Treatment of oily water by a poly(vinyl alcohol) ultrafiltration membrane

Effectiveness of a poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) membrane selected for ultrafiltration of synthetic oily water was evaluated in this study. The experiments were conducted by using a pilot-scale continuous cross-flow membrane filtration system manufactured by our laboratory. The effect of temperature, oil concentration, transmembrane pressure, and crossflow velocity on the membrane permeation flux and oil retention was studied. Washing methods for fouled membranes and membrane flux recovery ratio were also investigated. The experimental results show that the PVA ultrafiltration membrane has high values of oil retention and permeation flux, and the flux recovery ratio is more than 95%, which demonstrates that the PVA membrane has excellent antifouling characteristics to oil.