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Studies on ultrafiltration of spent sulfite liquor

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Desalination 174 (2005) 287297

Studies on ultrafiltration of spent sulfite liquor using various

membranes for the recovery of lignosulphonates
P.K. Bhattacharyaa*, R.K. Todib, M. Tiwaria, C. Bhattacharjeec,
S. Bhattacharjeec, S. Dattac
a

Department of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur 208 016, India
Tel. +91 (512) 259-7093; email: pkbhatta@iitk.ac.in
b
Supreme Paper Mills, Kolkata 700 017, India
c
Department of Chemical Engineering, Jadavpur University, Kolkata 700 032, India
email: c_bhatta@rediffmail.com
Received 17 June 2004; accepted 20 September 2004

Abstract
Concentration and purification of lignosulphonates (LS) present in spent sulfite liquor (SSL) obtained from the
paper industry were carried out through ultrafiltration (UF). The salts of lignosulphonic acid, a product of acid
hydrolysis of lignin, are a major component of technical LS. In respect of molecular weight composition, LS represent
a polydispersed system with a wide range of molecular weight distributions, from 200 to 150,000 Da. They have good
adhesive properties and are used as plasticizers, peptizers, and stabilizers in the industry. The usefulness of LS is
dependent on the molecular weight composition. Higher molecular weight LS fractions show properties of amorphous
polymeric substances, which may have much industrial use. Diafiltration operation was used for purification of LS.
The LS present in SSL were estimated using different membranes (polysulphone, cellulose acetate, fluoropolymer) of
varied cut-off sizes (1 K, 5 K, 10 K, 20 K, 25 K, 50 K and 100 K). Sharp cut-off membranes in between 20 K and
100 K Da show close rejections (8084%). The effect of different operating conditions such as different transmembrane
pressures, dilution of SSL, membrane materials and different cut-off sizes was studied on flux and rejection. The effect
of sharp and diffused cut-off membranes on flux and rejection was also studied. Continuous diafiltration (CD) was
conducted over a high MWCO membrane (GR100K). It was observed that CD with a sharp cut-off membrane gave
steady flux and a very good rejection of LS.
Keywords: Ultrafiltration; Transmembrane pressure; Molecular weight cut-off; Membrane material; Spent sulfite
liquor; Lignosulphonates; Rejection

*Corresponding author.

0011-9164/05/$ See front matter 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

288

P.K. Bhattacharya et al. / Desalination 174 (2005) 287297

1. Introduction
Spent sulfite liquor (SSL) has always been a
major concern to the paper industry for its disposal and any sort of recovery of its constituents.
The paper industry is a major consumer of water
and consumes around 0.1 million tons of water
per ton of finished paper. The present practice of
most of the pulp and paper industries is to treat
these effluents in an inefficient way (aeration,
liming, etc.), and then disposing of it into nearby
water systems. This poses serious environmental
problems with flouting of environmental laws.
With the rising demand for competing technologies and stricter government rules to combat
environmental pollution, extensive research has
been carried out all over the world to develop
treatment schemes for paper mill wastes which
could both be economical as well as efficient.
Membrane technology has gained much attention
as a practical process for concentration and purification of macromolecular species in aqueous
solutions. Although applications in the pulp and
paper industry normally present severe conditions
for the membranes, many researchers are investigating their feasibility.
Studies have been carried out for effective
separation of dissolved solids such as lignosulphonates (LS) on one hand and clear reusable
water on the other using membrane processes
such as ultrafiltration (UF), nanofiltration (NF)
and reverse osmosis (RO), and effectively combining one such process with other. Some
researchers [1] demonstrated that the total solids
(TS) of SSL could be concentrated from 6% to
12% with a flux of about 40 L/m2.h by RO, and
membrane lifetime of more than a year was
obtained with efficient membrane cleaning two to
six times a week. It was also reported [2] that a
full-scale UF plant with a membrane area of
1,120 m2 was installed at Borregaard Industries
(Sarpsbog, Norway) calcium bisulphate pulp mill
in 1981. The UF plant processes 50 m3/h of feed
liquor with 12% solids, and produces a retentate

