Photocatalytic membrane reactors for wastewater treatment

This chapter is focused on a critical review of recent reports on application of photocatalytic membrane reactors (PMRs) in water and wastewater treatment. In the first part a brief summary of the most common water pollutants is given. Moreover, a condensed introduction to photocatalysis is presented. The subsequent section describes classification of PMRs with advantages and disadvantages of slurry systems versus configurations utilizing photocatalytic membranes (PMs), followed by description of variables influencing their performance. The main part of the chapter presents examples of applications of various types of PMRs. The discussed case studies include wastewater reclamation (with reference to treatment of primary and secondary effluents as well), water disinfection (viruses and bacteria inactivation), removal of various pollutants such as pesticides, dyes, pharmaceuticals, heavy metals, as well as treatment of oily wastewater. In summary it was concluded that PMRs could be a promising solution for final polishing of water/wastewater with a high potential in applications aimed at water recovery. Nonetheless, before successful implementation in full scale further investigations are necessary, especially aimed at treatment of real water/wastewater in pilot scale PMRs of submerged type with utilization of visible light active photocatalysts and solar light.