Development of the Electrospun Hybrid Filter Media for Microplastic Removal from Wastewater (DEFMRW)

Since the 1950s water consumption and plastic production have been rising dramatically. Plastic is found in a wide range of products and applications. Most plastic products are designed for short use, but exhibit long lifespans. Plastics do not decompose through biological degradation and may last for hundreds of years. In addition, many plastic particles entering the environment may be 5 mm or smaller. Those small particles are difficult to detain or recover. They enter the food chain and cause considerable damage to organisms. Consequently, significant research activities have been launched in recent years to reduce their discharge and develop various recovery processes. Much of this material enters the environment in wastewater streams. In contrast to the retention of large particulate that can be removed by screens or sieves, the retention of micro particulate presents a much greater challenge. Because the wastewater treatment plants process 100s of litres per hour, the application of nano or micro filters is difficult if not impossible. The huge amount of micro particulate would lead to nearly immediate clogging of the porous structure making the process not viable in practice. The aim of this project is to develop a new hybrid filter medium that allows the selective removal of particles from wastewater. This new material should exhibit an enhanced filtration efficiency without the disadvantage of a higher pressure drop, which leads to poor system performance and excessive energy consumption. In the first phase of the project, microplastic contaminants in wastewater samples will be analysed. The second step consists of modifying pre-selected base materials and evaluating their filtration performance in a controlled laboratory environment. The modelling of the process is based on the combination of a Computational Fluid Dynamic and Direct Element Method approach. Finally, the filtration system will be tested under real conditions in a wastewater treatment plant.