In order to prevent the problem of fracture of ceramic membrane supports during sintering due to excessive sintering losses, the effects of sintering temperature, composite pore-forming agent content and heating rate on the supports were thoroughly investigated. The results show that compared with a single pore-forming agent, the composite pore-forming agent can prevent its own rapid decomposition and widen the temperature range, thus it is easier to prepare the ceramic membrane support with high permeability. When the sintering temperature was 1020.69 °C, the composite pore-forming agent content was 11.46 wt%, and the heating rate was 10 °C/min, the optimal support was prepared with a pure water flux of 2983.81 L/(m²·h·MPa), a flexural strength of 31.27 MPa, and an average pore size of about 1.88μm.This method can greatly shorten the firing cycle without compromising the support qualities, since these properties are mainly affected by the amount of pore-forming agent rather than the heating rate. According to acid and alkali corrosion experiments, the fly ash-based support body has good resistance to acid and alkali corrosion. Therefore, the addition of a composite pore-forming agent is a feasible method to produce high-flux, high-porosity ceramic membrane supports and rapid firing, and the obtained supports are compatible with the application conditions of porous ceramic materials.

Keywords: Fly ash, Ceramic membrane supports, Composite pore-forming agent, Quick firing, Response surface methodology.