CONTINUOUS SEPARATION OF PHENOL FROM AN AQUEOUS STREAM USING MICELLAR-ENHANCED ULTRAFILTRATION (MEUF)

Micellar-enhanced ultrafiltration has been carried out to investigate the separation of phenol from an aqueous stream via hollow fiber membranes. First, phenol is solubilized into the micelles of cationic surfactant such as hexadecyltrimethylammonium chloride (CTAC) and hexadecylpyridinium chloride (CPC), and then the micellar solution is treated continuously through an ultrafiltration membrane module. In the present study we examine the effects of retentate concentration, molecular weight cut-offs, molar ratios of surfactant to phenol and other operating conditions on the rejection efficiency. The results show that the concentration of phenol in the permeate rapidly decreases as the surfactant aggregates to form micelles beyond its critical micelle concentration. Further, the rejection of phenol and surfactant by the membrane is enhanced when the operating condition is favorable to formation of a gel layer at the surface of the membrane which provides the presieving effect. Formation of a gel layer becomes pronounced when either the flux ratio of permeate to retentate or the micelle concentration in the feed increases.