Membrane technology enhancement in oil – water separation. A review

Membrane separation processes have become an emerging technology for the treatment of oily wastewater due to high oil removal efficiency and relatively facile operational process. This review will highlight the recent development of advanced membrane technology such as surface modification, addition of inorganic particles in polymer membrane and the development of ceramic membranes. Additionally, the effect of operating parameters on the membrane performance is discussed in detail. Future outlooks in oil–water membrane separation are also discussed to further broaden the research and development related to this technology. © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Excess requirement of energy produced greater oily wastewater, which causes several effects on the environment. Membrane separation technology is one of the promising separation technologies in the treatment of oily wastewater. The necessity of water for living organisms increases the responsibility of the researcher to provide pure water as much as less cost. Membrane separation process is economically effective as compared to other commercial methods. Moreover, numerous R&D focused on membrane purification in oily wastewater. Some of the process has been tested to the bench scale and proved that membrane separation is applicable for commercial application. Several approaches have been adopted to further improve the membrane performance. The surface modification by particular monomers enhances the membrane performance and showed better antifouling properties. Some of the surface modified membrane has been used in pilot plant scale and was observed promising results. Meanwhile, operating parameters also play important factors in enhancing the separation performance. Several reports have studied the effect of parameters on membrane performance. As like polymer membranes, ceramic membranes also showed more prominence in the separation process. The continuous and increasing efforts in development of efficient membranes provide an effective and economically feasible process for oily wastewater treatment. Acknowledgment The authors gratefully acknowledge financial support from the Ministry of Education under Long-term Research Grant Scheme (Vot no. 4L803).