• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.1-9
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• 2021

This study optimized the chemical cleaning process of discarded RO membranes for reuse in less demanding separation processes. The effect of physicochemical parameters, including the temperature, cleaning time, pH of the cleaning solution, and addition of additives, on the cleaning process was investigated. The membrane performance was evaluated by testing the flux recovery rate and salt rejection before and after the cleaning process. High temperatures (45-50 ℃) resulted in a better flux recovery rate of 71% with more than 80% salt rejection. Equal time for acid and base cleaning 3-3 h presented a 72.43% flux recovery rate with salt rejection above 85%. During acid and base cleaning, the best results were achieved at pH values of 3.0 and 12.0, respectively. Moreover, 0.05% concentration of ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid presented 72.3% flux recovery, while 69.2% flux was achieved using sodium dodecyl sulfate with a concentration of 0.5%; both showed >80% salt rejection, indicating no damage to the active layer of the membrane. Conversely, 0.5% concentration of sodium percarbonate showed 83.1% flux recovery and 0.005% concentration of sodium hypochlorite presented 85.2% flux recovery, while a high concentration of these chemicals resulted in oxidation of the membrane that caused a reduction in salt rejection.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.7 no.5
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• pp.433-449
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• 2016

The successful application of cleaning protocols is vital for optimized filtration processes. A series of experiments with an ultrafiltration ceramic tubular membrane were carried out for the foulants dextran and carboxymethyl cellulose. Firstly, the impact on fouling of concentration changes was investigated with the increase in resistance being used as the key parameter. In the second phase, removal of reversible fouling was also investigated by employing intermittent rinsing consisting of a cold water rinse followed by a hot one. A comparative analysis for both foulants is reported. Across a range of concentrations and for both foulants, the reduction in resistance due to rinsing was found to depend upon concentration (C); it changed as $C^n$ where n was found to be 0.3. A plausible semi-theoretical explanation is given. Thirdly, for both foulants, the application of a combination of strong alkaline solutions with oxidizing agent (mainly sodium hypochlorite) followed by acid was found to be appropriate for cleaning of the ceramic membrane. The effect of increased temperature for cleaning agents followed by a warm water rinse contributed positively to the cleaning capability.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.97-109
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• 2020

Membrane fouling is the main drawback of membrane technology. Frequent membrane cleaning and membrane replacement are, therefore, required to reduce membrane fouling that causes permeate flux reduction, lower rejection, or higher operating pressure. Studies have proved that the alteration of membrane properties is the key controlling factor in lessening membrane fouling. Among stimuli-responsive membranes, thermo-responsive membrane is the most popular, with a drastic phase transition and swelling-shrinking behavior caused by the temperature change. In this study, the thermo-responsive ability of two commercial membranes, PolyCera® Titan membrane and PolyCera® Hydro membrane, at different temperatures was studied on the antifouling function of the membrane in palm oil mill effluent (POME) treatment. The evaluation of the membrane's thermo-responsive ability was done through three cycles of adsorption (fouling) and desorption (defouling) processes in a membrane filtration process. The experimental result depicted that PolyCera® Hydro membrane had a higher membrane permeability of 67.869 L/㎡.h.bar than PolyCera® Titan membrane at 46.011 L/㎡.h.bar. However, the high membrane permeability of PolyCera® Hydro membrane was compensated with low removal efficiency. PolyCera® Titan membrane with a smaller mean pore size had better rejection performance than PolyCera® Hydro membrane for all tested parameters. On the other hand, PolyCera® Titan membrane had a better hydrodynamic cleaning efficiency than PolyCera® Hydro membrane regardless of the hydrodynamic cleaning temperature. The best hydrodynamic cleaning performed by PolyCera® Titan membrane was at 35℃ with the flux recovery ratio (FRR) of 99.17 ± 1.43%. The excellent thermo-responsive properties of the PolyCera® Titan membrane could eventually reduce the frequency of membrane replacement and lessen the use of chemicals for membrane cleaning. This outstanding exploration helps to provide a solution to the chemical industry and membrane technology bottleneck, which is the membrane fouling, thus reducing the operating cost incurred by the membrane fouling.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.8 no.5
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• pp.499-515
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• 2017

