Enhanced oil-water separation using polyvinylchloride membranes modified with polymeric additives

Large volumes of oily wastewater are now being produced from a variety of sources. Separating stable emulsified oil particles from water is the most difficult part of treating oily wastewater. Generally, due to their ease of use, low cost, and high flexibility; polymeric membranes are critical in these processes. Many kinds of chemicals are added to a based polymer to increase both its hydrophilicity and its properties as enhancing pure water flux (PWF). This study provides an example of the phase inversion approach used to produce a PVC membrane. PVC has been modified by adding polymeric additives like polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) in order to increase both permeation flow and fouling resistance, also in this paper we compare between lab chemical membrane and commercial chemical membrane on the hand of their fluxes, rejection and characterization. Mechanical strength, porosity, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR), and water contact angle measurement were used to characterize and assess the improved PVC/PVP membranes. The membranes were subsequently tested at a lab size in a cross-flow system with synthetic oily wastewater as the input.