Quantitative assessment of the efficacy of spiral-wound membrane cleaning procedures to remove biofilms

Hijnen, W.A.M.; Castillo, C.; Brouwer-Hanzens, A.J.; Harmsen, D.J.H.; Cornelissen, Emile; Kooij, D. van der

doi:10.1016/j.watres.2012.09.013

Cited by 49 publications

(49 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…However, in the presence of combined scaling/organic fouling the presence of FNA can lead to a better organic fouling/scale removal compared to low pH alone. resistances and their removal efficiency will vary with biofilm strength, age/maturity and history (e.g., exposure to cleaning) [27]. In this study, FNA acted more effectively on moderately fouled membranes than heavily fouled membranes, suggesting that early cleaning is preferable, or more extensive cleaning may be required for heavily fouled membranes.…”

Section: Scaling Removalmentioning

confidence: 63%

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Biofouling and scaling control of reverse osmosis membrane using one-step cleaning-potential of acidified nitrite solution as an agent

Filloux

Wang

Pidou

et al. 2015

Journal of Membrane Science

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scaling control of reverse osmosis membrane using one-step cleaning-potential of acidified nitrite solution as an a g e n t , Journal of Membrane Science, http://dx.doi.org/10. 1016/j.memsci.2015.08.034 This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service to our customers we are providing this early version of the manuscript. The manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting galley proof before it is published in its final citable form. Please note that during the production process errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain. AbstractBiofouling is generally regarded as a major issue in reverse osmosis (RO) membrane filtration. Two-step chemical cleanings with alkaline and acidic agents are typically applied to restore the treatment capacity. In this study, the feasibility of one-step cleaning using free nitrous acid (FNA) was investigated as a novel low cost cleaning agent. The FNA cleaning solution was prepared by acidification of a sodium nitrite solution with hydrochloric acid.Seven fouled RO membranes collected from full-scale wastewater recycling and desalination plants were used to perform lab-scale cleaning trials. Membrane fouling characterisation revealed six of out of seven membranes were mainly bio-fouled, while one membrane was severely fouled by calcium carbonate. This study showed the feasibility of using FNA at pH 3.0 for biomass removal as well as for calcium carbonate scaling removal. The results from the lab-scale cleaning tests suggested that FNA can be used as a single cleaning agent for both biofouling and scaling removal. Cost analysis showed that FNA is a cost-effective solution for biofouling and scaling removal in RO filtration applications.

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Section: Scaling Removalmentioning

confidence: 63%

“…The protocol is described elsewhere [27]. Total ATP was determined using the BacTiter-Glo TM reagent (Promega Corporation, USA) following a protocol adapted from Hammes et al [29].…”

Section: Biofilm Characterization Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biofouling and scaling control of reverse osmosis membrane using one-step cleaning-potential of acidified nitrite solution as an agent

Filloux

Wang

Pidou

et al. 2015

Journal of Membrane Science

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“…Commonly practiced biofouling control by using chemical agents (alkalines, detergents, enzymes, chelating agents, acids, biocides) were found ineffective in removing biofouling completely from NF/RO spiral wound membrane channels (Creber et al 2010, Hijnen et al 2012). Besides promoting membrane damages and being harmful to the environment, the use of biocides may promote the resistance of microorganisms towards these biocides and worsen the biofouling problems (Applegate et al 1989).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hydrogel-coated feed spacers in two-phase flow cleaning in spiral wound membrane elements: A novel platform for eco-friendly biofouling mitigation

et al. 2015

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Biofouling is still a major challenge in the application of nanofiltration and reverse osmosis membranes. Here we present a platform approach for environmentally friendly biofouling control using a combination of a hydrogel-coated feed spacer and two-phase flow cleaning.Neutral (polyHEMA-co-PEG10MA), cationic (polyDMAEMA) and anionic (polySPMA) hydrogels have been successfully grafted onto polypropylene (PP) feed spacers via plasmamediated UV-polymerization. These coatings maintained their chemical stability after 7 days incubation in neutral (pH 7), acidic (pH 5) and basic (pH 9) environments. Anti-biofouling properties of these coatings were evaluated by E. coli attachment assay and nanofiltration experiments at a TMP of 600 kPag using tap water with additional nutrients as feed and by using optical coherence tomography. Especially the anionic polySPMA-coated PP feed spacer shows reduced attachment of E. coli and biofouling in the spacer-filled narrow channels resulting in delayed biofilm growth. Employing this highly hydrophilic coating during removal of biofouling by two-phase flow cleaning also showed enhanced cleaning efficiency, feed channel pressure drop and flux recoveries. The strong hydrophilic nature and the presence of negative charge on polySPMA are most probably responsible for the improved antifouling behavior. A combination of polySPMA-coated PP feed spacers and two-phase flow cleaning therefore is promising and an environmentally friendly approach to control biofouling in NF/RO systems employing spiral-wound membrane modules.3

