Project Overview
This project extends our previous FES projects, combining the advanced membrane technology with the adsorption technology for treating oil sands produced water. In our previous project, we designed low-pressure membrane modules with exceptional impurity separation targeting bacteria, viruses, and oil. We integrated silver-based MOFs and eco-friendly additives like lignin for effective contaminant removal. The membranes had nearly 50% lignin content, reducing costs. To address high-pressure tolerance, we'll use liquid lignin oligomers produced in Dr. Ullah’s lab. With prior FES support, Drs. Ullah & Siddique developed sorbents with high removal efficiencies. With ongoing support, we aim to develop large-scale sorbents, conduct desorption studies, and optimize adsorption and membrane technology for a combined, single-step water treatment process. Collaborating with industrial partner Fourien, we'll design, simulate, fabricate, and test a prototype reactor, advancing toward commercialization as an alternative treatment technology for contaminated waters. The hybrid technology will be provided to other industries for testing and early adoption. Our low-pressure membrane tech, combined with chicken feather keratin-based biopolymer adsorption, outshines current methods by efficiently removing multiple contaminants from produced water using eco-friendly materials. Canada, with its substantial production of food and wood products, possesses significant long-term potential to leverage lignin and keratin-based biopolymers for crafting value-added products.
The proposed technology's key areas of impact are:
Water Benefits: The oil sands industry's growth may face limitations due to increased water consumption. Current inefficient water treatment methods strain freshwater resources, risking environmental sustainability. Our technology addresses these challenges, mitigating risks associated with surface water depletion, water disposal, and groundwater contamination.
GHG Emissions Reductions: The proposed technology's impact on GHG emissions reduction is twofold upon market implementation: First, our materials' carbon footprint is less than that of their commercial counterparts. Second, after the successful deployment of our technology, water recovery and energy efficiency of industrial processes increase, leading to fewer GHG emissions.
Recyclability and degradability: We would test the recyclability and degradability of adsorbents at the end of life. We would also test the partial degradability of membranes containing 50% or higher lignin content.
Outputs
| Title |
Category |
Date |
Authors |
| An Innovative Surface Modification Technique for Antifouling Polyamide Nanofiltration MembranesIn this study, we developed a novel surface coating technique to modify the surface chemistry of thin film composite (TFC) nanofiltration (NF) membranes, aiming to mitigate organic fouling while maintaining the membrane’s permselectivity. We formed a spot-like polyester (PE) coating on top of a polyamide (PA) TFC membrane using mist-based interfacial polymerization. This process involved exposing the membrane surface to tiny droplets carrying different concentrations of sulfonated kraft lignin (SKL, 3, 5, and 7 wt %) and trimesoyl chloride (TMC, 0.2 wt %). The main advantages of this surface coating technique are minimal solvent consumption (less than 0.05 mL/cm2) and precise control over interfacial polymerization. Zeta potential measurements of the coated membranes exhibited enhancements in negative charge compared to the control membrane. This enhancement is attributed to the unreacted carboxyl functional groups of the SKL and TMC monomers, as well as the presence of sulfonate groups (SO3) in the structure of SKL. AFM results showed a notable decrease in membrane surface roughness after polyester coating due to the slower diffusion of SKL to the interface and a milder reaction with TMC. In terms of fouling resistance, the membrane coated with a polyester composed of 7 wt % SKL showed a 90% flux recovery ratio (FRR) during Bovine Serum Albumin (BSA) filtration, showing a 15% improvement compared to the control membrane (PA). PE-coated membranes provided stable separation performance over 40 h of filtration. The sodium chloride rejection and water flux displayed minimal variations, indicating the robustness of the coating layer. The final section of the presented study focuses on assessing the feasibility of scaling up and the cost-effectiveness of the proposed technique. The demonstrated ease of scalability and a notable reduction in chemical consumption establish this method as a viable, environmentally friendly, and sustainable solution for surface modification. University of Alberta | Publication | 2024-07-03 | Amirhossein Taghipour, Pooria Karami, Sadrzadeh, M. |
