Membrane Fouling Test: Apparatus Evaluation
Publication: Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 130, Issue 1
Abstract
Flux decline with time is one of the most serious shortcomings of microfiltration and ultrafiltration membranes. It is highly desirable to have a membrane (fouling) testing procedure that is short in duration, utilizes a minimum amount of test solution, only requires a small membrane area, and is representative of the large-scale process. The objective of this study was to compare the results of the testing of a given membrane using a number of different test units (reverse osmosis, ultrafiltration, dead-end, and cross-flow cells) and testing procedures. It was of particular interest to determine if smaller cells used in the literature perform similarly to the Sepa CF cell, as it is a standard. During six-day runs the flux decline of the polyethersulfone membrane tested was mainly caused by membrane compaction and much less due to fouling. As various membrane materials compact to a different extent, studies into the fouling characteristics of different types of membranes should incorporate precompaction and pure water testing to quantify the contribution of membrane compaction and true fouling to the overall flux decline. The dead-end cell performed very differently from continuous cells, so their use is not recommended. The six-day continuous flow tests showed that the reverse osmosis (RO), ultrafiltration (UF), and cross-flow (CF) cells yielded very similar dissolved organic carbon removals and flux decline, despite UF and RO cells using membrane coupons eight times smaller than CF cells.
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Information
Published In
Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 130 • Issue 1 • January 2004
Pages: 90 - 99
Copyright
Copyright © 2004 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Aug 8, 2002
Accepted: Jan 27, 2003
Published online: Dec 15, 2003
Published in print: Jan 2004
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