Chemical Engineering October 2020 - 10

New process efficiently filters hormones from water
PBSAC oxygen content
D
rinking water can be contaminated
with micropollutants,
including steroid
hormones that are used as
medical substances and contraceptives.
Although their concentration in
wastewater may be only a few nanograms
per liter, this small amount
can already damage human health
and adversely affect the environment.
Due to the low concentration
and small size of the molecules, steroid
hormones not only are difficult
to detect, but also difficult to remove
- conventional sewage-treatment
technologies are not sufficient.
To handle this problem, professor
Andrea Iris Schäfer, head of the Karlsruhe
Institute of Technology's (KIT;
Germany; www.kit.edu) Institute for
Advanced Membrane Technology
(IAMT) and her team have developed
a process that combines ultrafiltration
(UF) with activated carbon adsorption
in a single filtration medium.
IAMT researchers have further developed
and improved this process
Steroid hormones
XPS-01s
H2OH2OH2O
UF
PBSAC
layer
IAMT-KIT
H2OH2OH2O
PBSAC diameter
Layer
thickness
Drinking water standard
Permeate volume
together with filter manufacturer
Blücher GmbH (Erkrath, Germany;
www.bluecher.com), while colleagues
from KIT's Institute of Functional Interfaces,
Institute for Applied Materials,
and the Karlsruhe Nano Micro Facility
characterized the material. The
study was published in the October
15 issue of Water Research.
In the process (diagram), water is
first pressed through a semipermeable
membrane that eliminates larger
impurities and microorganisms,
Schäfer explains. " Then, water flows
through the layer of carbon particles
behind (the membrane), which bind
the hormone molecules. "
Scientists used modified carbon
particles (polymer-based spheri540
535 530
Binding energy (eV)
cal
activated
carbon;
PBSAC). The key was
to determine the optimal
diameter of the carbon
particles. Using an
activated carbon layer
of 2-mm thickness, the
researchers decreased
the particle diameter from 640 to
80 µm and succeeded in eliminating
96% of the estradiol contained in
the water. By increasing the oxygen
concentration in the activated carbon,
adsorption kinetics was further
improved and a separation efficiency
of estradiol of more than 99% was
achieved. " The method allows for a
high water flowrate at low pressure,
is energy-efficient, and separates
many molecules without producing
any harmful byproducts, " says
Schäfer. " Our technology allows us
to reach the reference value of one
nanogram estradiol [the physiologically
most effective estrogen] per
liter drinking water proposed by the
European Commission. "
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CHEMICAL ENGINEERING WWW.CHEMENGONLINE.COM OCTOBER 2020
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Chemical Engineering October 2020

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