Abstract
Fouling of reverse osmosis (RO) systems to produce clean drinking water is a major problem. Organo-selenium inhibition is an attractive solution for this application because biofilm prevention has been shown in medical devices, water filtration systems, and plastics. This study examined whether selenium-coated polymers would have positive effects in controlling RO fouling. This study included an analysis of modified feed spacers’ performance on reduction of total biomass concentration, average biofilm thickness on the surface of RO membranes versus real wastewater sources, the impact of selenium catalytic activity on the reduction of RO membrane chemical scaling, and the performance of fouling and biofilm formation. A 1.5% organo-selenium was copolymerized into spacer elements used in an RO system. These systems were then tested with both city and industrial wastewater with different total dissolved solids (TDS) concentrations for effects on (1) flux, (2) biofilm formation, and (3) inorganic binding. The comparison of an organo-selenium spacer with a control spacer yielded the following for RO membranes: (1) lower calcium and magnesium binding; (2) better flux at high TDS concentrations in both city and industrial water; (3) lower biofilm thickness and volume; and (4) a decrease in both dead and viable bacteria. Testing of varying solids concentrations resulted in greater log inhibition of fouling as a result of operating the RO system with selenium copolymerized feed spacer. The impact of selenium catalytic activity versus divalent foulants (magnesium and calcium) is important because of their ability to create bridges between biological cells and membrane surface, leading to increased possibility of biofouling.
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Data Availability Statement
All data presented that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
Acknowledgments
Work presented in this paper was supported by Texas Tech University Department of Civil, Environmental & Construction Engineering, Texas Tech University Health Science Center, Selenium Ltd., and the National Science Foundation (NSF) Small Business Innovation Research/Small Business Technology Transfer (SBIR/STTR).
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 149 • Issue 2 • February 2023
Copyright
© 2022 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jun 13, 2022
Accepted: Oct 1, 2022
Published online: Nov 26, 2022
Published in print: Feb 1, 2023
Discussion open until: Apr 26, 2023
ASCE Technical Topics:
- Bacteria
- Biofilm
- Biological processes
- Chemical compounds
- Chemical elements
- Chemicals
- Chemistry
- Engineering materials (by type)
- Environmental engineering
- Fouling
- Heavy metals
- Industrial wastes
- Material mechanics
- Material properties
- Materials engineering
- Membranes
- Osmosis
- Pollutants
- Selenium
- Solid wastes
- Structural engineering
- Structural members
- Structural systems
- Synthetic materials
- Thickness
- Waste management
- Waste treatment
- Wastes
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