Fouling Elimination of PTFE Membrane under Precoagulation Process Combined with Ultrasound Irradiation
Publication: Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 138, Issue 3
Abstract
Precoagulation is one of the effective pretreatments in membrane filtration. This process mitigates membrane fouling, which is the major drawback of membrane technology in drinking water and wastewater treatment. This study investigated the effects of precoagulation under different coagulation mechanisms on membrane fouling. Use of ultrasound in polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) membrane cleaning was also evaluated. In precoagulation, synthetic raw water was precoagulated using aluminum sulfate at different coagulation mechanisms, named electrostatic patch effect (EPE), charge neutralization (CN), and sweep flocculation (SW). Flocs produced from different coagulation mechanisms exhibited different sizes, structures, and strengths. Likewise, the fouling type generated from each mechanism was demonstrated as pore blocking for EPE, cake formation for SW, and combination phenomenon for CN. Moreover, this study indicated that the membrane flux was enhanced in the sequence of . The flux recovery rate after ultrasonic cleaning was in the sequence of . Finally, this study evidenced that the floc characteristics from various coagulation mechanisms affected membrane performance, fouling types, and ultrasonic cleaning efficiency.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 138 • Issue 3 • March 2012
Pages: 337 - 343
Copyright
© 2012 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Nov 10, 2010
Accepted: Apr 11, 2011
Published online: Apr 13, 2011
Published in print: Mar 1, 2012
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