Resources, Conservation and Recycling 31 (2000) 189197

www.elsevier.com/locate/resconrec

Membrane separation for wastewater reuse in

the textile industry
G. Ciardelli *, L. Corsi, M. Marcucci
Tecnotessile s.r.l., 6ia del Gelso 13, I-59100 Prato, Italy
Received 7 April 2000; accepted 30 June 2000

Abstract
A technical and economical analysis of the application of a membrane separation
technique for the purification of wastewaters aimed at their reuse is described. The investigation has been carried out by treating wastewaters of a pilot plant, reproducing on a smaller
scale a separation system based on ultrafiltration and reverse osmosis. Significant indications
for the exploitation of this approach on the fulling industrial scale were gained during the
work. The effluent from dyeing and finishing plants, after activated sludge oxidation, was
treated at an 800 l/h by means of sand filtration, followed by a separation in an ultrafiltration membrane module. The last separation step, reverse osmosis at 8 bar pressure, produced
a permeate (60% of the inlet flow) that, relying on the analytical screening performed, was
of much better quality with respect to process water presently in use. Therefore the permeate
produced can be re-used in all production steps, including the most demanding ones
concerning water quality such as dyeing with light coloration. A preliminary analysis of
investment and operating costs also gave encouraging indications of the economic feasibility
of the approach. 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Color removal; Reverse osmosis; Textile wastewaters; Ultrafiltration; Wastewater management; Water reuse

1. Introduction
Wet processes in the textile industries require water of very good quality
concerning the content of dyes, detergents, and suspended solids. Therefore, a
* Corresponding author. Tel.: +39-0574-634040; fax: + 39-0574-634045.
E-mail address: tecnotex@tecnotex.it (G. Ciardelli).
0921-3449/01/$ - see front matter 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
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purification treatment to recycle water must have a better performance than for
simple discharge according to the limits imposed by legislation.
In order to meet legislative requirements, textile wastewaters are usually treated
in a chemical physical, or most commonly, in an activated sludge biochemical
plant. In order to have water that can be recycled in production cycles, especially
dyeing processes, water needs further treatments (Klose, 1993).
In a previous paper (Ciardelli and Ranieri, 1998), we reported the positive results
concerning the application of ozone treatment for the purification of textile
wastewater for re-use. This research background has been recently translated into
the realization of industrial plants for the full implementation of the technique. It
is interesting to see if this approach can be combined to the application of
membrane technology for a more efficient management and recycle of textile dyeing
and fulling plant water resources. The approach based on: (1) ozonization plant for
bioresistant pollutant oxidation; and (2) ultrafiltration and reverse osmosis membrane treatment is schematized in Fig. 1 and compared to the present management
of wastewater in the dyeing and finishing textile plant.
This paper is concerned with the results of the experimentation of ultrafiltration
and reverse osmosis techniques on dyeing and fulling textile wastewaters. The pilot
plant used was designed to reproduce an industrial treatment facility on a reduced
scale. Experiments were run in order to gain information on:
the decrease of several analytic parameters concerning water polluting content;
membrane hydraulic performance during experimentation; and
water recycle possibilities at the operating conditions which guarantee optimum
cost/benefit ratio.
The interest in membrane processing various industrial applications is increasing
thanks to the more recent technological innovations that render them reliable and
economically feasible in respect to other alternative systems. The design of the
effluent pre-treatment step (coagulation, sand filtration, disinfection) is crucial to

Fig. 1. Present (a) and proposed (b) wastewater management for a dyeing and finishing textile plant.

