A comprehensive investigation of effective parameters in continuous submerged photocatalytic membrane reactors by RSM

The present manuscript explores a comprehensive study on effective parameters of a submerged photocatalytic membrane reactor (SPMR) comprising both membrane and photocatalytic parameters. For this propose, the response surface methodology (RSM) was applied and five effective parameters i.e. PVDF polymer concentration of the fabricated membrane (change of the membrane pore size), TiO₂ nanofiller amount in the matrix of membrane (for reducing fouling), aeration rate on membrane surface (for providing the required oxygen for photocatalytic reaction and also reducing the membrane fouling), reactor temperature and pH of the dye wastewater were used as input of the RSM. The outputs were flux, fouling reduction and dye removal percent of the membranes. UV/TiO₂/PVDF process was used for Rhodium B (RhB) dye degradation. The optimum conditions were PVDF concentration of 18 wt%, 10 wt% TiO₂ in membrane matrix, reactor temperature of 40 °C, pH = 5 and aeration rate of 1.6 L/min. After 320 minutes, the RhB dye degradation of 70% was obtained and remained constant for a long time in the continuous reactor. pH adjustment was the main effective parameter on membrane fouling reduction. Finally, the optimal conditions were applied for treatment of Eshtehard Industrial Park wastewater and pollutant removal of 60% was resulted for real wastewater.