Iranian Scientists Use Carbon Membranes to Treat Aquaculture Wastewater

The study showed that using carbon membranes in reverse osmosis systems can significantly reduce key pollutants in the industry's wastewater, including nitrate, phosphate, ammonia, and salinity.

“The study examines different types of carbon membranes, including carbon molecular sieves, activated carbon membranes, carbon nanotube membranes, and graphene oxide membranes, and emphasizes that these materials enjoy exceptional filtration capabilities due to their unique structure and extraordinary porosity,” said Arash Javanshir, a professor at the Faculty of Agriculture and Natural Resources at the University of Tehran.

“The research showed that the efficiency of removing critical pollutants by these membranes can exceed 90%. This achievement not only significantly improves the quality of the effluent water, but also allows for the recovery and reuse of water, which means less consumption of fresh water and the protection of natural resources,” he added.

Javanshir described the development of hybrid membranes and nanocomposites as another key finding of this research, and said, “This new generation of membranes, by combining the advantages of different materials, offers superior performance and enables the design of customized solutions for specific types of wastewater.”

“The research showed that factors like acidity (pH), temperature and composition of the incoming water leave a direct impact on the efficiency of these membranes. To this end, the research has proposed the use of real-time monitoring systems that provide operators with the ability to adjust and optimize the treatment process by providing immediate data,” he noted.

In a relevant development in 2023, Iranian researchers had also succeeded in finding a cost-effective method for treating oily wastewater by using thermodynamic analysis and assessment of copolymer membrane’s performance.

“One of the most important benefits and achievements of the results of this project is saving time, energy and consumables in testing different copolymers in membrane processes,” said Afshin Hamta, a PhD student of Amirkabir University of Technology (AUT) and the project’s manager.

“Prediction of properties of the copolymer from the respective homopolymers makes it possible to use the previously obtained data and predict the expected properties of the copolymer,” he added.

“Improvement and modification of the proposed method and the presented models, to develop its application and use in all kinds of polymers, will be the result of this project,” Hamta said.

He underlined that introducing a model with the lowest possible error for predicting the properties of copolymer solutions, investigating the molecular behavior of copolymer solutions, and making copolymer membranes to treat oily wastewater with 99% separation are among the features of this project.

“The result of the project can be used in water industry and treatment of oily wastewater,” Hamta said.

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