Réduction de la DCO dure des lisiers de porc et lixiviats par nanofiltration

Malgré un traitement biologique préalable, les lisiers et les lixiviats de décharge ont en commun de conserver une Demande Chimique en Oxygène (DCO) résiduelle supérieure à 500 mg O2.l-1 : valeur 4 à 5 fois trop élevée pour un rejet direct dans le milieu naturel. La nanofiltration pourrait constituer une solution comme traitement de finition. Dans le cadre de cette étude expérimentale, deux membranes de nanofiltration sont mises en œuvre à l'échelle pilote afin de comparer leur efficacité pour réduire la DCO non biodégradable des deux effluents précités. Dans un premier temps, l'étude menée à concentration constante, montre que les performances (flux de perméation et DCO dans le perméat) dépendent principalement du couple membrane - effluent. Dans le cas du lisier, la couche de colmatants formée à la surface de la membrane a un caractère compressible et peu structuré ce qui entraîne une plus grande sensibilité aux variations de conditions hydrodynamiques. Dans le cas des lixiviats, la couche formée est moins dépendante des conditions opératoires. Après avoir sélectionné les meilleures conditions opératoires pour réduire la DCO des deux effluents étudiés, les essais de nanofiltration sont ensuite menés en mode "concentration" en fixant la pression à 15 bar et la vitesse de recirculation à 1,5 m.s-1. L'obtention d'un facteur de réduction volumique de 4 entraîne, d'une part, une diminution plus accentuée des flux de perméation dans le cas du lisier que dans celui du lixiviat et, d'autre part, une augmentation plus importante de la DCO du perméat pour le lisier. La valeur de la DCO devient alors supérieure, en fin de concentration, à celle requise pour un rejet en milieu naturel (120 mg O2.l-1).Pig manure and landfill leachate cannot be treated only by conventional biological treatment because a "refractory" COD persists, superior to 500 mg O2.l-1 : four times too high for a direct discharge in the environment. Nanofiltration, an intermediate process between reverse osmosis and ultrafiltration, may be an interesting alternative as a final treatment. In nanofiltration, lower pressure can be used and fluxes are higher than for reverse osmosis. The present study compared the treatability of pig manure and landfill leachate after biological treatment using a pilot-scale nanofiltration plant. Performances were evaluated in terms of permeate COD and permeate flux versus operating conditions (applied pressure, crossflow velocity and recovery rate). Two tubular organic nanofiltration membranes with 450 diameter cut-offs were used for pilot-scale testing: MPT-20 (polyacrylonitrile) and MPT-31 (polysulfone). Preliminary experiments carried out at constant concentrations show that performance (permeation flux and permeate COD) depends mainly on the nanofiltration membrane/effluent coupling. Permeate fluxes obtained with the MPT-20 membrane were higher than those obtained with the MPT-31. The increased crossflow velocity produced a particularly marked flux increase for pig manure. Moreover, the flux obtained with pig manure decreased at pressures superior to 15 bars whereas for the landfill leachate it became constant regardless of the pressure applied. COD retention was better in the case of pig manure and increased with pressure. On the other hand, high crossflow velocity helped reduce the COD retention, particularly for pig manure. The difference stems mainly from the foulant layer on the membrane surface. This layer is compressible and not organised; in the case of pig manure, it may explain the influence of hydrodynamic parameters: crossflow velocity favours the back migration of potential foulant such as colloids from the membrane surface to the bulk liquid phase. This may explain an increased mass transfer and consequent reduction of COD retention at high tangential velocities. Moreover, higher pressure generates a dense layer, which leads to a reduction of mass transfer. The influence of operating conditions was less important for the leachate, as the foulant layer may be more organised and have better cohesion.In the second part of this study, the nanofiltration pilot plant was operated in concentration mode in order to evaluate the influence of recovery rate on flux and retention. Since COD retention is better with the MPT-31 membrane, the latter was used for concentration experiments. The applied pressure was fixed at 15 bar and crossflow velocity at 1.5 m.s-1. Both effluents were concentrated with a volume reduction factor of 4. However this reduction of retentate volume led to both a drop in permeation flux and a rise of permeate COD, to a value above to the environmental norm of 120 mg O2.l-1

Techniques à membranes appliquées à l'élimination des matières en suspension dans un circuit semi-fermé d'aquaculture

