Multistage-batch bipolar membrane electrodialysis for base production from high-salinity wastewater

Abstract

Bipolar membrane electrodialysis (BMED) is considered a state-of-the-art technology for the conversion of salts into acids and bases. However, the low concentration of base generated from a traditional BMED process may limit the viability of this technology for a large-scale application. Herein, we report an especially designed multistage-batch (two/three-stage-batch) BMED process to increase the base concentration by adjusting different volume ratios in the acid (V_acid), base (V_base), and salt compartments (V_salt). The findings indicated that performance of the two-stage-batch with a volume ratio of V_acid:V_base:V_salt = 1:1:5 was superior in comparison to the three-stage-batch with a volume ratio of V_acid:V_base:V_salt = 1:1:2. Besides, the base concentration could be further increased by exchanging the acid produced in the acid compartment with fresh water in the second stage-batch process. With the two-stage-batch BMED, the maximum concentration of the base can be obtained up to 3.40 mol∙L^–1, which was higher than the most reported base production by BMED. The low energy consumption and high current efficiency further authenticate that the designed process is reliable, cost-effective, and more productive to convert saline water into valuable industrial commodities.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

bipolar membrane electrodialysis / multistage-batch / base production / high-salinity wastewater

References

[1] Lefebvre O, Moletta R. Treatment of organic pollution in industrial saline wastewater: a literature review. Water Research, 2006, 40(20): 3671–3682

[2] Tong T, Elimelech M. The global rise of zero liquid discharge for wastewater management: drivers, technologies, and future directions. Environmental Science & Technology, 2016, 50(13): 6846–6855

[3] Subramani A, Jacangelo J G. Treatment technologies for reverse osmosis concentrate volume minimization: a review. Separation and Purification Technology, 2014, 122: 472–489

[4] Oren Y, Korngold E, Daltrophe N, Messalem R, Volkman Y, Aronov L, Weismann M, Bouriakov N, Glueckstern P, Gilron J. Pilot studies on high recovery BWRO-EDR fornear zero liquid discharge approach. Desalination, 2010, 261(3): 321–330

[5] Herrero-Gonzalez M, Wolfson A, Dominguez-Ramos A, Ibañez R, Irabien A. Monetizing environmental footprints: index development and application to a solar-powered chemicals self-supplied desalination plant. ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering, 2018, 6(11): 14533–14541

[6] Yao J, Wen D, Shen J, Wang J. Zero discharge process for dyeing wastewater treatment. Journal of Water Process Engineering, 2016, 11: 98–103

[7] Xiao H, Shao D, Wu Z, Peng W, Akram A, Wang Z, Zheng L, Xing W, Sun S. Zero liquid discharge hybrid membrane process for separation and recovery of ions with equivalent and similar molecular weights. Desalination, 2020, 482: 114387

[8] Marni Sandid A, Bassyouni M, Nehari D, Elhenawy Y. Experimental and simulation study of multichannel air gap membrane distillation process with two types of solar collectors. Energy Conversion and Management, 2021, 243: 114431

[9] Hulme A, Davey C, Tyrrel S, Pidou M, McAdam E. Transitioning from electrodialysis to reverse electrodialysis stack design for energy generation from high concentration salinity gradients. Energy Conversion and Management, 2021, 244: 114493

[10] Mir N, Bicer Y. Integration of electrodialysis with renewable energy sources for sustainable freshwater production: a review. Journal of Environmental Management, 2021, 289: 112496

[11] Xiao H, Chu C, Xu W, Chen B, Ju X, Xing W, Sun S. Amphibian-inspired amino acid ionic liquid functionalized nanofiltration membranes with high water permeability and ion selectivity for pigment wastewater treatment. Journal of Membrane Science, 2019, 586: 44–52

[12] Xu Y, Wang Z, Cheng X, Xiao Y, Shao L. Positively charged nanofiltration membranes via economically mussel-substance-simulated co-deposition for textile wastewater treatment. Chemical Engineering Journal, 2016, 303: 555–564

[13] Cao X, Zhou F, Cai J, Zhao Y, Liu M, Xu L, Sun S. High-permeability and anti-fouling nanofiltration membranes decorated by asymmetric organic phosphate. Journal of Membrane Science, 2021, 617: 118667

[14] Cao X, Guo J, Cai J, Liu M, Japip S, Xing W, Sun S. The encouraging improvement of polyamide nanofiltration membrane by cucurbituril-based host-guest chemistry. AIChE Journal. American Institute of Chemical Engineers, 2020, 66(4): e16879

[15] Lau W, Gray S, Matsuura T, Emadzadeh D, Chen J, Ismail A. A review on polyamide thin film nanocomposite (TFN) membranes: history, applications, challenges and approaches. Water Research, 2015, 80: 306–324

[16] Liang L, Han D, Ma R, Peng T. Treatment of high-concentration wastewater using double-effect mechanical vapor recompression. Desalination, 2013, 314: 139–146

[17] Alkhudhiri A, Darwish N, Hilal N. Membrane distillation: a comprehensive review. Desalination, 2012, 287: 2–18

[18] Yang X, Yan L, Ran F, Huang Y, Pan D, Bai Y, Shao L. Mussel-/diatom-inspired silicified membrane for high-efficiency water remediation. Journal of Membrane Science, 2020, 597: 117753

[19] Yang X, Yan L, Ma J, Bai Y, Shao L. Bioadhesion-inspired surface engineering constructing robust, hydrophilic membranes for highly-efficient wastewater remediation. Journal of Membrane Science, 2019, 591: 117353

