Studying Transmembrane Pressure, pH and Anionic Surfactant (SDS) Concentration Effects on MEUF Process Performance in Dairy Waste Water Treatment Using Response Surface Methodology Design

Surfactants are widely used to improve membrane processes due to their ability to trap toxic, organic compounds and heavy metals in industrial wastewater treatment. In this study, the micellar-enhanced ultrafiltration process (MEUF) was used to improve the efficiency of ultrafiltration process to reduce COD, TDS, and turbidity and promote membrane permeate flux in dairy wastewater treatment. The influence of three operating parameters: SDS concentration, transmembrane pressure and pH with their interactions effects were evaluated using surface response methodology (RSM) in box-behnken design. The results showed that the concentration of anionic surface active agent as one of the most influential factors due to the formation of concentration polarization layer and increase in the number of micelles had a negative effect on flux, but had a positive effect on the elimination of the contamination indexes. Also, due to the compression of micelles, the amount of pollutant removal was reduced at high operational pressures. In addition, increasing pH improved the removal of COD, TDS, and turbidity.