Removal of -Nitrosamines and Their Precursors by Nanofiltration and Reverse Osmosis Membranes
Publication: Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 135, Issue 9
Abstract
Rejection of selected -nitrosamines, a group of probable human carcinogens, and their precursors by nanofiltration (NF) and brackish water reverse osmosis (BWRO) membranes was evaluated using a bench-scale cross-flow filtration apparatus. The tested nitrosamines included -nitrosodimethylamine, -nitrosomethylethylamine, -nitrosopyrrolidine, -nitrosodiethylamine, -nitrosodi- -propylamine, and -nitrosodi- -butylamine. The target nitrosamine precursors included secondary amines such as dimethylamine, methylethylamine, diethylamine, and dipropylamine. Rejection of nitrosamines varied greatly depending on the tested membranes (9–75% for NF membranes and 54–97% for BWRO membranes) and the molecular weight of nitrosamines. Experimental data obtained with the BWRO membranes matched well with an irreversible thermodynamic model coupled with film theory. The model further suggested that effective diffusion of nitrosamines through the BWRO membranes is responsible for the relatively low rejections observed experimentally, and the aqueous diffusivity of nitrosamines could be used as an accurate measure of nitrosamine permeability through these membranes. The steady-state rejection of all the tested nitrosamine precursors reached over 98%. This study suggests that a strategy for membrane-based water treatment processes to reduce nitrosamines should consider the removal of precursors before nitrosamines are formed during subsequent disinfection and water distribution.
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Acknowledgments
The writers acknowledge Saehan Industries Inc. for providing financial support and membrane samples for this project. A later phase of the study was also partly supported by Seawater Engineering and Architecture of High Efficiency Reverse Osmosis (SeaHero) project by Korean Ministry of Construction and Transportation. Dow Chemical Company is also thanked for providing membrane samples for testing. Finally, the writers acknowledge Joo-Yeon Lee from the University of Seoul and Amisha Shah at Georgia Institute of Technology for assistance and advice in conducting experiments and Lokesh Padhye from Georgia Institute of Technology for significant assistance in instrumental analysis.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 135 • Issue 9 • September 2009
Pages: 788 - 795
Copyright
© 2009 ASCE.
History
Received: May 8, 2008
Accepted: Jan 10, 2009
Published online: Aug 14, 2009
Published in print: Sep 2009
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