stream of 16 m3/h and 22% solids. The nominal

cut-off of the polysulfone membranes used in the
plant was 20 kDa. The membranes are cleaned
once a day by recycling an alkaline detergent
solution through the plant. The average membrane lifetime was 15 months [2].
UF, a pressure-driven rate governed membrane separation process in which components of
a mixture are separated by preferential transport
of solutes through membrane, has been used to
separate spent liquor into purified fractions of
lignosulphonates and sugars [36]. RO has also
been extensively used for concentration of sulfite
liquor and bleach plant effluent [69]. A combination of UF and continuous diafiltration has
been used to purify lignosulphonates [10,11].
Lignin recovery and fractionation by UF were
studied by several researchers [12,13].
Though the UF process has been used worldwide to recover LS from SSL, a complete, neat
and economical technology has yet to be evolved.
Further, pressure-driven membrane operations
have a significant limitation in terms of flux
decline [14], which is largely dependent on the
type of polymeric membrane, solute species and
operating conditions. The nature of membranes
has an extremely important role to play in
pressure-driven membrane separation processes.
Flux decline is usually explained with the help
of various phenomena such as concentration
polarization (CP), gel layer formation, adsorptive
fouling, membrane fouling, pore plugging, etc.
Out of these, all of them may be present in
combination or some of them may only be present in any specific case of membrane operation.
Membrane fouling can be reversible or irreversible, depending upon the type of solute
membrane interaction. One of the major causes
for flux decline in any pressure-driven membrane
separation processes like UF is the CP phenomenon, which cannot be avoided but can be appreciably controlled by the optimization of operating
process variables and properly selecting the
membrane. Bhattacharjee and Bhattacharya [15]

P.K. Bhattacharya et al. / Desalination 174 (2005) 287297

made an attempt in predicting the flux of an

asymmetric cellulose acetate membrane in a
stirred batch cell. The UF flux was 45 L/m2.h
under a condition of 830 kPa for 20 g/L of TS of
Kraft black liquor. Although the predicted flux
values remained within 7% of the experimental
flux values, the predictions were based on the few
experimental data available, and an extension of
the results could only be limited.
The present work was undertaken in an
attempt to study the purification of LS from SSL
using UF while observing the influence of process variables on flux and rejection and the
compatibility of different polymeric membranes
with SSL. It has been also attempted to develop
a scheme for the purification of LS using UF and
diafiltration. Detailed results are available elsewhere [16].

2. Materials and methods

2.1. Spent sulfite liquor (SSL)
SSL was used as feed material in this study.
This effluent is generated during wood pulping in
mills using agricultural waste materials, soft
woods, and fir as feed using a sulfite chemical
pulping process. In fact, quite a few of the smallscale plants in India have adopted the sulfitepulping process as they are generally located near
agricultural zones for easy availability of agricultural residues as raw materials. The SSL used
for this study was obtained from Rani Nagar
Paper and Boards Pvt. Ltd, Kolkata. The raw
material here for manufacturing writing-grade
paper is based on rice and jute straw (rice straw
90%, and jute straw 10%). However, the used
SSL was based exclusively on rice straw. The
SSL had a total dissolved solids content of
4.42%. The composition of pulping liquor was
Na2SO3 (80%), NaOH (20%) and anthraquinone
(0.1%) at pH 8.5 with 9% chemicals based on raw
material. The bath ratio was 1:3:5, and the cooking carried out for 3 h (before 1 h for steaming) at

289

Table 1
Characteristics of spent sulfite liquor
Constituents

Percentage

Total dissolved
4.42
solids
Lignosulphonates 38.0% TDS basis
Sulphated ash
31.6% TDS basis
Sulphur
Silica
Na2SO4

0.02% TDS basis

1.4 TDS basis
7.5 TDS basis

Procedure
TAPPI:
T629 os-53

TAPPI:
T629 os-53
-do-do-do-

Table 2
List of membranes used and their characteristics
Membrane Supplier

Material

MWCO used

CA

Cellulose
acetate
Polysulphone
Fluoro
polymer

1K, 5K, 10K,

20K
5K, 10K, 20K,
25K, 50K, 100K
10K, 50K, 100K

GR
FS

Spectrum,
USA
DSS,
Denmark
DSS,
Denmark

160C (approximately 7 atm). The SSL was

analyzed as per the standard Tappi procedures to
its most common and required constituents,
which are summarized in Table 1.
2.2. Membranes
Various types of UF membranes with different MWCO were used in this study; they are
listed in Table 2. The specifications of GR
(polysulfone) and FS (fluorocarbon) membranes
are given in Table 3 and that of Spectrum
membranes (cellulose acetate) are listed in
Table 4.
2.3. Equipment
A stirred UF cell which can be operated both
in batch and continuous mode has been designed
and built. The material of the cell is SS316 with

