A new ceramic microfiltration membrane based on olive seeds: development and characterization

The development of low-cost methods for wastewater treatment and the separation of oil-in-water emulsions is of considerable significance. Recently, natural material-based, inexpensive membranes have become a hot area of research. In this work, natural olive seeds were used to develop a novel ceramic membrane support. With the oil filtration process in place, the choice was reached to utilize the olive kernels’ beneficial qualities best. The process involved blending plastic paste with water and organic ingredients, followed by extruding the resulting paste into a porous tubular. After firing at 200 °C/2 h, the membrane's water permeability and porosity were 1,852 L/h m2 bar and 45%, respectively, and its average pore width varied from 2 to 15 μm. The efficiency of the microfiltration membrane in separating oil-in-water emulsions was assessed using two test solutions containing oil concentrations of 500 and 1,000 mg/L. Under a transmembrane pressure of 1 bar, the membrane exhibited exceptional permeate flux exceeding 200 L/m2 h, along with a high oil rejection rate of over 96% across all feed concentrations.