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191

guarantee a good and constant performance of the membranes efficiency (Coste et

al., 1996).
Membranes are made of several materials and can be liquid or solid, of natural
or synthetic origin. They can be made of inorganic (ceramic) or organic (polymeric)
materials. Polymeric (cellulose acetate, polysulphone, polyamide, polyvinyldene
fluoride) membranes, for their characteristics, seem to be the most promising for
application in the field of textile wastewaters. The state of the art in the field of
membranes is currently anisotrope (asymmetric) membranes.
Anisotrope membranes present a thin film that avoids the entrapment of suspended solids into the membrane body and are therefore less subject to aging and
flow reduction than symmetric membranes.
A recent development concerns composite membranes where a thin film with
small pores is laid on a classical asymmetric membrane. This kind of membrane,
originally developed for reverse osmosis, is also currently finding application in
ultrafiltration.
Membrane configurations are usually classified depending on the kind of modules
adopted. One of the most common is the spiral wound module. Having cylindrical
form, it wraps the membrane in itself with a net that avoids membrane-to-membrane contact and lets the feed flow. The flow of the concentrate is parallel to the
axis of the membrane module while the permeate flows through the membrane in
a radial direction (cross-flow), reaches a collector, and then flows axially in a
separate circuit.
One of the most recurring problems in membrane plants, also in the textile field,
is the progressive worsening of the quality of permeate produced. The flow
reduction has to be ascribed to a reversible (concentration polarization) or irreversible (fouling) increased resistance of the membrane to the permeate flow.
Membrane disinfection is necessary to avoid biofouling of the membrane surface,
but reverse osmosis is not usually resistant to the more common chlorine-based
disinfecting agents. Chemical cleaning with detergents and acid and basic solutions
is an alternative approach.
Membrane technology has found several industrial applications, supported by
sufficient literature references, especially for ultrafiltration. The most important
ones concern the treatment of tannery and textile wastes, oily emulsions, and
electrophoretic painting (Denaro, 1993). Membrane processes have been screened
for the treatment and reuse of effluents mainly from textile dyebaths (Drioli, 1992;
Buckley, 1992).
Ultrafiltration allows for water clarification and disinfection, without by-products, in a single step and with a constant permeate quality. Ultrafiltration separates
particles or molecules of dimensions higher than 1 nm and operating pressures
ranging from 2 to 10 bar. It removes bacteria, viruses, proteins and some sugars
from effluents without possibility of re-growth after treatment (Gadani et al., 1996).
Reverse osmosis is another membrane process with a history in industrial
applications in the removal of salts from solutions, furnishing an almost deionized
water (Marinas, 1991).

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2. Materials and methods

2.1. Industrial effluents tested

Wastewaters treated were coming from two dyeing and finishing plants used to
dye fabrics, hanks, skeins, tops and flocks of different natural and synthetic fibers
and a mixture of both. Effluents were first pre-treated by means of a biological
activated sludge plant.

2.2. Membranes
A Trisep 8040-UE50-TXA membrane, of the spiral wound type (with fiberglass
outer wrap), was used for the ultrafiltration step. The membrane is 200 mm in
diameter and 1000 mm in length and has a filtrating surface of 23 m2. Characteristic
molecular weight cut-off is 100 kDa.
A module, with two Toray polyamide membranes of the spiral wound type
placed in series, was used for reverse osmosis. Each membrane is of 100 mm
diameter and 1000 mm length and has a filtrating surface of 54 m2.

2.3. Pilot plant

The pilot plant installed consisted in three stages: sand filtration, ultrafiltration,
and reverse osmosis.
A part of the effluent from the biological plant was sent to the sand filter (3 bar
pressure) which had an output of 800 l/h. The filter was washed every 15 h.
Water from sand filtration was stored in a tank and then sent to the ultrafiltration module at 4 bar relative pressure. A total of 10% of total flow was the
permeate of the ultrafiltration step while the rest is sent back to the storage tank.
The average flow of the ultrafiltration step was 550 600 l/h. The membrane was
chemically washed as soon as the hydraulic performance worsened. Chemicals
tested were:
alkaline detergent, containing phosphonated and non-ionic detergents (5%) and
EDTA (5 15%);
alkaline detergent, containing sodium hydroxide;
neutral pH anionic detergent; and
acid detergent with nitric and phosphoric acid.
The ultrafiltrated effluent was stored in a second tank and sent at 8 bar pressure to
the reverse osmosis module at an inlet flow of 500 l/h (40% concentrate for
discharge; 60% of permeate for reuse).

