Nya fotokatalysator-belagda membranfilter för behandling av läkemedelsrester i avloppsvatten

Important results from the project

The goal is to contribute to a non-toxic environment. At present, there are residues of toxic organic substances, pharmaceuticals and antibiotics in water from sewage treatment plants. These types of substances can already at very low doses produce undesirable and sometimes alarming effects on humans and aquatic ecosystems. The project has shown that by using a UV irradiated photocatalytic filter in water treatment, pharmaceutical residues can be decomposed and the flux can be maintained at a high level, which provides a more cost-effective treatment.

Expected long term effects

The project has shown that the membrane filter with photocatalysts can decompose pharmaceutical residues in both tap water and treated wastewater. We believe it is possible to further develop the technology so that full, cost-effective degradation of environmentally hazardous and harmful substances can be achieved. The assessment, however, is that it may be difficult to achieve the expected cost saving 25% compared to activated carbon. Further development would provide a better basis for such an assessment.

Approach and implementation

Photocatalytic membrane was produced by adding a commercial photocatalyst during the manufacture of PVDF membrane. Optimization of composition, thickness and porosity was performed. Both SEM and degradation of the test molecule were used as evaluation methods for optimization. Next, water was spiked with 24 pharmaceuticals and the degradation of these substances during filtration was evaluated. Tap water and MBR water from Hammarby Sjöstadsverket were used, and the effect of photo-catalysis was assessed by LC/MS/MS for both ´dead-end´ and ´cross-flow´ filtration.

External links

Beskrivning av projektet som finns på SPs hemsida