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Abstract
The focus of this research is to study the potential of nanofiltration membrane technology
in removing ammonia-nitrogen from the aquaculture system. One of the major fabrication
parameters that directly affect the separation performance is shear rate or casting
rate during membrane fabrication. In this study, asymmetric polyethersulfone (PES)
nanofiltration membranes were prepared at five different shear rates within the range
of 67-400 s(-1). Membrane productivity and separation performance were assessed via
pure water, salt and ammonia-nitrogen permeation experiments, and their structural
properties were determined by employing the combination of the irreversible thermodynamic
(IT) model, solution diffusion model, steric hindrance pore (SHP) model and Teorell-Meyers
(TMS) model. The study reveals that the alteration of shear rate enormously affects
the membrane morphology and structural parameters, hence subsequently significantly
influencing the membrane performance. It was found that, membrane produced at the
shear rate 200 s(-1) or equivalent to 10s of casting speed during membrane fabrications
managed to remove about 68% of ammonia-nitrogen, in which its separation performance
is the most favourable by means of highest flux and rejection ability towards unwanted
solutes. Besides, from the research findings, nano-membrane technology is a potential
candidate for the treatment of aquaculture wastewater.