• Membrane Journal
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.283-290
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• 2003

To improve membrane performance, the dead-end and Cross-flow ultrafiltration with or without ultrasound irradiation onto the membrane module were carried out using a BSA protein solution. Intermittent or continuous irradiation of ultrasound effectively suppressed the formation of fouling on membrane or removed the fouling layers from membrane. Effect of ultrasound irradiation on the enhancement of ultrafiltration performance was more increased at the operating conditions which form more membrane fouling (at the operating conditions of higher feed concentration and TMP, and lower flow rate). The permeate flukes were enhanced up to 1.9 times in case of the dead-end ultrafiltration and 1.5 times in case of the cross-flow ultrafiltration by ultrasound irradiation onto the membrane module.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.13-21
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• 2011

This study investigated the fouling behavior of $Al_2O_3$ colloids on polyethylene microfiltration membrane. To examine the effect of operation variation on fouling, operating pressure was increased from 0.49 to 1.96 bar along with time elapses and then was reduced to 0.49 bar reversely. A hysteresis behavior was observed in the membrane permeate flux over pressure, revealing different fluxes at the same pressure according to the pressure control type, increasing and decreasing. Permeate resistance and its rate of increase was higher in the decreasing pressure cycle than in the increasing pressure cycle. At the initial period of filtration, fouling mechanism for the both cycles was governed by the cake filtration. The degree of fouling was higher in the decreasing pressure cycle compared with in the increasing pressure cycle.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.443-452
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• 1996

Fouling is caused by sedimentation and corrosion of polymer, heavy paraffine, chemicals, heavy organics, asphaltene, etc. in the entire chemical process of heat exchanger, boiler, desalter, etc. Fouling phenomena remains a serious operating problem which results in increased energy consumption, increased pressure drops, reduction or complete loss of products yield, and increased maintenance costs. In order to calculate the separated amounts of foulants and to control the fouling process, the predictive model is developed which is based on Scott & Magat polymer solution theory, Peng-Robinson EOS, BWR EOS, and continuous and multicomponent thermodynamics.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.19 no.8
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• pp.105-114
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• 2018

Membrane fouling in EC-MBR (Electro-Coagulation aided Membrane Bio-Reactor) processes was evaluated according to the operating parameters, such as current density and contact time. In addition, the fouling mechanism was investigated. Compared to the control (i.e., no electro-coagulation), membrane fouling for filtration of the activated sludge suspension after electro-coagulation was reduced significantly. Membrane fouling was improved further when the contact time was doubled under a low current density of $2.5A/m^2$. On the other hand, membrane fouling was not mitigated further, as expected, even though the contact time was doubled from 12 to 24 hr. at a current density of $10A/m^2$. This indicates that the overall decrease in membrane fouling is a function of the product of the current density and contact time. The particle size of the activated sludge flocs after electro-coagulation was changed slightly, which means that the membrane fouling reduction was not attributed to a larger particle size resulting from electro-coagulation. The experimental confirmed that the dynamic membrane made from aluminum hydroxide, Al(OH)3, and/or aluminum phosphate, Al(PO4), which had been formed during the electro-coagulation, played a key role on the reduction of membrane fouling. The dynamic membrane prevents the particles in the feed solution from deposition to the membrane pores and cake layers. Dynamic membrane formation as a result of electro-coagulation plays a critical role in the mitigation of membrane fouling in EC-MBR.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.122-127
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• 2006

The aim of this study was to investigate the characteristics of membrane fouling caused by soluble organic materials in a membrane bioreactor process. For the removal of filterable organic materials (FOC) smaller than $1{\mu}m$, coagulants and activated carbon were added. A membrane bioreactor using a submerged $17{\mu}m$ metal sieve was operated in laboratory scale to examine the possibility of membrane fouling control. As the dosage of GAC and coagulant increased, the residual FOC concentration decreased and the permeate flow rate increased markedly. The permeate flux increased with an increased PACl addition at the range from 0 to 50 mg/l. At coagulant dosage of 27mg/l, the removal of FOC was about 46% and the flux increased to 3.5 times compared to the case without PACl addition. The permeate flux increased gradually with an increase in GAC dosage. At GAC dosage of 50mg/L, the permeate flux was about 2 times higher compared that for raw water. The particle in the range of $0.1{\sim}1.0{\mu}m$ were removed effectively by the addition of GAC and coagulant. Higher osage of GAC and coagulant, led to higher removal of FOC. A different set of experiments was also performed to investigate the effect of pretreatment on the permeation ability of MBR system using the metal sieve membrane. After 40 hours of operation, the permeate flux was about 1,000 ($L/m^2-hr$), which is 20 times higher compared to the results in literature. It is likely that combined pretreatment using coagulant and activated carbon was the most effective to resolve membrane fouling problems. Moreover, the continuous operations could be successful by applying this pretreatment method.

