Fabrication of tubular-type MF ceramic membrane with enhanced permeability by addition of PMMA in the support and evaluation of physical characteristics for wastewater treatment

Abstract In this study, a novel tubular-type ceramic membrane with higher permeability was fabricated and its physical characteristics for microfiltration were evaluated. The membrane was composed of the support and active layer which is a coating of the support for selective permeation. Many macro pores under 1 μm up to 40 μm in diameter could be successfully formed in the support. Pores having a diameter less than one micrometer were generated by the melting of impurities or by contracting structures through sintering, and pore sizes above 1 μm in diameter were also generated by the poly methyl methacrylate (PMMA) melted through sintering of support. The permeability of ceramic membranes could be enhanced by formation of large-diameter pores in the support. The pressurized-type ceramic membrane filter system with OUT–IN filtration direction was also devised for water and wastewater treatment. Surface flushing of the membrane was performed to solve the clogging. After 40 min of operation, flux recovered to 97% of initial flux (320 L m −2  h −1 ) by surface flushing. To evaluate the feasibility of the ceramic membrane filter system, effluent from the electrolysis process for wastewater treatment was applied. Total suspended solids could be eliminated completely, and 99.8% of colloids causing the turbidity of water could be removed through filtration by the membrane.