the use of verbascum thapsus l as a biomembrane for activated sludge filtration

Membrane technology is a green technology, but it still faces a pressing problem related to the effect of fabrication materials on the environment. the plant verbascum thapsus l (vtl) was utilized as a biomembrane to reduce chemicals. in this study, vtl was successfully utilized as a membrane for activated sludge separation. the membrane was characterized via scanning electron microscopy (sem)edx, fourier transform infrared (ftir), and contact angle measurement. additionally, the effects of pressures on the fluxes and the rejection ability were studied. the permeability of the biobased membrane reached 581 l/m2 .h.bar. the vtl membrane was examined for the removal of chemical oxygen demand (cod), protein, and carbohydrate. accordingly, the maximum cod removal was obtained at a transmembrane pressure of 2.5 bar and reached up to 57%. the protein and carbohydrates rejections raised from 80% and 84% at 0.5 bar to 90% and 98% at 2.5 bar, respectively. the total resistance increased from 87% at a pressure of 0.5 bar to 96% at 2.5 bar. the flux recovery ratio (frr) for the membrane at working pressures (0.52.5 bar) was 96% for 0.5 bar and 70% for 2.5 bar. the physical cleaning showed a flux recovery after three operation cycles. at the end of the filtration experiments, the pressure variation along streamlines over the membrane crosssection was simulated. as a result of this study, the use of a naturallyderived membrane is considered a green technology. the plantbased membrane reduces the use of nongreen chemicals. moreover, vtl has no commercial value and is recognized as an invasive plant species. all of the previous issues made the study worthwhile.