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Membrane Life Cycle Management: An Exciting Opportunity for Advancing the Sustainability Features of Membrane Separations

Authors :
Baiwen Ma
Mathias Ulbricht
Chengzhi Hu
Hongwei Fan
Xu Wang
Yi-Rong Pan
Seyed Saeid Hosseini
Stefan Panglisch
Bart Van der Bruggen
Zhiwei Wang
Chemical Engineering and Separation Science
Source :
Environmental Science & Technology. 57:3013-3020
Publication Year :
2023
Publisher :
American Chemical Society (ACS), 2023.

Abstract

Membrane science and technology is growing rapidly worldwide and continues to play an increasingly important role in diverse fields by offering high separation efficiency with low energy consumption. Membranes have also shown great promise for “green” separation. A majority of the investigations in the field are devoted to the membrane fabrication and modification with the ultimate goals of enhancing the properties and separation performance of membranes. However, less attention has been paid to membrane life cycle management, particularly at the end of service. This is becoming very important, especially taking into account the trends toward sustainable development and carbon neutrality. On the contrary, this can be a great opportunity considering the large variety of membrane processes, especially in terms of the size and capacity of plants in operation. This work aims to highlight the prominent aspects that govern membrane life cycle management with special attention to life cycle assessment (LCA). While fabrication, application, and recycling are the three key aspects of LCA, we focus here on membrane (module) recycling at the end of life by elucidating the relevant aspects, potential criteria, and strategies that effectively contribute to the achievement of green development and sustainability goals.

Details

ISSN :
15205851 and 0013936X
Volume :
57
Database :
OpenAIRE
Journal :
Environmental Science & Technology
Accession number :
edsair.doi.dedup.....cf670702eedafd6746125a8b23461798
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.2c09257