Impact of fouling, cleaning and faecal contamination on the separation of water from urine using thermally driven membrane separation

F. Kamranvand, C. J. Davey, H. Sakar, O. Autin, E. Mercer, M. Collins, L. Williams, A. Kolios, A. Parker, S. Tyrrel, E. Cartmell, E. J. McAdam*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

20 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

In this study, membrane distillation is evaluated as a technology for non-sewered sanitation, using waste heat to enable separation of clean water from urine. Whilst membrane fouling was observed for urine, wetting was not evident and product water quality met the proposed discharge standard, despite concentration of the feed. Fouling was reversible using physical cleaning, which is similar to previous membrane studies operating without pressure as the driving force. High chemical oxygen demand reduction was achieved following faecal contamination, but mass transfer was impeded and wetting occurred which compromised permeate quality, suggesting upstream intervention is demanded to limit the extent of faecal contamination.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1372-1382
Number of pages11
JournalSeparation Science and Technology
Volume53
Issue number9
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 13 Jun 2018

Keywords

  • faecal
  • membrane distillation
  • source separation
  • vacuum
  • water quality

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