. Lin Zhang
Prof. Lin Zhang is a Professor of Membrane science & technology for water purification in Zhejiang University.
The Chinese team is a consortium of two strong membrane research groups from Engineering Research Center of Membrane and Water Treatment Technology of Zhejiang University and Membrane Materials and Separation Technologies, Shanghai Advanced Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences (2MST@SARI). The team will focus on development of novel high permselective nanofiltration by interfacial polymerization (Zhejiang Univ) and lay-by-layer technologies (2MST@CAS). The target is to systematically control the pore size of the nanofiltration membranes so that the molecular cutoff of the membranes will be smaller than the antibiotics with high removal rate. Initial results showed promise for nearly 99% rejection to drugs. We aim at achieving high permeability to reduce the energy consumption of the process and achieve pilot scale module production.
Project “Development of membrane-based methods to improve the recovery of pure water and valuable products from the waste”
The project leader of research group from China – Tao He.
Dr. He is the director and professor of Membrane Materials and Separation Technology at SARI, Chinese Academy of Sciences.
The Chinese research group will focus on the development of thermal driven membrane process based on low-grade heat and the novel selective membrane extraction technology. Pre-concentrated brine is further concentrated to extract pure water to near saturation using membrane distillation (MD). Valuable products in the brine is then purified using membrane extraction (ME).
In MD, We will focus on understanding the fundamental of scaling/fouling at a hydrophobic/liquid/vapor interface. We would design superhydrophobic, omniophobic, hydrophilic/hydrophobic composite surfaces to be challenged in various water streams. High-value metal ions in concentrated brine, as Li, Sc, Co, and others, will be extracted using ME; In ME, no loss of organic extractant occurs. The focus will be development of acid/organic resistant membranes for extraction purpose.