Alicia Iborra-Clar

Wastewater treatment often enables discharge into natural water bodies, but for effective reuse, further treatment is essential. Membrane processes provide a precise solution yet face limitations due to fouling and organic material adsorption, impacting their performance. This study focuses on synthesising ultrafiltration membranes using non-solvent-induced phase separation. These membranes are produced from a Polyethersulfone/N,N′-dimethylacetanamide (PES/DMA) solution with varying concentrations of three commercial powdered activated carbons (ACs). The membranes undergo comprehensive analysis, revealing different behaviours based on AC type and concentration in the active layer. Among the membranes, Norit R with 0.5 wt.% concentration exhibits the highest polyethylene glycol (PEG) rejection, with an impressive rejection index (R) of 80.34% and permeability coefficient of 219.29 (L·m⁻²·h⁻¹·bar⁻¹). AC-enhanced membranes display superior selectivity compared to non-doped PES membranes. This work highlights the significant influence of AC textural properties, specifically specific surface area, total micropore volume, and average micropore width, on membrane performance, particularly the rejection index.

This study focused on the clarification of real blanching wastewaters from the industrial processing of cardoon, a plant rich in polyphenols and belonging to the artichoke family (Cynara cardunculus). The aim of this study was to evaluate the performance of ultrafiltration (UF) as an initial clarification step prior to a subsequent nanofiltration treatment for the recovery and fractionation of polyphenols from these wastewaters. In this UF process, three commercial UF membranes with different pore sizes: 3 kDa, 15 kDa, and 50 kDa. The assessment of the clarification process was based on two key factors: permeate flux and the concentration of phenolic compounds. The membrane with a MWCO of 3 kDa was excluded as a potential UF membrane due to its limited performance in terms of permeate flux. The 15 kDa membrane showed comparable results in terms of cumulative flux to the 50 kDa membrane. However, further evaluation based on fouling index and water permeability recovery favored the 15 kDa membrane, indicating better performance. To gain insights into the flux decline mechanisms and understand membrane fouling, a study was conducted on the 15 kDa and 50 kDa membranes. The analysis revealed that the cake filtration model provided the best fit for both membranes. The study highlights the potential of UF membranes, specifically the 15 kDa membrane, for the clarification of cardoon blanching wastewater.

Correlación entre la asistencia a clase y resultados de aprendizaje para la asignatura Tecnología del Medioambiente impartida en el grado de Ingeniería en Organización Industrial en la Universitat Politècnica de València

This paper explains the steps carried out for the design of an educational innovation and the outcomes of its implementation. The innovation consists of integrating the contents of two courses (‘biological wastewater treatment’ and ‘bioprocesses applied to the treatment of wastes’) for the same academic year using project-based learning methodology to connect knowledge between subjects and to utilize transversal competences. Students from the second year of a chemical engineering master’s degree worked on an open-ended project based on a current environmental problem. This methodology lets the students properly acquire several transversal competences, such as ‘Design and project’, ‘Teamwork and leadership’, and ‘Effective communication’, which were evaluated with rubrics. However, according to the students’ perception, other skills, such as ‘Comprehension and integration, analysis and problem solving’, ‘Knowledge of contemporary problems’, and ‘Planning and time management’, were also worked on and improved. Based on the results from the matrix analysis and the Likert questionnaire, the organization and development of the activity were positively assessed, highlighting the importance of the lecturers’ feedback. The learning outcome in terms of knowledge integration was accomplished, reaching project marks 8.5–10 on a 0–10 scale.

Consumers are becoming more conscious about the need to include functional and nutritional foods in their diet. This has increased the demand for food extracts rich in proteins and peptides with physiological effects that are used within the food and pharmaceutical industries. Among these protein extracts, soy protein and its derivatives are highlighted. Isolated soy protein (ISP) presents a protein content of at least 90%. Wastewaters generated during the production process contain small proteins (8–50 kDa), and it would be desirable to find a recovery treatment for these compounds. Ultrafiltration membranes (UF) are used for the fractionation and concentration of protein solutions. By the appropriate selection of the membrane pore size, larger soy proteins are retained and concentrated while carbohydrates and minerals are mostly recovered in the permeate. The accumulation and concentration of macromolecules in the proximity of the membrane surface generates one of the most important limitations inherent to the membrane technologies. In this work, three UF membranes based on polyethersulfone (PES) were fabricated. In two of them, polyethylene glycol (PEG) was added in their formulation to be used as a fouling prevention. The membrane fouling was evaluated by the study of flux decline models based on Hermia’s mechanisms.

En este trabajo se explican los cambios metodológicos introducidos, en una asignatura de máster, para la adquisición y evaluación de la competencia transversal “Conocimiento de problemas contemporáneos” (CT-10) de la UPV. La necesidad de realizar cambios en la metodología inical, que se definió en su momento, surge tras la evaluación realizada por el profesorado de la asignatura al detectar que los niveles de dominio I y II, contemplados en la rúbrica de evaluación de dicha competencia, no estaban consolidados a nivel de máster, correspondiente al nivel de dominio III. Los cambios metodológicos introducidos se justifican en cada etapa establecida. El trabajo pretende ser un ejemplo de experiencia docente para la adquisición de una competencia tan fundamental como es el conocimiento y búsqueda de la mejor solución, ante los problemas o retos que puedan surgir en cualquier campo profesional, a través de la identificación, análisis y evaluación de las soluciones propuestas.

Discharge of textile wastewaters (WW) to municipal wastewater treatment plants (MWWTPs) entails the presence of colour in the final effluent. It causes a negative impact on the environment and, additionally, hinders an efficient disinfection by UV lamps. In this work, a combined process consisting of the addition of powdered activated carbon (PAC) to a sequencing batch reactor was studied. The main objective was to reduce WW colour in order to obtain transmittance values in the final effluent above 60%, measured at a wavelength of 254 nm, with the aim of ensuring disinfection with UV lamps. Experiments were performed with both simulated wastewater (SWW) including the azo dye Reactive Black 5 and WW from a MWWTP receiving discharges from textile mills. Biosorption increased the transmittance of the effluent around 25% for SWW and 24% for WW, in comparison with the values measured in the influent. The PAC concentrations for the achievement of a value of 60% in the transmittance of the treated water were 250 and 400 mg/L for the simulated effluent and for the WW, respectively. PAC had to be periodically added in order to cover its loss in the waste sludge.

Rainfall diminution in the last years has entailed water scarcity in plenty of European regions, especially in Mediterranean areas. As a consequence, regional water authorities have enhanced wastewater reclamation and reuse. Thus, the implementation of tertiary treatments has become of paramount importance in the municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) of Valencian Region (Spain). Conventional tertiary treatments consist of a physico-chemical treatment of the secondary effluent followed by sand filtration and UV radiation. However, the addition of coagulants and flocculants sometimes does not contribute significantly in the final water quality. In this work, results of 20-months operation of three WWTP in Valencian Region with different tertiary treatments (two without chemicals addition and another with chemicals addition) are discussed. Besides, experiments with a 2 m3/h pilot plant located in the WWTP Quart-Benager in Valencia were performed in order to evaluate with the same secondary effluent the effect of the chemicals addition on the final water quality. Results showed that the addition of chemicals did not improve the final water quality significantly. These results were observed both comparing the three full scale plants and in the pilot plant operation.