Volume 22, Issue 7 e202100320
Review

Recent Progress in Microfiltration/Ultrafiltration Membranes for Separation of Oil and Water Emulsions

Nadeem Baig

Corresponding Author

Nadeem Baig

Interdisciplinary Research Center for Membranes and Water Security, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Dhahran, 31261 Saudi Arabia

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Billel Salhi

Billel Salhi

Interdisciplinary Research Center for Membranes and Water Security, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Dhahran, 31261 Saudi Arabia

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Muhammad Sajid

Muhammad Sajid

Center for Environment and Water, Research Institute, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Dhahran, 31261 Saudi Arabia

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Isam H. Aljundi

Corresponding Author

Isam H. Aljundi

Interdisciplinary Research Center for Membranes and Water Security, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Dhahran, 31261 Saudi Arabia

Chemical Engineering Department, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Dhahran, 31261 Saudi Arabia

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First published: 21 February 2022
Citations: 16

Abstract

Oily wastewater has become one of the leading causes of environmental pollution. A massive quantity of oily wastewater is released from industries, oil spills, and routine activities, endangering the ecosystem's sustainability. Due to the enormous negative impact, researchers put strenuous efforts into developing a sustainable solution to treat oily wastewater. Microfiltration/ultrafiltration membranes are considered an efficient solution to treat oily wastewater due to their low cost, small footprint, facile operation, and high separation efficiencies. However, membranes severely fouled during the separation process due to oil's adsorption and cake layer formation, which shortens the membranes’ life. This review has critically discussed the microfiltration/ultrafiltration membrane synthesizing methods and their emulsion's separation performance. In the end, key challenges and their possible solutions are highlighted to provide future direction to synthesize next-generation membranes.

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