Boron transfer during desalination by electrodialysis

Effective boron rejection is challenging, particularly in seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO). Fortunately, electrodialysis (ED) provides a feasible alternative. This study was targeted at a mechanistic understanding of the transfer of boron in ED by systematically evaluating the effects of the chief pa...

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Main Authors: Han, Le, Liu, Yue, Chew, Jia Wei
Other Authors: School of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: 2020
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Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10356/141053
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Institution: Nanyang Technological University
Language: English
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spelling sg-ntu-dr.10356-1410532020-06-03T09:12:11Z Boron transfer during desalination by electrodialysis Han, Le Liu, Yue Chew, Jia Wei School of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering Nanyang Environment and Water Research Institute Singapore Membrane Technology Centre Engineering::Chemical engineering Boron Electrodialysis Effective boron rejection is challenging, particularly in seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO). Fortunately, electrodialysis (ED) provides a feasible alternative. This study was targeted at a mechanistic understanding of the transfer of boron in ED by systematically evaluating the effects of the chief parameters of solution pH, salinity, boron concentration, current and membrane type. Diffusion and additional transfer are key mechanisms for boron transfer in ED, and the additional transfer is governed by convection for boric acid and migration for borate. Four key results are highlighted. Firstly, boric acid (i.e., at pH = 6.1) transfer was greater than borate (i.e., at pH = 10.8) transfer, giving the permeability and additional transfer coefficient of the former of respectively an order-of-magnitude and twofold that of the latter. Secondly, while changes in salt concentrations had negligible impact on boric acid flux, borate flux decreased with NaCl concentration due to increased competition with the chloride ions. Thirdly, boron permeability was greater for the RO membranes than the ion-exchange membranes (IEMs) due to different membrane properties, and boron permeability decreased with pH for both the RO membranes and IEMs due respectively to electrostatic repulsion and competition for charge carriers. Fourthly, the percentage of boric acid transferred decreased with current, which suggests enhanced boron rejection as current increased. Collectively, results indicate that ED is promising for boron removal, and is possibly more effective than RO in boron rejection both because of the different membrane properties and transfer mechanisms. MOE (Min. of Education, S’pore) EDB (Economic Devt. Board, S’pore) 2020-06-03T09:12:10Z 2020-06-03T09:12:10Z 2017 Journal Article Han, L., Liu, Y., & Chew, J. W. (2018). Boron transfer during desalination by electrodialysis. Journal of Membrane Science, 547, 64-72. doi:10.1016/j.memsci.2017.10.036 0376-7388 https://hdl.handle.net/10356/141053 10.1016/j.memsci.2017.10.036 2-s2.0-85032865992 547 64 72 en Journal of Membrane Science © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
institution Nanyang Technological University
building NTU Library
country Singapore
collection DR-NTU
language English
topic Engineering::Chemical engineering
Boron
Electrodialysis
spellingShingle Engineering::Chemical engineering
Boron
Electrodialysis
Han, Le
Liu, Yue
Chew, Jia Wei
Boron transfer during desalination by electrodialysis
description Effective boron rejection is challenging, particularly in seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO). Fortunately, electrodialysis (ED) provides a feasible alternative. This study was targeted at a mechanistic understanding of the transfer of boron in ED by systematically evaluating the effects of the chief parameters of solution pH, salinity, boron concentration, current and membrane type. Diffusion and additional transfer are key mechanisms for boron transfer in ED, and the additional transfer is governed by convection for boric acid and migration for borate. Four key results are highlighted. Firstly, boric acid (i.e., at pH = 6.1) transfer was greater than borate (i.e., at pH = 10.8) transfer, giving the permeability and additional transfer coefficient of the former of respectively an order-of-magnitude and twofold that of the latter. Secondly, while changes in salt concentrations had negligible impact on boric acid flux, borate flux decreased with NaCl concentration due to increased competition with the chloride ions. Thirdly, boron permeability was greater for the RO membranes than the ion-exchange membranes (IEMs) due to different membrane properties, and boron permeability decreased with pH for both the RO membranes and IEMs due respectively to electrostatic repulsion and competition for charge carriers. Fourthly, the percentage of boric acid transferred decreased with current, which suggests enhanced boron rejection as current increased. Collectively, results indicate that ED is promising for boron removal, and is possibly more effective than RO in boron rejection both because of the different membrane properties and transfer mechanisms.
author2 School of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering
author_facet School of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering
Han, Le
Liu, Yue
Chew, Jia Wei
format Article
author Han, Le
Liu, Yue
Chew, Jia Wei
author_sort Han, Le
title Boron transfer during desalination by electrodialysis
title_short Boron transfer during desalination by electrodialysis
title_full Boron transfer during desalination by electrodialysis
title_fullStr Boron transfer during desalination by electrodialysis
title_full_unstemmed Boron transfer during desalination by electrodialysis
title_sort boron transfer during desalination by electrodialysis
publishDate 2020
url https://hdl.handle.net/10356/141053
_version_ 1681057031734165504