ABSTRACT
Recalcitrant compounds present in pharmaceutical, textile and steel industrial effluents destroy aquatic life and cause sustained damage to the environment for several years. Hydrostatic pressure is the driving force in pressure driven membrane processes such as reverse osmosis, nanofiltration, ultrafiltration and microfiltration, which are widely employed in treatment of industrial and municipal wastewater, while partial pressure gradient is responsible for mass transfer in gas permeation. The chapter focuses on the development of various cost-effective membrane technologies for recovery of water and value-added organics from industrial effluents and separation of useful gases from off-gases and process gas mixtures emanating from steel industry and petroleum refineries. During steel manufacture, there are various pollutants including chloride and cyanide which contaminate the process water, making it unfit for disposal or reuse. Most effluents from pharmaceutical industries may contain valuable chemicals which need to be recovered along with recalcitrant compounds.
