Journal of Membrane Science & Technology

Abstract

Review on Membranes for the Filtration of Aqueous Based Solution: Oil in Water Emulsion

Gebrehiwet Abrham Gebreslase, Gauthier Bousquet and Denis Bouyer

This review provides insight into the application of membrane technology in the filtration of aqueous solution generated from different industries. Due to the ever-evolving and demanding strict attention to rules and regulation for discharging of oily waste water, researchers have investigated membrane technology as a best and suitable method for separation of oil in oil-water emulsion. Membrane-based separation processes are becoming a novel material to treat oily wastewater due its facile operation process and effective in removal of oil from oil/water emulsion. This review summarizes or highlights the recent development of advanced membrane technology employed to separate oil in water emulsion using polymer and ceramic-based membranes and modified membranes via blending, coating, grafting and other techniques. Moreover, integrated membranes system to achieve high separation efficiency over single membrane process is also discussed. Perspective and conclusions concerning the future development of filtration membranes for treatment of oil in water mixture are also provided. A review of membrane technology for oil/water emulsion treatment could have a substantial contribution in developing novel membranes and modification of the existed membranes.