This Study Evaluates The Influence of an Applied Electric Field

This study evaluates the influence of an applied electric field during ultrafiltration of wastewater from cathodic electrodeposition (CED). The influence of the electric field depends on the applied voltage and transmembrane pressure, and it is shown that ceramic electro-ultrafiltration is a viable option in reclaiming CED wastewater. Electro-ultrafiltration can be employed for treating wastewater containing charged particles. In this method, an electric field produced by an applied voltage influences the movement and electrophoretic mobility of the charged particles – minimising concentration polarisation and improving permeate flux. This Australian study evaluates the influence of an electric field on the filtration performance of a 50 nm ceramic ultrafiltration membrane with respect to model wastewater containing 5% v/v suspension of cathodic electrodeposition (CED) paint. The results show that the influence of an electric field during electro-ultrafiltration of the model wastewater depends on both applied voltage and transmembrane pressure (TMP). At TMP = 100 kPa, the application of different magnitudes of voltages generally improves filtration efficiency, with the most significant improvement obtained at an applied voltage of 60 V. At an applied voltage of 60 V and TMP = 100 kPa, flux rates obtained after 60 min were higher than the flux rates obtained from ultrafiltration alone. In contrast, at higher TMPs of 200 and 300 kPa, no improvement in filtration efficiency was obtained at all magnitudes of applied voltages. Source: filtsep