Separation of mercury from aqueous solutions by continuous polymer-enh
anced ultrafiltration (PEUF) was investigated. Polyethyleneimine (PEI)
was added to the solutions as the complexing agent before circulating
the solution in a laboratory-scale continuous ultrafiltration system.
Effects of mercury-to-polymer ratio, pressure drop and feed solution
circulation rate on retention of mercury and permeate flux were studie
d. Constant retention values close to unity were obtained until a crit
ical mercury-to-polymer ratio was exceeded. For higher metal loadings,
retention values decreased linearly. Permeate flux increased linearly
with pressure drop and was not affected by other parameters such as m
etal loading and feed circulation rate. Therefore, concentration polar
ization was not a problem for the studied range of variables.