Mechanistic Model for Fouling on Nanofiltration Membrane
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Volume 131, Issue 10
Abstract
One of the major limitations of nanofiltration (NF) in drinking water treatment is inorganic scaling. In this study, a mechanistic model has been proposed to describe the permeate flux decline process during scaling in NF. It has been observed that the permeate flux decline follows four distinct stages. At first stage, 22–30% flux is reduced due to concentration polarization. At the second stage, flux is not reduced, instead, nucleation of occurs. The major permeate flux decline (60–70%) occurred at the third stage due to cake formation. At the final stage, the system reached the steady state, where rate of deposition on the membrane is balanced by shearing caused by the increase of concentrate flow rate. Beyond this stage, the flux does not decrease significantly. At each stage, the concentration of the salt at the membrane surface was estimated. The maximum salt concentration was found at the initial stage of permeate flux reduction, which gradually decreases as the filtration proceeds.
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Acknowledgment
This study was funded by Texas Hazardous Waste Research Center (THWRC) under Project No. UNSPECIFIED060LUB0816. The financial support is gratefully acknowledged. The writers also thank Dr. Shankar Chellam at the University of Houston for providing initial technical assistance in this project.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 131 • Issue 10 • October 2005
Pages: 1387 - 1392
Copyright
© 2005 ASCE.
History
Received: Oct 2, 2003
Accepted: Feb 28, 2005
Published online: Oct 1, 2005
Published in print: Oct 2005
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