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P.K. Bhattacharya et al. / Desalination 174 (2005) 287297

Table 3
Characteristics of GR and FS membranes
Type

Membrane
material

MWCO
(10!3)

Water flux
(l/m2.h)

Operable
pH range

Temp. range
(C)

Pressure
range (bar)

GR40PP
GR51PP
GR60PP
GR61PP
GR81PP
FS40PP
FS50PP
FS81PP

Polysulphone
Polysulphone
Polysulphone
Polysulphone
Polysulphone
Fluoropolymer
Fluoropolymer
Fluoropolymer

100
50
25
20
10
100
50
10

300600
275525
250450
275475
100325
300800
300700
200500

113
113
113
113
113
111
111
111

075
075
075
075
075
111
111
111

010
010
010
010
010
010
010
010

Table 4
Characteristics of CA membranes
Type

Spectra/Por; C5
Spectrum Medical Industries, USA

Nature

Flat disc, asymmetric, anisotropic

and hydrophilic

Diameter

76 mm

MWCO

1000, 5000, 10000, 20000 sharp

Composition

Cellulose acetate material

pH range

210

Maximum temp., 90C

Support

Highly porous, 150 to 300 m

Skin

To 0.5 m

Sterilization

By formalin or hydrogen peroxide

Storage

In 12% formaldehyde

a filter diameter of 76 mm and an effective filtration area of 26.4 cm2. The cell was fitted with a
mechanical stirrer with a diameter of 56 mm and
height of the stirrer above the membrane of
30 mm. For operation in batch mode, the transmembrane pressure was controlled by an air compressor (range 1760 kPa) while for continuous
mode experimentation, the pressure and flow of
feed were controlled using a metering pump and
backpressure regulator. Adjusting the voltage

supply to the motor through a variac, the stirrer

speed was controlled.
2.4. Calibration of LS concentration in SSL using
an UV spectrophotometer
The precipitation of LS from SSL was carried
out by adding concentrated sulphuric acid to the
spent liquor. The precipitated solids were collected on Whatman-42 filter paper by filtration
and were thoroughly washed. The solids were
dried in an oven, and standard solutions of different concentrations were prepared using 0.1 N
NaOH as solvent. Noting the absorbances against
the various concentrations of solutions, the calibration curve was prepared.
2.5. Procedure
2.5.1. Compaction of the membrane
Compaction of the membrane is an essential
step of any membrane process. All the membranes, before use, were compacted at a pressure
of 760 kPa (higher than the highest operating
pressure) with distilled water until a constant
value of intrinsic hydraulic resistance, Rm, was
obtained. This is because the UF membranes are
plastic and yield under pressure. Rm is therefore a

P.K. Bhattacharya et al. / Desalination 174 (2005) 287297

function of pressure history also. After compaction water flux was measured at four different
pressures to determine the value of Rm.
2.5.2. UF experiments for a flux and rejection
study
Numerous UF experiments were conducted in
stirred cells to observe flux and rejection against
time for different process variables such as pressure, feed concentration and MWCOs of different
membrane materials.
To compare the UF of SSL using various
polymeric membranes, experiments were carried
out in a stirred UF cell. The stirrer speed was kept
constant at 550 rpm and the pressure was kept
uniform at 690 kPa. The experiments were run in
two different modes (continuous and batch).
An extensive study was conducted to observe
the influence of different operating variables on
flux and rejection in the UF of SSL. These include dilution of feed SSL, transmembrane pressure (TMP), and MWCO of membranes. For all
cases the stirrer speed was kept constant at
550 rpm. Experiments were carried out in continuous mode to study the effect of dilution under
a constant pressure of 690 kPa. The CA10K
membrane was chosen for study at three different
dilutions (0, 2, and 5 times diluted SSL).
To study the effect of pressure as an operating
variable, experiments were conducted in batch at
a stirrer speed of 550 rpm. The FS50K membrane
was chosen for this study and a feed of five times
diluted SSL was taken. Studies were conducted
for three different pressures: 690 kPa, 414 kPa
and 207 kPa.
Experiments were also conducted in batchmode to study the influence of cut-off size on
flux and rejection. Am UF stirred cell at a stirrer
speed of 550 rpm was used. Pressure (690 kPa),
initial feed volume (600 ml) and feed dilution
(five times diluted SSL) were kept uniform. The
whole set of GR membranes available and FS
(50K, 100K) membranes were used to study the

