Effective and low-toxicity: A membrane cleaning method using peroxymonosulfate catalytic chlorination

Haoliang Xiao; Zhuqi Chen; Jiaqi Ding; Ning Zhang; Zhimin Ye; Zhonghua Xiao; Songlin Wang; Pengchao Xie; Yongsheng Chen

doi:10.1016/j.jhazmat.2023.132827

Effective and low-toxicity: A membrane cleaning method using peroxymonosulfate catalytic chlorination

J Hazard Mater. 2024 Jan 15:462:132827. doi: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2023.132827. Epub 2023 Oct 21.

Authors

Haoliang Xiao¹, Zhuqi Chen², Jiaqi Ding³, Ning Zhang¹, Zhimin Ye¹, Zhonghua Xiao⁴, Songlin Wang⁵, Pengchao Xie¹, Yongsheng Chen⁶

Affiliations

¹ School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Key Laboratory of Water & Wastewater Treatment (MOHURD), Hubei Provincial Engineering Research Center for Water Quality Safety and Pollution Control, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China.
² Key Laboratory of Material Chemistry for Energy Conversion and Storage, Ministry of Education, Hubei Key Laboratory of Material Chemistry and Service Failure, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China.
³ School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Key Laboratory of Water & Wastewater Treatment (MOHURD), Hubei Provincial Engineering Research Center for Water Quality Safety and Pollution Control, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China; Yangtze River Basin Ecological Environment Monitoring and Scientific Research Center, Yangtze River Basin Ecological Environment Supervision and Administration Bureau, Ministry of Ecological Environment, Wuhan 430010, China; School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA.
⁴ Hubei Industrial Construction Group Co., Ltd, Wuhan 430076, China.
⁵ School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Key Laboratory of Water & Wastewater Treatment (MOHURD), Hubei Provincial Engineering Research Center for Water Quality Safety and Pollution Control, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China. Electronic address: wangsonglin99@hust.edu.cn.
⁶ School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA.

PMID: 37879274
DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2023.132827

Abstract

In chemical membrane cleaning, the challenge is to efficiently remove irreversible fouling while minimizing the impact on membrane materials. Particularly, traditional hypochlorite cleaning will further lead to the generation of toxic halogenated by-products. To address these issues, a combined system composed of peroxymonosulfate and chloride (PMS/Cl^-) was applied to clean irreversible-humic-acid-fouled polyethersulfone (PES) membranes. After fouled membranes were soaked for 1 h in a PMS/Cl^- solution (10 mM/15 mM) at 25 °C under neutral conditions, 94% flux recovery and 96% resistance removal were realized. Surface properties of virgin and cleaned membranes were very similar, confirming the effectiveness of the PMS/Cl^- solution in removing irreversible foulants. The stability of membrane separation performance during multiple fouling and cleaning cycles further confirmed the minimal impact on membrane materials. Rapid diminution of the peaks centered in the region of fulvic-like and humic-like components, monitored under 3D-fluorescence for the cleaning solution, was attributed to PMS-catalyzed chlorination, thereby revealing the primary foulant detachment mechanism. Crucially, the approach exhibited lower toxicity than hypochlorite, as evidenced by reduced halogenated by-products and lower acute toxicity to Photobacterium phosphoreum T3. Overall, this novel cleaning system is promising for the efficient and environmentally friendly removal of irreversible organic foulants in practical water-treatment.

Keywords: Chemical cleaning; Chloride; Halogenated by-product; Humic acid; Irreversible membrane fouling; Peroxymonosulfate.