[20] Wang Z, Lau C, Zhang N, Bai Y, Shao L. Mussel-inspired tailoring of membrane wettability for harsh water treatment. Journal of Materials Chemistry. A, Materials for Energy and Sustainability, 2015, 3(6): 2650–2657

[21] Xu T, Huang C. Electrodialysis-based separation technologies: a critical review. AIChE Journal. American Institute of Chemical Engineers, 2008, 54(12): 3147–3159

[22] Herrero-Gonzalez M, Admon N, Dominguez-Ramos A, Ibañez R, Wolfson A, Irabien A. Environmental sustainability assessment of seawater reverse osmosis brine valorization by means of electrodialysis with bipolar membranes. Environmental Science and Pollution Research International, 2020, 27(2): 1256–1266

[23] Ghyselbrecht K, Huygebaert M, Van der Bruggen B, Ballet R, Meesschaert B, Pinoy L. Desalination of an industrial saline water with conventional and bipolar membrane electrodialysis. Desalination, 2013, 318: 9–18

[24] Reig M, Casas S, Valderrama C, Gibert O, Cortina J L. Integration of monopolar and bipolar electrodialysis for valorization of seawater reverse osmosis desalination brines: production of strong acid and base. Desalination, 2016, 398: 87–97

[25] Ibáñez R, Pérez-González A, Gómez P, Urtiaga A M, Ortiz I. Acid and base recovery from softened reverse osmosis (RO) brines. Experimental assessment using model concentrates. Desalination, 2013, 309: 165–170

[26] Xue S, Wu C, Wu Y, Chen J, Li Z. Bipolar membrane electrodialysis for treatment of sodium acetate waste residue. Separation and Purification Technology, 2015, 154: 193–203

[27] Herrero-Gonzalez M, Diaz-Guridi P, Dominguez-Ramos A, Ibañez R, Irabien A. Photovoltaic solar electrodialysis with bipolar membranes. Desalination, 2018, 433: 155–163

[28] Yan H, Wang Y, Wu L, Shehzad M, Jiang C, Fu R, Liu Z, Xu T. Multistage-batch electrodialysis to concentrate high-salinity solutions: process optimisation, water transport, and energy consumption. Journal of Membrane Science, 2019, 570–571: 245–257

[29] Doornbusch G, Tedesco M, Post J, Borneman Z, Nijmeijer K. Experimental investigation of multistage electrodialysis for seawater desalination. Desalination, 2019, 464: 105–114

[30] Koter S, Warszawski A. A new model for characterization of bipolar membrane electrodialysis of brine. Desalination, 2006, 198(1–3): 111–123

[31] Yan H, Wu L, Wang Y, Irfan M, Jiang C, Xu T. Ammonia capture from wastewater with a high ammonia nitrogen concentration by water splitting and hollow fiber extraction. Chemical Engineering Science, 2020, 227: 115934

[32] Takagi R, Vaselbehagh M, Matsuyama H. Theoretical study of the permselectivity of an anion exchange membrane in electrodialysis. Journal of Membrane Science, 2014, 470(9): 486–493

[33] Lorrain Y, Pourcelly G, Gavach C. Transport mechanism of sulfuric acid through an anion exchange membrane. Desalination, 1997, 109(3): 231–239

[34] Miyoshi H. Diffusion coefficients of ions through ion-exchange membranes for Donnan dialysis using ions of the same valence. Chemical Engineering Science, 1997, 52(7): 1087–1096

[35] Palaty Z, Zakova A. Transport of some strong incompletely dissociated acids through anion-exchange membrane. Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, 2003, 268(1): 188–199

[36] Beck A, Ernst M. Kinetic modeling and selectivity of anion exchange in Donnan dialysis. Journal of Membrane Science, 2015, 479: 132–140

[37] Thiel G, Kumar A, Gómez-González A, Lienhard J. Utilization of desalination brine for sodium hydroxide production: technologies, engineering principles, recovery limits, and future directions. ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering, 2017, 5(12): 11147–11162

[38] Lin H, Cejudo-Marín R, Jeremiasse A W, Rabaey K, Yuan Z, Pikaar I. Direct anodic hydrochloric acid and cathodic caustic production during water electrolysis. Scientific Reports, 2016, 6(1): 20494

[39] Badruzzaman M, Oppenheimer J, Adham S, Kumar M. Innovative beneficial reuse of reverse osmosis concentrate using bipolar membrane electrodialysis and electrochlorination processes. Journal of Membrane Science, 2009, 326(2): 392–399

[40] Yang Y, Gao X, Fan A, Fu L, Gao C. An innovative beneficial reuse of seawater concentrate using bipolar membrane electrodialysis. Journal of Membrane Science, 2014, 449: 119–126

[41] Ghyselbrecht K, Silva A, Van der Bruggen B, Boussu K, Meesschaert B, Pinoy L. Desalination feasibility study of an industrial NaCl stream by bipolar membrane electrodialysis. Journal of Environmental Management, 2014, 140: 69–75

[42] Davis J, Chen Y, Baygents J, Farrell J. Production of acids and bases for ion exchange regeneration from dilute salt solutions using bipolar membrane electrodialysis. ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering, 2015, 3(9): 2337–2342

Acknowledgments

This project was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 22061132003 and 22008226), the Key Technologies R & D Program of Anhui Province (Grant No. 202003a05020052), and the Major Science and Technology Innovation Projects in Shandong Province (Grant No. 2019JZZY010511).

RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS

2021 Higher Education Press