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. 2024 Jul 19;14(7):159.
doi: 10.3390/membranes14070159.

Cleaning of Ultrafiltration Membranes: Long-Term Treatment of Car Wash Wastewater as a Case Study

Wirginia Tomczak  1 , Piotr Woźniak  2 , Marek Gryta  2 , Joanna Grzechulska-Damszel  2 , Monika Daniluk  1
Affiliations

Cleaning of Ultrafiltration Membranes: Long-Term Treatment of Car Wash Wastewater as a Case Study

Wirginia Tomczak et al. Membranes (Basel). .

Abstract

Car wash wastewaters (CWWs) contain various pollutants with different contents. Hence, selecting an appropriate process for their treatment is a great challenge. Undoubtedly, the ultrafiltration (UF) process is one of the most interesting and reliable choices. Therefore, the main aim of the current study was to investigate the performance of the UF membranes used for the long-term treatment of real CWWs. For this purpose, two polyethersulfone (PES) membranes with molecular weight cut-off (MWCO) values equal to 10 and 100 kDa were applied. As expected, a significant decrease in the permeate flux during the UF run was observed. However, it was immediately demonstrated that the systematic cleaning of membranes (every day) with Insect agent (pH = 11.5) prevented a further decline in the process's performance. In addition, this study focused on the relative flux during the process run with breaks lasting a few days when the UF installation was filled with distilled water. The results of this research indicated that aqueous media favor microorganism adherence to the surface which leads to the formation of biofilms inside processing installations. As a consequence, many attempts have been made to restore the initial membrane performance. It has been found that the application of several chemical agents is required. More precisely, the use of an Insect solution, P3 Ultrasil 11 agent, and phosphoric acid increases the relative flux to a value of 0.8. Finally, it has been indicated that the membranes used in this work are resistant to the long-term exposure to bacteria and chemical agents. However, during the separation of CWWs for the membrane with an MWCO of 10 kDa, a lesser fouling influence and higher effectiveness of cleaning were obtained. Finally, the present study demonstrates a novel analysis and innovative implications towards applying the UF process for the CWW treatment.

Keywords: biofilm; car station; fouling; membrane cleaning; treatment; ultrafiltration; wastewater.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript; or in the decision to publish the results.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The number of publications according to Science Direct. Keywords: (a) car wash wastewater treatment; (b) membrane + car wash wastewater treatment. Data retrieved: 4 July 2024.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Changes in the relative permeate flux during separation of mixture (0.5% Turbo Active Green Foam + 0.2% Hydrowax). Maximum permeate flux: 360 L/m2h (UE10) and 900 L/m2h (UE50). R—membrane rinsing with distilled water.
Figure 3
Figure 3
SEM images of the membrane surface after separation of Turbo Active Green Foam + Hydrowax mixture (Figure 1): (a) membrane UE10; (b) membrane UE50. After the UF process, membranes were rinsed only with water.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Changes in the relative permeate flux during treatment of real car wash wastewater.
Figure 5
Figure 5
SEM images of the membrane surface after wastewater treatment: (a) membrane UE10; (b) membrane UE50.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Changes in the relative permeate flux during long-term treatment of real car wash wastewater with cyclical washing using 0.5% Insect solution (pH = 11.5). Water—permeate flux after module washing (feed–distilled water).
Figure 7
Figure 7
Effect of time break in the long-term UF process on the relative flux. B1—4-day break; B2—4-day break; B3—6-day break. Water—permeate flux after membrane washing with 0.5% Insect solution (30 min).
Figure 8
Figure 8
Results of intensified membrane cleaning. R1, R2—0.5% Insect 60 min. R3—0.5% P3 Ultrasil 11, 30 min. R4, R5—0.5% P3 Ultrasil 11, subsequently 0.5% phosphoric acid.
Figure 9
Figure 9
SEM images of the membrane surface after intensive membrane cleaning: (a) membrane UE10; (b) membrane UE50.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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