US EPA

4239325 

Journal Article 

Design of a Hybrid Nanofiltration/Electrooxidation Process for the Removal of Perfluorohexanoic Acid (PFHxA) 

Soriano, A; Gorri, D; Urtiaga, Ane 

2017 

1 

Computer - Aided Chemical Engineering
ISSN: 1570-7946
EISSN: 2543-1331 

Elsevier B.V. 

Computer Aided Chemical Engineering 

40 

1129-1134 

English 

10.1016/B978-0-444-63965-3.50190-2 

WOS:000417380000190 

The present work analyses a pilot scale hybrid nanofiltration/electrooxidation process for the removal of persistent perfluorohexanoic acid (PFHxA) from industrial process waters. A mathematical model was developed enabling the simulation and scale-up of the independent nanofiltration (NF) and electrooxidation (ELOX) units. Commercial spiral wound membrane modules and recirculation strategies were implemented in the NF simulation. One single NF unit and a cascade of NF stages were compared. A battery of serial-parallel electrochemical cells was designed for the ELOX system. The simulations showed that the electrochemical treatment is, when one and two NF stages are used, the most energy demanding process. Adding more NF stages increased noticeably the contribution of NF to the global energy consumption. The NF preconcentration strategy was able to reduce significantly the ELOX energy consumption (up to 86 %) and the overall energy demand. The hybrid NF/ELOX process is foreseen as a beneficial strategy to reduce the energy consumption of large-scale electrochemical processes aimed at the treatment of waters polluted by persistent organic compounds. 

Electrochemical oxidation; Nanofiltration; Process integration; Minimization of energy demand; Perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs)