Overview of Working Principle
Ultrafiltration equipment operates based on the principle of membrane separation. Its core component, ultrafiltration membrane, has a microporous structure with specific pore sizes. Hollow fiber membranes or flat membranes are more common, and the pore size range of the membrane is generally between 0.001-0.1 μ m. When the liquid to be processed passes through the ultrafiltration membrane, particles, colloids, bacteria, viruses, and large organic molecules larger than the membrane pore size are intercepted on the membrane surface based on the sieving effect, while water molecules and some small molecular substances pass through the membrane, thereby achieving purification, separation, and concentration of the liquid. For example, in water treatment, suspended solids, microorganisms, and other impurities in the water are blocked by ultrafiltration membranes, producing relatively pure water. The entire process does not require the addition of chemical agents and belongs to a physical separation process, avoiding the generation of secondary pollution.
Application of ultrafiltration equipment in the drinking water treatment industry
In the field of drinking water treatment, ultrafiltration equipment plays a crucial role. With the continuous improvement of people's requirements for drinking water quality, traditional water treatment processes are unable to meet increasingly stringent standards, and ultrafiltration equipment has emerged.
Ultrafiltration equipment can efficiently remove microorganisms from raw water, including common bacteria such as Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus, as well as protozoa such as Giardia and Cryptosporidium. It can also effectively intercept viruses such as common enteroviruses. Its removal rate of microorganisms can usually reach over 99%, greatly ensuring the microbial safety of drinking water. At the same time, ultrafiltration equipment can remove colloids, large organic molecules, and suspended particles from water, effectively reducing the turbidity of water. Generally, it can reduce the turbidity of raw water from tens of NTU to below 1NTU, making the water more clear and transparent, and improving the sensory quality of drinking water.
Compared to traditional coagulation, sedimentation, filtration, and disinfection processes, ultrafiltration equipment has significant advantages. In traditional processes, the coagulation and sedimentation process requires the addition of a large amount of chemical agents, which not only increases costs but may also have potential impacts on water quality due to residual chemicals; The ultrafiltration equipment is purely physical filtration, without the need to add chemical agents, reducing the risk of secondary pollution caused by chemical agents. In terms of energy consumption, ultrafiltration equipment operates at low pressures, generally between 0.1-0.3 MPa. Compared to high-pressure membrane technologies such as reverse osmosis, it significantly reduces energy consumption and has a significant energy-saving effect. Taking a water plant that processes 10000 tons of drinking water per day as an example, using ultrafiltration equipment can save hundreds of thousands of yuan in electricity costs annually compared to traditional processes. And the ultrafiltration equipment has a small footprint, modular design makes it easy to install, debug and maintain, and can flexibly adjust the equipment scale according to actual water demand. It is suitable for both large urban water supply plants and small community water supply stations.
Application in industrial wastewater treatment industry
Oil containing wastewater treatment
The oil in oily wastewater exists as micrometer sized oil droplets and often contains surfactants and organic matter. Traditional gravity separation and coarsening methods are difficult to effectively treat. The ultrafiltration equipment uses special materials for ultrafiltration membranes, which can allow water and low molecular weight organic matter to pass through the membrane, while intercepting oil droplets and high molecular weight organic matter, achieving oil-water separation, and removing chemical oxygen demand (COD) and biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) from wastewater. For example, in the treatment of oily wastewater in industries such as petrochemicals and mechanical processing, after being treated by ultrafiltration equipment, the oil content in the wastewater can be reduced from several hundred mg/L to below 10mg/L, and the COD removal rate can reach 60% -80%. The treated wastewater can meet the reuse standard, realizing the circular utilization of water resources, reducing the demand for fresh water resources, lowering the water cost of enterprises, and reducing environmental pollution.
Paper wastewater treatment
Papermaking wastewater contains a large amount of cellulose, lignin, fine fibers, colloids, and other organic matter, and the water quality is complex and the pollution load is high. Ultrafiltration equipment can effectively intercept suspended solids, colloids, and large organic molecules in papermaking wastewater, reducing the turbidity and COD of the wastewater. Combined with traditional coagulation sedimentation and biological treatment processes, ultrafiltration equipment can further improve the treatment efficiency of wastewater, enabling the treated wastewater to meet discharge or reuse standards. For example, in the wastewater treatment system of a paper mill, ultrafiltration equipment serves as a deep treatment unit, which can reduce the COD of the wastewater after secondary biological treatment from around 150mg/L to below 80mg/L, and the turbidity from 50NTU to below 5NTU. This meets the requirements of the papermaking process for the quality of recycled water, realizes the recycling of water resources, and reduces the pressure of wastewater discharge on the environment.
Treatment of heavy metal ion wastewater
In heavy metal ion wastewater generated in industries such as electronics and electroplating, ultrafiltration equipment can be used in conjunction with specific chelating agents to trap heavy metal ions in the form of complexes. For example, in electroplating wastewater, a suitable chelating agent is first added to form macromolecular complexes with heavy metal ions such as copper, nickel, and chromium, and then these complexes are intercepted by ultrafiltration equipment to achieve the separation of heavy metal ions from water. After ultrafiltration treatment, the concentration of heavy metal ions in the wastewater can be significantly reduced, meeting the national discharge standards. At the same time, the intercepted heavy metal ion complexes can be further processed to recover the heavy metals and achieve resource recycling, which has significant environmental and economic benefits.
Summary and Prospect
Ultrafiltration equipment has been widely used in various industries such as drinking water treatment and industrial wastewater treatment due to its efficient separation performance, low energy consumption, pollution-free, and easy operation. It has achieved significant results and played an important role in improving product quality, ensuring production safety, conserving resources, and protecting the environment. With the continuous advancement of technology, the performance of ultrafiltration membrane materials and equipment will continue to improve, such as developing higher flux, more pollution resistant, and more selective ultrafiltration membrane materials, optimizing the structure and operating parameters of equipment, and further improving the separation efficiency and stability of ultrafiltration equipment. At the same time, ultrafiltration equipment will be combined with other advanced technologies such as nanotechnology and biotechnology to expand its applications in emerging fields, such as the preparation of biosensors and the research and development of biochips. It can be foreseen that in the future, ultrafiltration equipment will demonstrate its unique advantages in more industries, providing strong technical support for the sustainable development of various industries. While promoting economic development, it will also make greater contributions to protecting the ecological environment and achieving efficient utilization of resources.
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