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“…Addition of NaOH creates the electrostatic repulsion between negatively charged organic matters and membranes [88,89], resulting a loose fouling layer or even the dispersion of the fouling layers. Many studies have combined NaOH with less harmful biocides such as 2,2-dibromo-3-nitrilopropionamide (DBNPA) [90], chelating agents (e. g. ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid, EDTA) or detergents (e. g. sodium dodecyl sulfate, SDS) to improve its cleaning efficiency [36,91]. However, no evidence of completely biofouling removal was found.…”

Section: Prevention Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Foulant samples were collected in two ways: (1) the in situ method, which membrane coupons with foulant attachments were cut directly from RO modules, (2) the destructive extraction methods, which foulant was physically scraped or brushed off the membranes [91].…”

Section: 2 Sample Preparationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biofouling control of reverse osmosis membranes using free nitrous acid

Filloux¹,

Wang²,

Pidou³

et al.

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Reverse osmosis (RO) membranes have been widely applied in membrane filtration processes for water purification, since the high selective RO membranes are designed to reject all materials with particle diameter larger than 10 angstrom (Å) [1]. However, this optimal selectivity leads to fouling that can greatly affect the performance and productivity of RO membranes. Biofouling remains as one of the major operational problems in RO processes and is caused by unwanted deposit and growth of microorganisms on the membrane. Numerous biofouling control strategies have been developed to restore the performance of RO membranes, but none of them are able to prevent or remove biofouling completely. A novel cleaning technique using a weak and monobasic acid (pKa=3.34, 25℃) named free nitrous acid (FNA) in combined with hydrogen dioxide (H 2 O 2 ) was proposed.The effects of FNA with or without H 2 O 2 on biofouling of RO membranes were investigated in Chapter 4, five RO membranes with different degree of biofouling were cleaned using FNA has achieved higher biomass removal than NaOH for both heavily fouled (86-96% versus 41-83%) and moderately fouled (92-95% against 89-92%) membranes, respectively.In accordance to the biomass removal, 6-32% of viable cells remained on the moderately fouled RO membranes under the impact of FNA cleaning (pH 3), whereas 38-58% of viable cells stayed on the heavily fouled RO membranes. These results revealed that FNA cleaning is more effective for moderately fouled membranes, implying that early cleaning for biofouling is preferable. Although applying FNA alone, or combining it with H2O2 have shown better efficiency at biofouling removal than NaOH, the cleaning efficiency has not been significantly improved (<1% of enhancement) by adding H 2 O 2 to FNA cleaning solutions. The effects of FNA on scaling of RO membranes were also studied using the same cleaning protocol developed for biofouling control. The results showed that FNA solutions at pH 2.0 and 3.0 were as efficient as conventional cleaning acids (hydrochloric acid and citric acid). The scaling layers which contain 32.4±1.7 g/cm 2 of calcium were completely removed by all acidic cleaning solutions. Based on the results, FNA is shown to be a promising ii cleaning agent for RO membrane biofouling and scaling removal.Further investigation focused on the effectiveness of FNA for biofouling prevention in RO processes (Chapter 5). The results showed that weekly FNA cleanings were unable to prevent fouling in the RO filtration systems, as the hydraulic performances (permeability and salt rejection) of RO membranes have gradually declined over two to three weeks filtration period.Although FNA cleaning was able to restore the permeability of RO membranes for one to two days, continuing declined permeability implied that the fouling rate was greater than the inhibition rate of FNA. The results of prevention tests also showed that FNA was more efficient at biomass inactivation and removal. The biomass contents and viable cells of the fouli...

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Quantitative assessment of the efficacy of spiral-wound membrane cleaning procedures to remove biofilms

Cited by 49 publications

References 32 publications

Biofouling and scaling control of reverse osmosis membrane using one-step cleaning-potential of acidified nitrite solution as an agent

Biofouling and scaling control of reverse osmosis membrane using one-step cleaning-potential of acidified nitrite solution as an agent

Hydrogel-coated feed spacers in two-phase flow cleaning in spiral wound membrane elements: A novel platform for eco-friendly biofouling mitigation

Biofouling control of reverse osmosis membranes using free nitrous acid

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