Master of Science in Environmental Engineering, Cleveland State University, 2017, Washkewicz College of Engineering

This study shows the treatment of a binary mixture of dye wastewater of varied concentrations and fruit drink wastewater at three different concentrations; low (10 ppm), medium (50 ppm) and high (100 ppm) concentrations. Synthetic dye wastewater prepared in the laboratory was used as a representation of textile wastewater while the fruit drink wastewater was purchased from the grocery store. Transmittance and Absorbance values were used as indices to measure the color removal efficiency of the combined coagulation and microfiltration process. Even though there are modern technologies for color removal till this date, coagulation is one of the most economical alternatives to all technologies present now. In this thesis, the performance of a combined coagulation-microfiltration process for the removal of dyes was studied. After the coagulation-microfiltration process, transmittance values as high as 99.8% were achieved. Color removal efficiency was also investigated for the three coagulants; ferric chloride, aluminum sulfate and ferrous sulfate. Ferric chloride gave the best results in terms of color removal efficiency. Ferrous sulfate gave the worst result in terms of color removal efficiency.

Committee: Yung-Tse Hung Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Walter Kocher Ph.D. (Committee Member); Lili Dong Ph.D. (Committee Member); Chung-Yi Suen Ph.D. (Committee Member); Sailai Sally Shao Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Environmental Engineering

MS, University of Cincinnati, 2007, Engineering : Chemical Engineering

Protein fouling is a critical factor governing membrane performance in various filtration processes. In this study, we report two new surface modification techniques to modify 0.22greek small letter mu mixed cellulose esters membranes (MCE) and 0.20greek small letter mu, positively charged durapore membranes to reduce protein fouling. The first step in the modification of MCE membranes involves coating of the membrane with a monolayer of allyldimethylchlorosilane (ADCS). The silanized membrane is then covalently linked to Pluronic F127, a triblock copolymer of polyethylene oxide and polypropylene oxide (PEO–PPO–PEO) by UV irradiation at wavelengths >215 nm. The presence of PEO groups on the membrane surface increased the wettability of the membrane. Contact angle measurements confirmed that the degree of Pluronic grafting on the silanized membrane was a function of the UV exposure time. The hydraulic permeability and flux decline of the modified membrane during bovine serum albumin (BSA) filtration were nearly identical to the unmodified membrane. The modified membranes exhibited better cleaning characteristics compared to unmodified membranes upon back flushing with saline solution. The positively charged durapore membranes have been dip coated with random copolymers poly (oligoethylene glycol methacrylate co methacrylic acid), (OEGMA/MA), under four different conditions. The electrostatic adsorption of OEGMA/MA onto the membrane surface has been verified by streaming potential measurements. The ability of the modified membranes to resist protein adsorption has been verified by FTIR spectra. The hydraulic permeability and the flux decline data of the modified membranes were similar to the unmodified membranes and the cleaning characteristic of modified membranes showed improved performance.

Committee: Dr. Chia-Chi Ho (Advisor) Subjects: Engineering, Chemical