2.4. Effluents analysis

Chemical oxygen demand (COD), color content, conductivity, detergents, suspended solids, microbiological examination, pH, Redox potential were determined.
In some cases other specific parameters as anions (chlorides, sulphates), metal-ions,
S.D.I. (Silt Density Index), and turbidity were determined.

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193

Fig. 2. Characteristic ultrafiltration permeate water flow.

3. Results

3.1. Membrane hydraulic performance

First trials were focused on the optimization and checking of performances for
the ultrafiltration step which played a decisive role for the success of the treatment.
It has in fact a discontinuous operating cycle, because the treatment is interrupted
for discharge and cleaning with chemicals.Even after chemical cleaning, the initial
of initial flow (1200 l/h) was not obtained in the subsequent cycles, but the initial
value was stabilized at 800 l/h. The working cycle observed lasted for  80 h
with a final flow value of 400 450 l/h (mean value 550 600 l/h corresponding to a
specific flow of 20 25 (l/h)/m2). The characteristic evolution of the water flow with
its operating time is shown in Fig. 2.
The reverse osmosis process worked with constant mechanical and hydraulic
parameters. A total of 40% of the feed was discharged as concentrate as defined in
the water treatment strategy of the plant.

3.2. Contaminant remo6al

To test the performance of the various treatment steps, sampling of the effluents
was performed at the following six points:
(1) sand filtration inlet; and (2) sand filtration outlet;
(3) ultrafiltration permeate outlet; and (4) ultrafiltration concentrate discharge;
(5) reverse osmosis permeate outlet; and (6) reverse osmosis concentrate
discharge.
The analytical data concerning the satisfactory performance of the treatment on
COD removal are reported in Table 1. Mean pH, conductivity and Redox potential
values are listed in Table 2.

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Suspended solids (starting concentration 45 mg/l) were removed partially by sand

filtration (60%) and completely by ultrafiltration.
An adequate anionic surfactants removal was obtained ( 95%). Mean MBAS
value was 3.1 mg/l at sand filtration inlet and 0.2 mg/l at reverse osmosis permeate
outlet.
Further results concerning the efficiency of the reverse osmosis in removing
salinity are given in Table 3. They confirm the optimal trend indicated by a
conductivity decrease of the reverse osmosis permeate.
Colour is one of the most important parameters in checking textile wastewater
recycling. Mean values of the absorbance at 420 nm and percentile removals based
on the integral of the absorbance curve in the whole visible range (400 800 nm) are
listed in Table 4.
A further evaluation, only on samples of the ultrafiltration permeate, was carried
out in order to test the performance of this step towards the reverse osmosis. This
task is decisive for the success of the overall strategy since it strongly influences the
performance of the reverse osmosis (technical point) and the duration of the
membrane (economical point). After ultrafiltration, the turbidity was reduced up to
95% of the starting value while S.D.I. mean value was 1.5, showing that the
permeate quality produced by the ultrafiltration step guarantees a good performance and duration of the reverse osmosis membranes. They also indicate that the
reverse osmosis permeate has very good analytical characteristics (almost total
Table 1
Mean COD values and % removal at the sampling points
Sampling point

COD (mg/l O2) COD removal (single phase) (%)

1
2
3
4
5
6

263
164
139
303
34
182

38
17

76

COD total removal (%)

38
47

87

Table 2
Mean pH, conductivity and Redox potential values and % removal at the sampling positions
Sampling point

pH

Conductivity
(ms/cm)

1
2
3
4
5
6

7.8
7.9
8.0
8.1
6.3
8.1

3630
3610
3550
3610
35
6780

Redox potential (mV)

55
57
60
68
28
66

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195

Table 3
Mean potassium, magnesium iron and sulphates concentrations at the sampling positions 1 and 5
Sampling point

Potassium
(mg/l)

Magnesium
(mg/l)

Iron
(mg/l)

Sulphates
(mg/l)