| Green Nanoengineered Keratin Derived Bio‐Adsorbent for Heavy Metals Removal from Aqueous MediaExploiting poultry chicken feathers, a keratin-rich by-product offers a sustainable raw material for bio-adsorbents in water remediation. This study developed a bio-adsorbent from chicken feathers keratin (CFK), functionalized with surface-modified graphene oxide (SMGO). The bio-adsorbent was tested for adsorbing metal cations (Pb, Cd, Ni, Zn, Co) and oxyanions (As, Se, Cr) from water contaminated with 600 µg/L of each metal at pH 5.5, 7.5, and 10.5. Results showed optimal removal efficiencies at pH 7.5, with anions achieving ≥91.10% for As (III), ≥89.55% for Cr (VI), and ≥74.33% for Se (IV). Cations removal reached 96.34% for Co (II), 97.36% for Ni (II), 99.03% for Cd (II), 99.21% for Pb (II), and 59.06% for Zn (II). Kinetic studies indicated rapid initial uptake within the first 6 hours, reaching equilibrium at 24 hours. The bio-adsorbent maintained high adsorption capacities over four regeneration cycles with minimal efficiency loss, showing strong stability and reusability. Removal efficiency followed the order: Pb (II) 〉 Cd (II) 〉 Ni (II) 〉 Co (II) 〉 Zn (II), correlating with their ionic radii. Ni2+ adsorbed more effectively than Co2+ due to a smaller ionic radius and stronger electrostatic attraction. These findings highlight CFK-SMGO's efficacy in wastewater treatment, promoting bio-based sustainable adsorbents. University of Alberta | Publication | 2024-04-08 | Muhammad Zubair, Ullah, A. |
| Green polycaprolactone/sulfonated kraft lignin phase inversion membrane for dye/salt separationExploring environmentally friendly, renewable, and cost-effective raw materials is essential in sustainable membrane fabrication. This study presents a facile and scalable method for fabricating a green and biodegradable tight ultrafiltration membrane for dye/salt separation. This involves simply blending biodegradable polycaprolactone (PCL) with the low-cost biobased sulfonated kraft lignin (SKL) additive. Additionally, we employed acetic acid as a green alternative solvent to enhance the sustainability of the membrane fabrication process. The incorporation of hydrophilic SKL into the PCL matrix resulted in increased hydrophilicity (water contact angle changed from 72° to 56°), surface roughness (increased from 29 nm to 43.5 nm), and enhanced negative electrostatic charge of the membrane (−40 mV to −45 mV). The optimized PCL/SKL membrane (M3) exhibited excellent water flux (∼45 LMH) under 40 psi hydraulic pressure coupled with ∼98 % and ∼10 % rejection rates for reactive red (RR) dye and NaCl, respectively. Moreover, the M3 membrane maintained its exceptional dye/salt fractionation performance while separating the mixtures at low salt concentrations. However, with increasing salt concentration (1–50 g/L), the membrane's RR dye rejection declined from ∼90 % to ∼50 %, with a significant reduction in NaCl and Na2SO4 salts rejection (from ∼14 % to ∼1 % and ∼22 % to –∼1 %, respectively). The M3 membrane exhibited remarkable antifouling properties during dye and humic acid filtration with a high flux recovery ratio (>98 %) and low flux decline rate (<7 %). The PCL/SKL membrane also showed excellent stability and maintained consistent separation performance over a long period. Overall, the novel biodegradable PCL/SKL membrane prepared in this study presents a promising avenue toward sustainable membrane fabrication for wastewater treatment applications. University of Alberta | Publication | 2024-05-01 | Md Mizanul Haque Mizan, Masoud Rastgar Farajzadeh, Pooria Karami, Sadrzadeh, M. |
