Sistemas de membranas de microfiltração/nanofiltração e ultrafiltração/osmose inversa: uma alternativa para a redução do nitrato em águas doces e salobras.

Abstract

One of the great challenges of the present time has been the conservation and maintenance of the bodies of water of the world, due to its contaminations due to human activities. The diversity of toxic substances of different natures are conveyed as sources of high risk diseases for all beings and vegetations of the planet. One of the preliminary points is access to basic sanitation that most Brazilian cities do not have and that carry their waste to surface and underground springs, leaving them with high rates of bacteria, including with increasing nitrate concentration in groundwater. The present work aims to study the performance of two membrane systems to reduce the concentration of nitrate present in waters of sweet and brackish wells, containing nitrate indices above the potability standards of Brazilian legislation. The performances of the microfiltration/nanofiltration and ultrafiltration/reverse osmosis membranes systems were studied as a function of their operating pressure limits for different levels of nitrate concentrations present in the aqueous media. The operating pressure levels for all studied waters were obtained using a Reverse Osmose System Analysis, which contributes to perform the experimental planning as a function of the operating pressures versus nitrate concentrations. In the first phase of the work the two systems operated with a nitrate solution in the range of 0,67 mg.L-1 ≤ [N-N03-] ≤ 23,3 mg.L-1 to explore the levels of nitrate rejection rates as a function of their pressures Operations. The performances of the two membrane systems were studied with fresh water from well contaminated with nitrate, LABDES network water supply and brackish water, both with addition of 20,8 mg.L-1 of nitrate. The results of the nitrate rejection rates for the two systems were compared according to the type of feed water and their levels of nitrate concentrations. It was observed that the ultrafiltration / reverse osmosis membrane system showed superior nitrate removal for all the studied cases when compared to those obtained by the microfiltration / nanofiltration system. Comparing the results to a common operating pressure for the two 3,2 bar membrane systems studied, the microfiltration/nanofiltration membrane system achieved a removal rate of 54,50% and the ultrafiltration/reverse osmosis system was 86,10% for a concentration of 20,8 mg.L-1 nitrate in freshwater well. It was observed that a reduction of nitrate and total solids dissolved in fresh water to the potability standards were significant for the ultrafiltration / reverse osmosis system than that of the microfiltration/nanofiltration system as a function of the operating pressure. With the help of MINITAB Version 17.0 the models were validated from the curves of the experimental data for the two systems of membranes studied.