• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
• /
• v.34 no.9
• /
• pp.986-992
• /
• 1997

Cordierite ceramic was prepared by sol-gel method. It was analyzed by Infrared spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction patterns that the ceramic was chemically mixed in molecular level and transformed to $\alpha$-cordierite at 125$0^{\circ}C$. Water vapour treatments for aging and drying process were conducted to get porous cordierite with thermally stable pore structure. It resulted in 220-410 $m^2$/g BET surface area and mesoporous structure with mean pore diameter, 40$\AA$. Compared to naturally dried ceramic, the ceramic showed superior thermal stability of surface area up to $700^{\circ}C$. Surfaces of porous cordierite ceramics were observed by SEM.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
• /
• v.1 no.1
• /
• pp.1-12
• /
• 2010

Membrane distillation process was used for purification of pre-treated natural water (tap water). The rejection of inorganic and organic compounds in this process was investigated. The obtained rejection of inorganic solutes was closed to 100%, but the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) diffused through the membrane together with water vapour. The content of trihalomethanes (THMs) in the obtained distillate was two-three fold higher than that in the feed, therefore, the rejection of the total organic compounds present in the tap water was reduced to a level of 98%. The intensive membranes scaling was observed during the water separation. The morphology and composition of the fouling layer was studied using scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy dispersion spectrometry. The influence of thermal water pre-treatment performed in a heat exchanger followed by filtration on the MD process effectiveness was evaluated. This procedure caused that significantly smaller amounts of $CaCO_3$ crystallites were deposited on the membrane surface, and a high permeate flux was maintained over a period of 160 h.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
• /
• v.22 no.3
• /
• pp.116-122
• /
• 1996

This study has been focused on the applicability of microwave treatment of soil contaminated by volitile organic chemicals. Substrates studied were sand and sandy soil. These substrates were impregnated with toluene, tetrachloroethylene, o-xylene and p-dichlorobenzene. The microwave treatment was conducted in a modified domestic microwave oven: 2450 MHz, 700 W. The sandy soil temperature added water went up rapidly to about 130$\circ$C for 4 minutes. And then, the temperature appeared to plateau out. A series of tests were performed to depict the effectiveness of microwave treatment technique to organic contaminants from soils. Removal efficiencies in sandy soil and sand were increased with increasing water content and exposure time. Microwave radiation penetrates the soil and heats water throughout the matrix. Therefore, addition of a certain amount of water to the contaminated soil can efficiently enhance the ability of the soil to absorb microwave energy and promote the evaporation of the volitile contaminants. And the vapour pressure of impregnated organic contaminants becomes lower. the removal efficiency becomes poor.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
• /
• v.2 no.3
• /
• pp.147-158
• /
• 2011

Membrane distillation process was used for desalination of hot (333 K) geothermal water, which was applied in the plant producing heating water. The investigated water contained 120 g salts/$dm^3$, mainly NaCl. The mineral composition was studied using an ion chromatography method. The obtained rejection of solutes was closed to 100%, but the small amounts of $NH_3$ also diffused through the membrane together with water vapour. However, the composition of obtained distillate allowed to use it as a makeup water in the heating water system. The geothermal water under study was concentrated from 120 to 286 g NaCl/$dm^3$. This increase in the solution concentration caused the permeate flux decline by a 10-20%. The geothermal water contained sulphates, which was subjected to two-fold concentration to achieve the concentration 2.4-2.6 g $SO{_4}{^{2-}}/dm^3$ and the sulphates then crystallized in the form of calcium sulphate. As a results, an intensive membranes scaling and the permeate flux decline was observed. The XRD analysis indicated that beside the gypsum also the NaCl crystallites were deposited on the membrane surfaces. The fresh geothermal water dissolved the mixed $CaSO_4$ and NaCl deposit from the membrane surface. This property can be utilized for self-cleaning of MD modules. Using a batch feeding of MD installation, the concentration of geothermal water was carried out over 800 h, without significant performance losses.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
• /
• v.10 no.4
• /
• pp.287-298
• /
• 2019

Lotus leaf has a special dual micro and nano surface structure which gives its highly hydrophobic surface characteristics and so-called self cleaning effect. In order to endow PVDF hollow fiber membrane with this special structure and improve the hydrophobicity of membrane surface, PVDF hollow fiber composite membranes was obtained through the immersion coating of poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) (PVDF-HFP) dilute solution on the outside surface of PVDF support membrane. The prepared PVDF composite membranes were used in the vacuum membrane distillation (VMD) for the desalination. The effects of PVDF-HFP dilute solution concentration in the dope solution and coating time on VMD separation performance was studied. Membranes were characterized by SEM, WCA measurement, porosity, and liquid entry pressure of water. VMD test was carried out using $35g{\cdot}L^{-1}$ NaCl aqueous solution as the feed solution at feed temperature of $30^{\circ}C$ and the permeate pressure of 31.3 kPa. The vapour flux reached a maximum when PVDF-HFP concentration in the dilute solution was 5 wt% and the coating time was kept in the range of 10-60 s. This was attributed to the well configuration of micro-nano rods which was similar with the dual micro-nano structure on the lotus leaf. Compared with the original PVDF membrane, the salt rejection can be well maintained which was greater than 99.99 % meanwhile permeation water conductivity was kept at a low value of $7-9{\mu}S{\cdot}cm^{-1}$ during the continuous testing for 360 h.

• Journal of Powder Materials
• /
• v.10 no.6
• /
• pp.422-429
• /
• 2003

The reduction mechanism of the composite powders mixed with $WO_3$ and CuO has been studied by using thermogravimetry (TG), X-ray diffraction, and microstructure analyses. The composite powders were made by simple Turbula mixing, spray drying, and ball-milling in a stainless steel jar with the ball to powder ratio of 32 to 1 at 80 rpm for 1 h without process controlling agents. It is observed that all the oxide composite powders are converted to W-coated Cu composite powder after reducing treatment under hydrogen atmosphere. For the formation mechanism of W-coated Cu composite powder, the sequential reduction steps are proposed as follows: CuO contained in the ball-milled composite powder is initially reduced to Cu at the temperature range from 20$0^{\circ}C$ to 30$0^{\circ}C$. Then, $WO_3$ powder is reduced to W $O_2$ via W $O_{2.9}$ and W $O_{2.72}$ at higher temperature region. Finally, the gaseous phase of $WO_3(OH)_2$ formed by reaction of $WO_2$ with water vapour migrates to previously reduced Cu and deposits on it as W reduced by hydrogen. The proposed mechanism has been proved through the model experiment which was performed by using Cu plate and $WO_3$ powder.