ULTRAFILTRATION RECOVERY OF POLYVINYL-ALCOHOL FROM DESIZING WASTE-WATER

Recovery of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) by ultrafiltration (UF) from simul ated desizing wastewater is investigated. Batch experiments using an U F cell were conducted to investigate the effects of operating pressure , temperature and mixer speed on tile PVA retention, filtration rate a uld the rejection coefficient. It was observed in tile experimental re sults that an operating pressure over 2 bars is sufficient for efficie nt operation of the PVA recovery process. Operating temperature lower than 80 degrees C was seen to significantly reduce the efficiency of P VA recovery. Similar effect was also found for the mixer operating at a speed below 500 rpm. In general, the UF process was observed to be q uite effective, capable of over 96% retention efficiency of PVA from t he dilute desizing wastewater.