IAMT 05-22 Master Thesis: Zeolite immobilized ultrafiltration membranes for the removal of inorganic water contaminants

Organisationseinheit

Institute for Advanced Membrane Technology (IAMT)

Ihre Aufgaben

The consumption of drinking water contaminated with elevated levels of inorganic ions such
as fluoride, nitrate and uranium is a major health concern. A low energy filtration process
such as ultrafiltration (UF) would be a viable option for water treatment in remote areas, at the same time challenging as it cannot perform ion removal like nanofiltration or reverse osmosis. Composite UF membranes involving inorganic adsorbents such as zeolite would
enhance the ion removal ability.

This project is a part of a DFG funded collaborative programme with KNUST, Ghana. As the
synthesis of zeolites is feasible from the locally available clay materials in Ghana, treatment
of the local water using a low energy filtration route involving zeolite is more interesting.

The aim of this project is to establish the feasibility of using composite zeolite UF membranes for the removal of inorganic ion pollutants common in Ghana waters. The following specific task will be performed as a part of the project:

• establish the fundamental principles of adsorption by zeolites
• infiltrate the zeolite into a UF membrane
• Perform ultrafiltration experiments with a dead end stirred cell to evaluate the performance of zeolite composite membrane for ion removal
• Master student will have the opportunity to co-author a research publication, provided the results are promising
• Take part in group activities, oral presentation in group meeting and writing of reports (medium of all communications and writing will be in English)

Eintrittstermin

as soon as possible

Ihre Qualifikation