Hollow fiber membrane contactors for dissolved methane recovery from anaerobic reactor effluents

• Main Author: Godakooru Sethunga Mudiyanselage Dilhara Prebhashwari Sethunga
• Other Authors: Bae Tae Hyun
• Format: Thesis-Doctor of Philosophy
• Language: English
• Published: Nanyang Technological University 2020
• Subjects: Engineering::Environmental engineering::Waste management; Engineering::Chemical engineering::Water in chemical industry
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/137193
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Methane dissolution and lost in the liquid effluent during anaerobic digestion of wastewater causes not only substantial environmental and safety complications but also a hurdle in process intensification. In this context, gas-liquid membrane contactors deem to be a promising alternative over conventional degassing devices owing to its attractive features, especially the higher achievable overall productivity and the potential cost reduction during operation. Yet, membrane degassing contactor technology shows sluggish development on the way to commercialization due to membrane wetting and fouling during prolonged operation. Besides, the shortage of the available number of studies to mitigate simultaneous wetting and fouling in membranes plus the knowledge gap to firmly understand the process parameters that affect the overall productivity and net energy production hinders the effective utilization of membrane contactors in the recovery of dissolved methane. Thus, this work aims at contributing fundamental knowledge of efficient recovery of dissolved methane from anaerobic effluents by developing better performing membranes to overcome both wetting and fouling.