Membrane methods for industrial wastewater treatment

This report presents the possibilities of utilising membrane methods for th e treatment of industrial wastewater, covering following different systems: substance separation with porous membranes; substance separation with non- porous membranes, and membrane activation methods. The last is an aerobic b iological wastewater treatment method where the unit for secondary treatmen t is replaced by a membrane filtration unit. This latter method is the focu s of the article. The positive effects of these methods are described, such as high influent concentrations, small plant volumes, high demands on effl uent quality, re-use of purified wastewater, evenly distributed hydraulic l oad, and low area availability. The report presents examples of how these m ethods have been successfully used in both pilot plants and on an industria l scale. It can be concluded that membrane methods can successfully be util ised in industrial wastewater treatment, with new applications being found on an almost daily basis.