Removal of selected pharmaceuticals in an ultrafiltration-activated biochar hybrid system
In this study, selected target pharmaceuticals (PhACs) including ibuprofen (IBP), 17 α-ethinyl estradiol (EE2), and carbamazepine (CBM) were removed by an ultrafiltration-activated biochar hybrid system (UF-ABC). Based on characteristic analysis, ABC, a by-product of combustion of waste, is a promis...
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| Published in: | Journal of membrane science 2019-01, Vol.570-571, p.77-84 |
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | eng |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | Get full text |
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| Summary: | In this study, selected target pharmaceuticals (PhACs) including ibuprofen (IBP), 17 α-ethinyl estradiol (EE2), and carbamazepine (CBM) were removed by an ultrafiltration-activated biochar hybrid system (UF-ABC). Based on characteristic analysis, ABC, a by-product of combustion of waste, is a promising alternative to commercially available powdered activated carbon (PAC) due to its enhanced aromatization and porous properties. Three different systems, including UF only and UF-ABC with/without humic acid (HA) were evaluated. The average retention rate of target PhACs within the UF-ABC system (without HA: 45.2%, and with HA: 34.4%) was much higher than that of the UF only (15.4%), suggesting that hydrophobic adsorption by ABC was the dominant mechanism. In addition, although fouling is expected in UF-ABC due to the presence of ABC, the flux decline of UF-ABC showed similar flux behavior to that of the UF only system. The UF-ABC was compared to UF-PAC with respect to retention rate and permeate flux. The average retention rate for the target PhACs was slightly higher in UF-PAC (46.6%) than in UF-ABC (41.4%) for the target PhACs. However, UF-ABC was considered to be a good alternative system because the normalized flux of UF-ABC (0.85 and 0.77) was superior to UF-PAC (0.76 and 0.70) in the absence/presence of HA, respectively. Consequently, UF-ABC was shown to be a suitable alternative to UF-PAC with respect to both retention and fouling reduction.
•An ultrafiltration-activated biochar (UF-ABC) hybrid system was employed for pharmaceutical removal.•UF-ABC showed relatively low flux decline and high pharmaceutical retention trends.•UF-ABC may serve as a suitable alternative in terms of both retention capacity and fouling reduction. |
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| ISSN: | 0376-7388 1873-3123 |