Les piscicultures en circuits semi-fermés sont confrontées au problème de l'élimination permanente des matières en suspension (M.E.S.) et des substances azotées. Les procédés conventionnels utilisés pour retenir les M.E.S. (décantation, hydrocyclones, filtres mécaniques à tambour rotatif, filtration gravitaire) ne donnent par entière satisfaction. Par contre, la filtration sur membranes permet d'arrêter en totalité les particules en suspension et les bactéries.On montre d'abord que les teneurs en M.E.S. et leurs répartitions granulométriques mesurées sur des échantillons prélevés en bassins d'aquaculture varient avec la taille des poissons et l'heure du prélèvement et on met en évidence la présence en nombre important de particules submicroniques.Différents essais de filtration sur membranes sont ensuite présentés :- d'une part, avec des membranes d'ultrafiltration capillaires à peau interne utilisées en potabilisation des eaux : on examine l'influence des paramètres hydrodynamiques (pression transmembranaire, vitesse de recirculation) afin de rechercher les conditions optimales de fonctionnement. Le flux de perméat ne dépasse pas dans le meilleur des cas 100 l.h-1.m-2.- d'autre part, avec des membranes de microfiltration organiques planes en fluorure de polyvinylidène (PVDF) et tubulaires en céramique. Les flux obtenus avec les membranes organiques sont de l'ordre de 250 l.h-1.m-2Dans tous les cas, la rétention des M.E.S. est totale.Cependant l'estimation de l'investissement et des coûts de fonctionnement pour une pisciculture en circuit fermé de taille industrielle conduit à des prix trop élevés pour que l'utilisation des membranes dans ce domaine soit à ce jour économiquement envisageable.A problem confronting semi-closed circuit aquaculture is the need for continuous elimination of suspended matter (SM) and nitrogenous substances. Conventional processes used to retain SM (settling tanks, hydrocyclones, rotating-drum mechanical filters, gravity filtration) are not entirely satisfactory. However, membrane filtration has recently been shown to allow removal of suspended particles and bacteria. The present study evaluates the performance of different ultrafiltration and microfiltration membranes for water processing in a semi-closed aquaculture system. A brief economic analysis of treatment costs is proposed based on the results.The marine aquafarm studied produces about 5 tons of turbot per year with a plant volume of about 100 m3. The water processing line is fitted with a rotating-drum mechanical filter that stops the largest particles and ejects 1 m3 h-1 of loaded water into the surrounding environment. Another 2 m3 h-1 are cleared out by overflowing the pumping pit. These volumes are renewed at a rate of 3% per hour by pumping saltwater from an underground source. Crossflow filtration was performed on rejections from both the mechanical filter and pumping pit overflow. SM contents and granulometric distributions determined by laser diffractometry were found to vary with sample source and withdrawal time, and size of fish in the pens. A comparison of granulometric distributions in volume percent and numerical percent underscores the presence of a great number (> 98 %) of submicron particles.To limit the risk of mechanical-pore fouling due to blockage by particles, organic membranes in the form of internal-skin capillaries (pore diameters of about 10 to 20 nm) were initially employed. These membranes, used in drinking water production, are relatively inexpensive. The experimental device was fitted with an interchangeable volumetric pump (with gears or monoscrew). Adjustable parameters were transmembrane pressure and circulation velocity within the module. Analysis of the influence of these hydrodynamic parameters revealed that pressures higher than 1 bar were unnecessary, as beyond this point permeate flux no longer increased. Optimal flux did not exceed 100 L h-1 m-2 with the gear pump. Replacing the latter with a monoscrew pump improved permeate flux up to 70 %.Tests were also performed with flat microfiltration organic membranes of polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) with pore diameters ranging from 0.1 to 8 µm. The flux obtained with these membranes was roughly 250 L h-1 m-2 and presented little variation with varying pore diameter. Comparative tests carried out on tubular membranes showed lower fluxes than those obtained with organic membranes which, considering their much higher cost, makes them less attractive in this context. The use of membranes in aquafarming is without precedent. An economic analysis of the practice was carried out based on financial assessments of processing of surface waters into drinking water, for which outputs to be treated and SM contents were of the same order of magnitude. With operating costs from 0.35 to 0.95 FF per cubic meter of filtered water, expected investment for a fishfarm producing 100 tons of fish a year is currently 3 to 4 times too great to consider economically profitable the use of membranes for water treatment in closed-circuit aquafarming