• Journal of Navigation and Port Research
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.505-510
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• 2002

Bans on TBT based antifouling paints have been drafted since 1998 by meetings 42, 43, 45 and 46 for the MEPC (Marine Environmental Protection Committee) of the International Marine Organization, and decided finally at a Diplomatic Conference of IMO in October 2001. It was a key issue that there should be a global prohibition on the application of organo-tin compounds as biocides in Anti-fouling systems by Jan. 2003, and a complete prohibition on the presence of organo-tin compounds on ships by 1 Jan. 2008. This paper suggests a method to design International Anti-fouling system cretificate, Record of anti-fouling system, Endorsement of the Records, Declaration on Anti-fouling System, Port State Control and reform(legislative) associated a law.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.163-170
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• 2011

Membrane fouling control in water treatment may be the main obstacle for wider implementation and lower cost. A novel fluorescent spectroscope sensor device for membrane fouling integrity monitoring has been developed and evaluated in this study. PSf membranes for water treatment has been fabricated with three types of organic fluorescent materials, OB, FP, KCB. The fluorescent signal from membrane surface was analyzed throughout the filtration process. It was found that the fluorescent signal due to the membrane fouling decreased and the developed device is reliable for membrane fouling monitoring.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.403-408
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• 2017

In these days, wastewater reclamation and seawater desalination play essential role in addressing the challenge of worldwide water scarcity. Particularly, reverse osmosis (RO) for seawater desalination process is commonly used due to less energy consumption than conventional thermodynamic systems. However, membrane fouling and electrical energy consumption during operation of RO system for seawater desalination haver continued to be a obstruction to its application. In this study, therefore, wastewater secondary effluent is used for osmotic dilution of seawater. Firstly, fouling behaviour of RO by simulating wastewater effluent in osmotic dilution process was measured and we calculated energy consumption of overall desalination process by theoretical equations and commercial program. Our results reveal that RO membrane fouling can be efficiently controlled by pre-treatment systems such as nano filtration (NF) or forward osmosis (FO) process. Especially FO system for osmotic dilution process is a non-pressurized membrane system and, therefore, the operating energy consumption of overall desalination system was the lowest. Moreover, fouling layer on FO membrane is comparatively weak and reversible enough to be disrupted by physical cleaning. Thus, RO system with low salinity feed water through FO process is possible as a less energy consuming desalination system with efficient membrane fouling control.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.276-284
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• 2014

In this study, a hydrophobic polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) membrane was modified by coating neutral hydrophilic poly(vinyl alcohol). The flux of pure water was measured and then fouling test was conducted with bovin serum albumin (BSA) as model protein foulant. As a result, the experiments showed that pure water flux was decreased but anti-fouling property was significantly enhanced. Pure water flux with increasing molecular weights of the polymer was decreased and fouling resistance was enhanced. Also, Pure water flux with increasing solution concentration was decreased and fouling resistance was enhanced. It is probably due to the increase in hydrophilicity and decrease in roughness of the membrane surface, as revealed by contact angle and AFM analysis.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.1-6
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• 2006

In this study, five commercially available fouling resistant low-pressure RO membranes were investigated for the treatment of seasonally brackish surface water with high organic content (${\approx}24mg/L$). The membranes investigated are LFC-1 (Hydranautics), X20 (Trisep), BW30FR1 (FilmTec), SG (Osmonics), and BE-FR (Saehan). The results of surface characterization revealed that each of these membranes has one or two unique surface characteristics to minimize the adherence of the fouling materials to the membrane. Specifically, the LFC1 membrane features a neutral or low negative surface to minimize electrostatic interactions with charged foulants. The X20, on the other hand, shows a highly negatively charged surface, and thus, is expected to perform well with feed waters containing negatively charged organics and colloids. The BW30FR1 exhibits a relatively neutral and hydrophilic surface, which could be beneficial for lessening organic and/or biofouling. The SG membrane has a smooth surface that makes it quite resistant to fouling, particularly for colloidal deposition. Lastly, BE-FR membrane demonstrated a medium surface charge and a slightly higher hydrophobicity. In the pilot study, all of the four membranes experienced a gradual increase in MTC (water mass transfer coefficient or specific flux) over time, indicating no fouling occurred during the pilot study. The deterioration of permeate water quality such as TDS was also observed over time, suggesting that the integrity of the membranes was compromised by the monochloramine used for biofouling control.