Pilot scale study on separation of triethylene glycol from gas separation plant waste stream using membrane distillation process | |
| Author | Vitharuch Yuthawong |
| Call Number | AIT Thesis no.EV-14-13 |
| Subject(s) | Gases--Separation Membrane separation |
| Note | A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Engineering in Environmental Engineering and Management |
| Publisher | Asian Institute of Technology |
| Series Statement | Thesis ; no. EV-14-13 |
| Abstract | Triethylene glycol (TEG) is used in many industrial processes including dehydration of natural gas. After being used in such a process, TEG is discharged in term of wastewater from which TEG can be recovered back. Membrane distillation (MD) is a potential membrane-based separation process to recover TEG. In this study, potential, performance and optimum condition of MD were tested in three lab scale flat sheet membranes and a bench scale hollow fiber membrane by varying feed temperature from 40, 50 and 60°C. At optimum condition, permeate flux of 10% synthetic wastewater for 0.1 μm flat sheet membrane was 2.7, 4.4 and 7.3 kg/m².h for 40, 50 and 60°C respectively. For 0.2 μm flat sheet membrane, permeate flux was 9.1, 12.4 and 21.9 kg/m².h for 40, 50 and 60°C respectively. For 0.45 μm flat sheet membrane, permeate flux was 12.4, 15.1 and 23.6 kg/m².h for 40, 50 and 60°C respectively. For 10% real wastewater, at the optimum condition, bench scale DCMD yielded the permeate flux of 1 kg/m².h and reduced as the TEG concentrations increased. The final permeate was 0.5 kg/m².h at 56% TEG concentration. In the later part, pilot scale sweeping gas membrane distillation (SGMD) was constructed and tested by varying feed temperature from 40, 50, 60 and 70°C and sweeping gas temperature from 8 and 32°C. At 70°C feed and 32°C sweeping gas temperature, results from 10% synthetic and real TEG wastewater were 1.1 and 1 kg/m².h respectively. The final flux from both synthetic and real TEG wastewater were 0.48 kg/m².h at the final concentration of 78.6% and 50% respectively. Boundary layer and fouling resistance were also investigated in this study. |
| Year | 2014 |
| Type | Thesis |
| School | School of Environment, Resources, and Development (SERD) |
| Department | Department of Energy and Climate Change (Former title: Department of Energy, Environment, and Climate Change (DEECC)) |
| Academic Program/FoS | Environmental Engineering and Management (EV) |
| Chairperson(s) | Visvanathan, C.; |
| Examination Committee(s) | Annachatre, Ajit P.;Romchat Rattanaoudom; |
| Scholarship Donor(s) | Asian Institute of Technology Fellowship; |
| Degree | Thesis (M.Eng.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 2014 |