1
5

21.2
1.1

7.0
4.2

0.28
0.07

225
7

Chlorides
(mg/l)
725
42

removal of salts and organic content) to be reused in all processes of the textile
factories, even the most demanding concerning water quality such as dyeing yarns
or with light colors.
The reuse will drastically reduce the draining from wells furnishing water of
higher and more constant quality. Moreover, the draining from wells will face
problems with water shortages and possible taxes by local authority. It is also
known that the quality of water from wells tends to worsen with increases in time
and amount of water spilled (Smith and Wang, 1994).
In designing approaches based on membrane technologies, the management of
concentrates (process by-products) must be considered carefully. The approach
considered in the case study is to discharge both concentrates to a central
depuration plant treating mixed civilian and industrial wastes. According to our
knowledge, approaches based on the treatment of membrane concentrates for
recycling are still at a laboratory development stage (Balanosky et al., 1998).

3.3. Economic analysis

On the basis of the results obtained, some economic considerations can be drawn
to foresee the economical feasibility of the implementation of the membrane
technique for the treatment of dyehouse effluents for reuse. Some data is reported
in Table 5. Considering investment and operating costs, a value of  1 Euro per m3
treated is obtained, which would be a reasonable cost even for Italy where the costs
for water supply are still under the European average (Antonelli et al., 1998), but

Table 4
Mean absorbance values and % color removal at the sampling positions
Sampling point

Absorbance at 420 nm

1
2
3
4
5
6

0.083
0.075
0.068
0.101
0.002
0.113

Color removal (%)

6
16

95

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Table 5
Operating and investment costs (evaluated in Euro) for ultrafiltration/reverse osmosis membrane
treatment of 1000 m3/day (250 000 m3/year) of textile wastewaters
Annual cost
(Euro)

% of total

Cost per m3

Class of cost

Total cost
(Euro)

Cost of the plant

(investment in 10 years)
Energy
Chemical products
Membrane
(change every 3 years)
Total

300 000

30 000

21

0.20

120 000

50 000
25 000
40 000

34
17
28

0.33
0.17
0.27

420 000

145 000

100

0.97

are going to increase in the future. The duration of the membranes has been
estimated to be 3 years from results obtained. In fact, operating time for membranes of \ 1000 h can be considered sufficient to draw conclusions about a
reasonable life of the filtrating media (Linn et al., 1996; Dittrich et al., 1996).

4. Conclusions
Membrane processes show to be promising methods for purification aimed at
reuse of textile wastewaters, resulting in direct environmental and economic
benefits.
The sand filtration furnishes a satisfactory reduction of suspended solid content
and also a reduction of the organic substances content and a slight effect on color.
Further efficiency of the filtration could be obtained by adding a chemical coagulation step before filtration (Kurbiel and Rybicki, 1991; Crosse et al., 1996) that
would however cause an increase of treatment costs. The quality of the effluent
from ultrafiltration, as indicated by the S.D.I. values measured, is in accordance
with the required specification for feeding the reverse osmosis membranes. Moreover, the time trend of the ultrafiltration permeate mean flow is satisfactory for a
correct dimensioning of a real industrial plant. No variation in the hydraulic and
mechanical parameters of the reverse osmosis step was detected, indicating the
absence of membrane fouling.
The analytical parameters of the reverse osmosis permeate is of a high quality
( 95% reduction of salt content, practical absence of COD and color) and can be
therefore reused without problems since the quality of water presently used in
textile wet processes (usually drained from wells and in part softened) is usually
worse (conductivity of 800 ms/cm, absence of COD and color). Considering the
quality of the effluent produced, the considerable reduction of the need of water
drains and eliminating the need for water softening, the technique seems to be ready
for implementation on the industrial scale giving indication of technical and
economic feasibility (Masson and Deans, 1996).

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197

Acknowledgements
Giorgio Palloni (Fildrop, Campi Bisenzio, Italy) is kindly acknowledged for
technical support, Elena Pini and Emiliano Romagnoli for collection and analytical
screening of samples, Regione Toscana for covering part of the costs of the
experimental campaign.

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