291

influence of cut-off size on permeate flux and

rejection.
2.5.3. UF experiments for molecular mass
distribution of SSL
UF was carried out for a molecular mass
distribution (MMD) study at a pressure of
207 kPa, stirrer speed of 950 rpm with five-times
diluted SSL using various membranes and different MWCO sizes. The compacted membrane was
placed at the bottom of the cell and then 600 ml
of five-times diluted SSL was introduced into the
cell. Adjusting the voltage supply through a
variac set stirrer speed and the rpm was measured
by a digital tachometer. The permeate flux was
measured with time. Permeate concentration was
estimated by measuring lignosulphonate absorbance at 280 nm with a UV spectrophotometer
(Shimatzu UV-1601 model). All experiments
were run for a period of 60 min, and flux
rejection values were noted at periods of 10 min.
Some MMD experiments were also conducted
in continuous mode at a pressure of 670 kPa and
at a stirrer speed of 550 rpm. Around 2 L of fivetimes diluted SSL were placed in the feed tank,
which is connected to the UF cell through a
pump. Pressure was controlled using a backpressure regulator. Permeate was recycled back to
the feed tank. Permeate flux was noted and its
absorbance measured. Accordingly, rejections
were calculated after every 15 min of the run until
steady state was reached. After each run the
whole cell was thoroughly rinsed with distilled
water. The membrane was washed meticulously
and its permeability was checked. This procedure
was repeated for each set of experiments.
2.5.4. Diafiltration
A continuous diafiltration (CD) experiment
was conducted using five-times diluted SSL. The
GR100K membrane was selected for this purpose. A higher MWCO membrane was used to
obtain higher flux and lesser process time. An

292

P.K. Bhattacharya et al. / Desalination 174 (2005) 287297

initial feed volume of 2000 ml was taken. After

certain amounts of permeate solution (around 5
10 ml) had been removed, an equal amount of
water was added to the feed tank. The TMP was
kept constant at 690 kPa with a stirrer speed at
550 rpm. The permeate flux and the permeate
solution concentration were measured.
2.6. Membrane cleaning
After each experiment the following cleaning
protocol was followed. The membrane was
thoroughly washed for 20 min under running
water, then soaked in deionised water for 6 h and
then again thoroughly washed for 20 min. In each
case the water flux was restored to 9899% of its
original value.

Fig. 1. Effect of MWCO size on flux.

3. Results and discussion

3.1. Comparative behavior of flux and rejection
for different polymeric membranes
Prior to the experiment, water runs were taken
at different pressures using all the membranes
after compacting them. The value of Rm for each
membrane was calculated by averaging the pure
water flux data at different TMP. The Rm values
thus obtained were found to be 4.31013 m!1,
4.341012 m!1 and 3.871012 m!1 for the CA10K,
FS50K and FS100K membranes, respectively,
and 5.571012 m!1 and 4.921012 m!1 for GR50K
and GR100K, respectively.
The CA10K membrane was used in the
continuous mode UF experiments in a stirred cell
using different dilutions of SSL. To compare the
behavior of different polymeric membranes, UF
of five-times diluted SSL was carried out in a
stirred cell (stirrer speed 550 rpm) with initial
feed volume (600 ml), and pressure (690 kPa) for
the complete set of GR membranes (5K, 10K,
20K, 25K, 50K, 100K) and two FS membranes
(50K, 100K). Figs. 1 and 2 give a comparison of
GR membranes with different MWCO sizes.

Fig. 2. Effect of MWCO size on rejection and comparison

of different membranes.

Average rejection values were plotted in Fig. 2 in

comparison with Fig. 1 where instantaneous
fluxes were plotted. It may be observed that the
GR5K, 10K and 20K membranes gave a low
permeate flux even though the rejection of LS
through these membranes were reasonably high.
The GR25K, 50K and 100K membranes showed
high rejection values as well as high fluxes. Thus,
these three membranes may be recommended for
UF of SSL.
The overall maximum flux was observed
while using the FS100K membrane in the above
experiment. The value of this flux was 18.55
10!6 m3/m2.s, though the rejection was much less.

P.K. Bhattacharya et al. / Desalination 174 (2005) 287297

Fig. 3. Comparison of flux behavior of high MWCO GR

and FS membranes.

