Evaluation of ultrafiltration process performance for treatment of petroleum contaminated waters

A series of 2(4) factorial design experiments were performed to study the e ffects of source water type, contaminant concentration, prefiltration and u se of a coagulant on the performance of ultrafiltration process (UF) for tr eatment of waters contaminated with petroleum hydrocarbons (PHCs). The proc ess performance was evaluated in terms of initial flux through the membrane , fouling time and PHC removal efficiency. The higher levels of PHC contami nation significantly decreased the initial flux, membrane life and PHC remo val efficiency. Coagulation pretreatment significantly improved the membran e life and PHC removal efficiency with no significant effect on the initial flux. Prefiltration to remove the flocs from the coagulated water samples did not improve the fouling time but improved the PHC removal efficiency.