The mechanisms regarding the influence of dissolved organics in papermaking whitewater together with metal ions on the fouling of an ultrafiltration (UF) membrane were studied in this paper. A series of experiments were carried out to characterize the organic matters’ size and membrane flux. The associated fouling mechanism was investigated using the modified Hermia empirical model, resistance ...

Fouling behaviour and its impact on the rejection of trace organic contaminants (TrOCs) by forward osmosis (FO) were investigated.Membrane fouling was simulated using humic acid and colloidal particles asmodel foulants at different initial permeatewater fluxes.Water flux declinewas insignificant at an initial permeate flux of 9 L/m2h and the fouling layerwas loose and fluid-like. By contrast, t...

Summarization of electronic discussion fora is a unique challenge; techniques that work startlingly well on monolithic documents tend to fare poorly in this informal setting. Additionally, conventional techniques ignore much of the structures that have the potential to serve as valuable features in the summarization task. We present several novel examples of such features, including the catalys...

Membrane fouling limits the effects of long-term stable operation of membrane bioreactor (MBR). Control of membrane fouling can extend the membrane life and reduce water treatment cost effectively. A pilot scale anoxic/aerobic-membrane bioreactor (A/O-MBR, 40 L/hr) was used to treat the hyperhaline municipal sewage from a processing zone of Tianjin, China. Impact factors including mixed liquid ...

Membrane fouling is one of the main issues in membrane processes, leading to a progressive decrease of permeability. High fouling rates strongly reduce the productivity of the membrane plant, and negatively affect the surviving rate of the membrane modules, especially when real wastewater is treated. On the other hand, since selectivity must meet certain target requirements, fouling may lead to...

Abstract: RO membrane fouling is one of the main challenges that membrane manufactures, the scientific community and industry professionals have to deal with. The consequences of this inevitable phenomenon have a negative effect on the performance of the desalination system. Predicting fouling in RO systems is key to evaluating the long-term operating conditions and costs. Much research has bee...

The use of modern high flux reverse osmosis membranes with low salinity feeds at high recovery rates, makes the measurement of fouling by flux decline difficult in practice. Early detection of fouling is important, because the onset of fouling occurs at a critical flux which is difficult to predict a priori. An alternative method, measuring the electrical properties of the membrane is proposed ...

Pressure retarded osmosis (PRO) has the potential to produce clean, renewable energy from natural salinity gradients. However, membrane fouling can lead to diminished water flux productivity, thus reducing the extractable energy. This study investigates organic fouling and osmotic backwash cleaning in PRO and the resulting impact on projected power generation. Fabricated thin-film composite mem...

Membrane fouling remains an obstacle to wide-spread applications of membrane bioreactors (MBRs) for wastewater treatment and reclamation. Herein, we report a simple method to prepare a composite conductive microfiltration (MF) membrane by introducing a stainless steel mesh into a polymeric MF membrane and to effectively control its fouling by applying an external electric field. Linear sweep vo...

Fouling of nanofiltration (NF) membranes is the most significant obstacle to the development of a sustainable and energy-efficient NF process. Colloidal fouling and performance decline in NF processes is complex due to the combination of cake formation and salt concentration polarization effects, which are influenced by the properties of the colloids and the membrane, the operating conditions o...