Electrically enhanced membrane filtration of waste water

The effect of a constant DC electric field in cross-flow membrane filtration of industrial wastewaters was studied.The best results were achieved when filtering a sample with highly charged particles or colloids.In that case the limiting flow could be increased many-fold.The conductivity of the samples studied was over 500 µ-S/cm.At such high conductivities, electrochemical gas formation occurred on the electrodes.The flux enhancement decreased significantly when the carbon fibre - carbon composite membrane worked as an electrode and the gas was produced on the membrane.The problem did not exist when a non-conductive ceramic membrane was used and an electric field was applied across the membrane.However, the high conductivity caused high-energy consumption, which is a problem with the electrofiltration of real wastewater.