Optimization of air sparging and in-line coagulation for ultrafiltration fouling control

Abstract

This research examined various strategies for ultrafiltration (UF) membranes fouling control. Continuous sparging (sparging during permeation and backwash) increased fouling rates when compared to sparging only during backwash. This was attributed to the removal of a the protective layer on the membrane when sparging continuously. Coagulating for only the first half of the permeation cycle (phased coagulation), which would lead to reduced coagulant and sludge disposal costs, did not negatively impact membrane performance in terms of fouling and organics removal when compared to continuous coagulation. The difference in concentration factor (CF) between bench and full-scale UF systems may limit the applicability of bench-scale trials. Membrane resistance and permeate quality were compared between bench-scale trials conducted with CF=1 water and elevated CFs. The results indicate that the use of the same feed water as used at full-scale (CF=1) is appropriate to evaluate bench-scale fouling in UF systems operated in deposition mode.

Application of coagulation‐ultrafiltration‐nanofiltration in a pilot study for Tai Lake water treatment

“…Coagulation is a conventional method, commonly used in the pretreatment of NOMs removal to reduce membrane fouling. This has been widely carried out in surface water treatment, and positive results have been achieved (Ang, Mohammad, Teow, Bernamor, & Nilal, 2015;Lok, Wray, Bérubé, & Andrews, 2017;Wang et al, 2019). Ang et al (2015) applied the coagulant of ferric chloride as pretreatment of membrane filtration for drinking water treatment.…”

Structure and Performance of Poly(vinylidene chloride‐co‐vinyl chloride) Porous Membranes with Different Additives

“…In general, the filtration performance of the prepared P(VDC‐ co ‐VC) membranes in terms of separation of fluids and usage period of the membrane depends greatly on membrane fouling. Membrane flux can be decreased under certain conditions, such as blockage of pores within the membrane as well as concentration polarization and foulant layer formation on the membrane surface . Especially, weak antifouling properties mainly result from the hydrophobic surface.…”

Feasibility of wastewater resource recovery using pilot-scale membrane reactor with long-term operation

“…The continuous increase in TMP occurred in all runs at fluxes of 15 and 10 L/m 2 /h; this condition can also be attributed to the microbial activity on the membrane surface. [29][30][31][32] From the multiple occurrences of membrane fouling and continuous decrease in concentration efficiency at 0.5-day SRT, the condition was deduced to be also unsuitable for long-term sewage resource recovery because of the instability in concentration efficiency and membrane fouling.…”