Fabrication of ceramic membrane from local raw materials for treatment different wastes

Ceramic membrane is a membrane with high chemical and physical stability. In addition, it is very stable chemically, thermally and mechanically and it has a very high selective process without phase transformation. In this work successful fabrication of ceramic membrane through dry compaction method at rather low temperature from, local and available materials such as; local kaolin, fly ash from palm oil mills, chipboard powder wastes, and sand was achieved. Materials used were classified into 4 different composites with different proportions since ratios of the materials significantly affect the membrane properties. All samples were fabricated using mould mainly prepared to make cylindrical shape and pressing machine at approximate pressure of 10kN. After fabrication, all samples were subjected to further processing to increase the membrane physical, chemical and thermal properties. Sintering was applied to achieve this goal. Gradual increase in temperature was applied during the sintering process till it reached 1000 °C for almost 16 hrs. After the samples get into the desired shape, they are tested for different contaminants. UV-spectrophotometer was used to evaluate the removal efficiency of dyes whereas conductivity meter for the removal of ions. Best results obtained for the treated samples for methylene blue, methylene red and sodium chloride ion, were 96, 76 and 44% respectively. Throughout this study, it can be concluded that ceramic membrane provides physical treatment which is much better than chemical treatment as it does not produce any by-product.