293

150,000 Da. With this in mind, a study of UF on

SSL over membranes with higher MWCO (50K
and 100K) was also conducted. Figs. 3 and 4 give
a comparison over the GR (50K and 100K) and
FS (50K and 100K) membranes. It was observed
that FS membranes gave better fluxes as compared to GR membranes though the rejection
values for FS membranes were far lower in comparison to GR membranes for the reason stated
earlier.
Therefore, the selection of membranes for the
recovery of LS from SSL with regard to trade-off
between flux and rejection values for different
polymers is finally a matter of choice rather than
a problem of optimization. A higher permeate
flux is needed to minimize the process time.
Higher is the rejection of LS higher will be the
yield of operation. Such a high recovery of LS
may not always be desirable in terms of purity.
The higher the yield, the lower the average molecular weight of the LS. It was observed that a
higher MWCO size membrane (50K and 100K)
gave better results in terms of flux.
3.2. Influence of operating variables on flux and
rejection of SSL

Fig. 4. Comparison of rejection of high MWCO GR and

FS membranes.

The FS100K membrane allowed a wide range of

LS to pass through. This is due to the fact that FS
membranes are diffused cut-off membranes. In
comparison to sharp cut-off membranes, a diffused cut-off membrane is relatively less tight and
thus results in higher values of permeate flux.
It has been discussed earlier that LS represents
a polydispersed system with wide range of
molecular weight distribution from 200 to

3.2.1. Effect of dilution

Figs. 5 and 6 show the results of the effect of
dilution on flux and rejection, respectively, for
the continuous mode operation. It may be observed that with dilution, permeate flux increased
while rejection decreased. Dilution is continuously clearing the pores blocked by low molecular weight LS, thereby giving lower rejection.
From the HagenPoiseuille equation for a streamline flow through channels, the following equation, frequently used to describe the fluid flow
through microporous membranes, may be
derived.
(1)

294

P.K. Bhattacharya et al. / Desalination 174 (2005) 287297

Fig. 5. Effect of dilution on flux (continuous mode

operation).

Fig. 6. Effect of dilution on rejection (continuous mode

operation).

Fig. 7. Effect of pressure on flux.

Fig. 8. Effect of pressure on rejection.

Higher dilution results in lower feed concentration, thereby giving lower concentration polarization near the membrane surface. Because of
lower boundary layer resistance against flow
(hence, a low )x), permeate flux increased.
Further, at lower feed concentration viscosity
decreases, thereby increasing the flux.

and rejection also increase. An increase of flux

with pressure may be explained from the following phenomenological equation, which may be
obtained by combining an osmotic pressure
model and a resistance-in-series model:

3.2.2. Effect of pressure

The effect of pressure on flux and rejection is
depicted in Figs. 7 and 8. It was observed from
both figures that with an increase in pressure, flux

(2)
The Ra values were calculated using Eq. (2) from
the steady-state flux obtained at different operating conditions and for different membranes. The

P.K. Bhattacharya et al. / Desalination 174 (2005) 287297

value of Ra was found to increase with an increase

in operating pressure. The value of Ra for the
FS50K membrane increased from 2.261013 m!1
against the operating pressure of 414 kPa to
3.471013 m!1 against the operating pressure of
690 kPa while taking five-times diluted SSL as
feed material.
The value of Ra was found to decrease with an
increase in dilution. Using the CA10K membrane
at a pressure of 690 kPa in a stirred UF cell, the
Ra value decreased from 5.851013 m!1 with zero
dilution to 3.811013 with two times dilution and
1.011013 with five times dilution.
It was observed from the data that the rate of
increase of flux with pressure becomes less as
pressure increases gradually to a high value, and
ultimately it should reach the limiting flux.
This fact may be explained from the following
equation that may be obtained for a high rejecting
membrane (Cp = 0):

(3)

Now with an increase in pressure, J increases, but

this, in turn, increases the membrane surface concentration and correspondingly the Bm [the second
term in the numerator of Eq. (3)], which partly
compensates for the increase in )P. An increase
in rejection with pressure may also be explained
based on similar logic. Increased pressure causes
more flux, and hence more solute rejection, thus
increasing the polarized layer thickness which
acts as a secondary membrane, increasing solute
rejection simply by a sieving mechanism or
hindrance in the solute transport.
3.2.3. Effect of different cut-off sizes
The experimental results obtained are shown
in Figs. 1 and 2. From the results it can be
inferred that the higher MWCO GR membranes
(25K, 50K, and 100K) gave higher flux as well as

295

reasonably high rejection (approximately 80%).

