Integration of Photocatalysis and Microfiltration in Removing Effluent Organic Matter from Treated Sewage Effluent

An integration of photocatalysis with low-pressure submerged membrane has attracted growing interest for its synergic advantages in water and wastewater treatment. In this study, the adsorption and photocatalytic oxidation of organic compounds by UV light responsive titanium dioxide (TiO2) were investigated. First, the adsorption behavior of the TiO2 was examined by the adsorption isotherm and kinetics experiments. The photocatalytic reactivity of the catalysts was then compared at different operating conditions. The results indicate that the Freundlich model described well the adsorption capacity of both materials. The photocatalytic kinetics showed that the highest removal of effluent organic matter (EfOM) was achieved at an optimum concentration of 1.0 g/L of TiO2. In addition, it was found that the pre-photosensitization with titanium dioxide/ultra-voilet radiation (TiO2/UV) could effectively reduce membrane fouling and enhance the permeate flux of the submerged membrane reactor when it was used as a post-treatment. An increase of 10% in organic removal efficiency was achieved by the posttreatment of membrane filtration. The sustainable flux of the membrane reactor increased from 25 up to 40 L/m(2).h when the pretreatment of photocatalysis was used.