Assessing demineralization treatments for PVC effluent reuse in the resin polymerization step

作者：Blanco Laura; Hermosilla Daphne; Negro Carlos; Swinnen Nathalie; Prieto David; Blanco Angeles^*

来源：Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 2017, 24(20): 16631-16638.

DOI：10.1007/s11356-017-9217-9

• Effluent reuse
• PVC industry
• Polymerization process
• Polyvinyl alcohol
• Reverse osmosis
• Polyamide membranes
• Ionic exchange resins

To reduce fresh water consumption in a polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plant, the effluent from a biological treatment must be demineralized to be re-used in the resin polymerization process. Demineralization is a critical process, since the quality and the stability of the PVC resins are highly influenced by the water quality used in the process. The main target values for water parameters are the following: conductivity < 10 mu Scm(-1), TOC < 10 mg L-1, and Al < 0.1 mg L-1. To achieve this quality, several reverse osmosis membranes from different materials and suppliers were tested and compared in the demineralization treatment. Polyamide membranes showed higher salt rejection compared to cellulose acetate membranes yielding both types similar flux and permeability. Two-pass reverse osmosis treatment was necessary to reach conductivities lower than 10 mu S cm(-1). On the other hand, a good quality effluent for reuse was obtained by combining RO and ionic exchange resins. Results showed that good quality PVC resins in terms of color, granulometry, porosity, and bulk density were obtained when demineralized water from two-pass reverse osmosis was used as fresh water, proving the feasibility of the effluent reuse in the PVC industry.

• 出版日期2017-7