Membrane Materials for Forward Osmosis and Membrane Distillation in Oily Wastewater Treatment

Abstract

Membrane processes with outstanding advantages have been developed over the past three decades and could be used for oily wastewater treatment applications, effectively. Nowadays, forward osmosis (FO) and membrane distillation (MD) processes, as two essential membrane processes have received considerable attention, for oily wastewater treatment applications. The excellence of MD and FO processes compared to other membrane processes is their cost-effectiveness and capability to remove smaller oil drops with lower energy consumption. Membrane fouling as a challenge with decreasing separation efficiency has hindered the commercialization of FO and MD processes. Therefore, developing new FO and MD membranes with lower fouling tendency is very important for water treatment applications especially for oily wastewater treatment. In this chapter, after bibliographic analysis, the conventional methods developed for treating various types of oily wastewaters are reviewed, in brief. Then, various membrane processes with particular emphasis on their challenges and advances in oily wastewater treatment applications are presented. Afterward, focusing on FO and MD processes, the current materials used to fabricate proper membranes for FO and MD processes are discussed.