Application of ceramic membrane as a pretreatment in anaerobic digestion of alcohol-distillery wastes

In Soung Chang, Kwang Ho Choo, Chung Hak Lee, Un Hwa Pek, Ui Chan Koh, Sang Won Kim, Jong Ho Koh

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

56 Scopus citations

Abstract

Pretreatment of alcohol-distillery wastes with ceramic membranes was performed prior to anaerobic digestion. Ceramic membranes with 0.05 μm pore size were chosen based on the particle size distribution in raw wastes. In this pretreatment, chemical oxygen demand (COD) was reduced from 36,000 to 18,000 mg/l and suspended solids were almost completely removed. The permeates from the ceramic membrane were further separated by ultrafiltration, but further COD reduction by using the PM30 and PM10 membranes was not achieved. Mixed stillages exhibited higher fouling tendency than pure naked barley stillage. Several cleaning methods were attempted to recover water flux. Although lumen flushing was effective, hydrogen peroxide proved to be the most effective cleaning agent. The negative flux recovery after nitric acid cleaning could be explained by the ligand exchange theory. The performance of digester was greatly improved with membrane pretreatment, specially in the ease of naked barley based stillage.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)131-139
Number of pages9
JournalJournal of Membrane Science
Volume90
Issue number1-2
DOIs
StatePublished - 27 Apr 1994

Keywords

  • Anaerobic digestion
  • Ceramic membrane cleaning
  • Fouling tendency
  • Ligand exchange model
  • Pretreatment

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Application of ceramic membrane as a pretreatment in anaerobic digestion of alcohol-distillery wastes'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this