Retention of mycoestrogens with industrial nanofiltration modules

This study addressed nanofiltration of waters of contrasting organic and inorganic matter concentrations, which contained low-molecular-weight mycoestrogens, using an industrial membrane module. The investigation focused on the effect of water recovery at a range of 10 to 90% vol. on the efficiency and effectiveness of the process. An increase in permeate recovery caused a decrease in both efficiency and removal of inorganic matter and mycoestrogens. The removal of organic matter was high irrespective of water recovery. It has been found that the effect of water recovery on the separation of micro-pollutants was the main cause of the decrease in the removal of the compounds in industrial installations against the results obtained on a bench scale.