On the contrary, FS 100K showed very low rejection (approximately 56%). This again confirmed
that FS100K membranes are diffused cut-off
membranes.
For the same operating conditions and the
same membrane material, different Ra values
were obtained with different membrane cut-off
sizes, e.g., GR50K and GR100K membranes
exhibited Ra values of 6.621013 m!1 and 3.66
1013 m!1 using five-times diluted SSL in a batch
stirred cell at 690 kPa pressure.
3.3. MMD of SSL using a stirred UF cell
The histogram in Fig. 2 gives a plot between
average percentage rejection and MWCO as well
as membrane type. It can be observed that almost
all the membranes (except FS100K and CA20K)
gave rejections above 80%. Further 1K and 5K
membranes showed very high rejections (approximately 90%). However, rejections obtained from
membranes beyond 20K MWCO did not vary
much. Therefore, it may be concluded that the
majority (above 80%) of LS molecules present in
SSL have a molecular weight more than or equal
to 100 kDa. The FS 100K membrane, being a
diffused cut-off membrane, gave much lower
rejection.
3.4. Diafiltration
Continuous diafiltration was carried out to
purify LS present in the SSL such that higher
MWs of LS were obtained in the final retentate
product. It was observed that as volume permeation continued, the probability of the particle
passing through the membrane changed. Fig. 9
gives the relationship between P and VD obtained.
The trend was mathematically fitted in the form
of the following equation:
(4)

296

P.K. Bhattacharya et al. / Desalination 174 (2005) 287297

Fig. 11. Plot of rejection and yield values against volume

permeated in CD operation.

Fig. 9. Relationship between P and VD.

(6)

The permeate flux vs. time is plotted in

Fig. 10. The rejection and yield vs. volume permeated are plotted in Fig. 11. It has been seen
that a 99% rejection could be achieved with this
process.

Fig. 10. Plot of experimental flux data against time for the
continuous diafiltration process.

As the P (probability, Cp/CB) changes with VD,

the yield (CR/Co) therefore must change with
rejection in a pattern which would be interesting
to observe. A mass balance for this CD operation
with varying P would lead to the following
equation:

(5)
Substituting P from Eq. (4) into Eq. (5) and
integrating,

4. Conclusions
It has been observed that high MWCO GR
membranes are very suitable for UF of SSL for
the recovery of lignosulphonates. The permeate
flux and rejection are both quite satisfactory in
batch, continuous and CD experiments. It was
also seen that more than 80% of LS present in
SSL have molecular weights more than or equal
to 100 kDa, which could be of industrial importance. For the recovery of lignosulphonate, stagewise discontinuous diafiltration (DD) may also be
performed, though this is beyond the purview of
this paper. The permeating solutions thus obtained from CD and DD may further be processed
for the recovery of water.

P.K. Bhattacharya et al. / Desalination 174 (2005) 287297

5. Symbols
C
CB
Co
CR
CP
J
K
)Pappl

)Peff
r
Ra
Rm
VD
Vo
VP
)x

Solute concentration, kmol/m3

Bulk solute concentration, kmol/m3
Solute concentration in initial feed,
kmol/m3
Solute concentration in retentate,
kmol/m3
Permeate concentration, kmol/m3
Permeate flux, m3/m2.s
Mass transfer coefficient, m3/m2.s
Applied transmembrane pressure,
N/m2
Effective transmembrane pressure,
N/m2
Mean pore radius, m
Adsorptive resistance, m!1
Intrinsic hydraulic resistance, m!1
Ratio of volume permeated to initial
feed volume (Vp/Vo)
Initial feed volume, m3
Volume permeated, m3
Membrane skin thickness, m

Greek

g
:
)B

Surface porosity of membrane

Viscosity of fluid permeating membrane, kg/m.s
Osmotic pressure difference, N/m2

Acknowledgements
The cooperation of Rani Nagar Paper and
Board Pvt. Ltd., Kolkata, is thankfully acknowl-

297

edged. One of the authors (PKB) acknowledges

funding received from the Indo-French Centre for
Promotion of Advanced Research (IFCPAR) in
partial support of this work.
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[5] M.P. Drouin and M.J. Desroches, AIChE J., 2 (1988)
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