Removal of Dye From Wastewater of Textile Industry Using Membrane Technology

Abstract

Industri pembuatan tekstil secara kecil-kecilan terkenal di pantai timur Semenanjung Malaysia. Ia dikenal oleh penduduk tempatan sebagai industri batik dan diwarisi secara turun-temurun. Industri batik banyak menyumbang kepada pembangunan ekonomi negara kerana sambutan yang menggalakkan bukan sahaja dari pasaran tempatan malah dari luar negara. Di sebalik perkembangan ini, industri batik turut menghasilkan air sisa yang mengakibatkan pencemaran air kerana prosesnya yang menggunakan bahan kimia yang banyak. Kajian awal terhadap air sisa industri batik menunjukkan bahawa ia mengandungi gris, minyak, logam berat, surfaktan, pepejal terampai, dan pewarna (organik dan tak organik). Permasalahan ini telah mendorong penyelidik mengkaji penggunaan proses membran bagi penurasan mikro untuk menyingkir bahan pepejal terampai (terutama yang dihasilkan oleh proses pengecatan dan pewarnaan) daripada air sisa industri batik. Dengan bantuan sebuah rig uji kaji yang sesuai, kesan kepekatan pewarna, pH suapan pewarna, dan tekanan operasi telah dikaji. Keputusan kajian menunjukkan bahawa kepekatan pewarna, pH suapan pewarna, dan tekanan operasi mempunyai kesan terhadap proses penapisan. Fluks purata didapati berkurang apabila kepekatan pewarna meningkat. Keputusan kajian menunjukkan bahawa fluks meningkat seiring dengan peningkatan tekanan dengan fluks tertinggi diperoleh pada pH 4. Data kajian boleh digunakan untuk meningkatkan keberkesanan penyingkiran pewarna yang terdapat dalam air sisa bagi industri batik dengan menggunakan teknologi membran. Kata kunci: Penurusan mikro; pemisahan membran; industri tekstil; batik; pewarna Homemade textile industry is very famous in the East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia. Known locally as Batik Industries, they are traditionally inherited from generation to generation. The Batik Industry makes a big contribution to the economic growth due to high demands locally and from abroad. However, this industry produces wastewater which contributes to water pollution since it utilizes a lot of chemicals. Preliminary studies show that the wastewater from this homemade textile industries contains grease, wax, heavy metal, surfactant, suspended solid, and dyes (organic and inorganic). This paper explores the use of microfiltration membrane separation processes to remove the suspended solid (mainly due to dyes in the painting and coloring processes) from wastewater of batik industry. With the fabrication of a suitable experimental rig, the effect of dye concentration, dye pH, and operating pressure were studied. Data on the flux and rejection together with the average values for each of the parameters studied were presented systematically. The results show that the dye concentration, pH of dye, and the operating pressure was found to affect the filtration process. The average flux was reduced when the dye concentration was increased. The experimental results reveded that flux increased when the applied pressure was increased with the highest flux was observed at pH 4. The data collected could be used to improve the effectiveness of dye removal from the batik industry wastewater using membrane technology. Key words: Microfiltration; membrane separation; textile industries; batik; dyes