Elaboration and characterization of low cost tubular ceramic supports made of Moroccan clay for microfiltration and ultrafiltration membranes

Abstract

The target of this study is the preparation of ceramic supports with tubular configuration of a good quality. In this case, we used local clay from Meknes area as a basic material and solid waste from wood industry as an agent of porosity because they are cheap and available. Percentages of wood powder used in the preparation of clay pastes to extrude the supports are 0, 5 and 10 % (w/w).  Consequently, analysis of findings shows that the elaborated supports are in a good sintering state and are chemically very resistant. Besides, porosity and mechanical resistance increase with the addition of wood powder. Moreover, values in permeation flux increases with both the function of the final sintering temperature and the percentage of the added wood powder.