Preparation and Performance Studies on Polyethersulfone Ultrafiltration Membranes Modified with Gelatin for Treatment of Tannery and Distillery Wastewater

In this study polyethersulfone ultrafiltration membrane were prepared with the modifier gelatin at 0, 5, 10, 15 and 20 wt % using DMF as solvent by phase inversion process. Morphologies and characteristics of the membranes were investigated through the methods of SEM, XRD, contact angle measurements. The performance of the modified membrane for the treatment of leather and distillery wastewater through a deadend ultrafiltration process was studied. Morphological investigation showed that the 10% gelatin content in 90% PES results in a two layer structure with a porous top and homogeneous sub-layer with uniform number of pores on the surface. The pure water flux of the modified membrane increases with gelatin concentration, which results in better permeation for both leather and distillery wastewater. In addition to 80-90% reduction in BOD and COD, all modified PES UF membranes showed moderate removal of total suspended and dissolved solids, chlorides, sulphate, oil and grease, potassium, sodium and ammonical nitrogen, apart from color removal.