The purpose of this study was to investigate membrane fouling caused by microalgal cells in submerged membrane systems consisting of polymeric and ceramic microfiltration membranes. In this study, one polymeric (flat-sheet, pore size: $0.2{\mu}m$) and two ceramic (flat-sheet, pore size: $0.2{\mu}m$ and cylindrical, pore size: $1{\mu}m$) membranes were used. Physical cleaning was performed with water and air to determine the potential for reversible and irreversible membrane fouling. The study results showed that substantial irreversible membrane fouling (after four filtration cycles, irreversible fouling degree 27% (cleaning with water) and 38% (cleaning with air)) occurs in the polymeric membrane. In cleaning studies performed using water and air on ceramic membranes, it was observed that compressed air was more effective (recovery rate: 87-91%) for membrane cleaning. The harvesting performance of the membranes was examined through critical flux experiments. The critical flux values for polymeric membrane with a pore size of $0.20{\mu}m$ and ceramic membranes with a pore size of $0.20{\mu}m$ and $1{\mu}m$ were ${\leq}95L/m^2hour$, ${\leq}70L/m^2hour$ and ${\leq}55L/m^2hour$, respectively. It was determined that critical flux varies depending on the membrane material and the pore size. To obtain more information on membrane fouling caused by microalgal cells, the characterization of the fouled polymeric membrane was performed. This study concluded that ceramic membranes with a pore size of $0.2-1{\mu}m$ in the submerged membrane system could be efficiently used for microalgae harvesting by cleaning the membrane with compressed air at regular intervals.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.25 no.6
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• pp.817-827
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• 2016

The resistance in series model has been frequently used for determination of various filtration resistance to correctly understand the membrane fouling behaviour in MBR (membrane bio-reactor) for wastewater treatment. The cake layer resistance ($R_c$) which is commonly determined by calculation of flux dataset that are obtained empirically before and after removing the cake layer on membrane surface. However, the calculated Rc values are very dependent on the cleaning methods adapted for removal of cake layer. This study investigated how the various cleaning options affect $R_c$. Seven different cleaning methods were employed: i) ultrasonication (100 W, 10 min), ii) ultrasonication (200 W, 60 min), iii) ultrasonication (400 W, 120 min), iv) water rinsing in a shaker (100 rpm, 10 min), v) water rinsing in a shaker (300 rpm, 60 min), vi) water rinsing, vii) sponge scrubbing. For the hydrophilic PES membrane, the cake layer removal efficiencies ranged from 64% to 10%, indicating that the removal of cake layer was highly dependent on the cleaning options. For the hydrophobic PVDF membrane, the cake layer removal efficiencies ranged from 79% to 97%. Consequently, a standardized method for cake layer removal to determine cake resistance ($R_c$) is needed for correct interpretation of the fouling phenomena.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.149-160
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• 2017

This study investigated effects of NaOH cleaning on the intrinsic permeability of polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) membranes and flux recoveries and membrane resistances under various conditions encountered during ultrafiltration in water treatment plants. The NaOH cleaning using 10,000 mg/L NaOH led to discoloration of PVDF membranes and had little effect on water flux. The NaOH cleaning was efficient in removing the fouling layer caused by humic water. However, long filtration induced a fouling layer that was not removed easily by NaOH cleaning. The lower temperature during filtration yielded rapid increases in transmembrane pressure and decreases in NaOH cleaning efficiency. The alkaline cleaning of PVDF changed the membrane properties such as the hydrophobicity and morphology. Foulant properties, operational conditions such as temperature, and chemical agents should be considered for cleaning strategies for PVDF applied in water treatment.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.169-175
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• 2017

This study applied microbubbles to reduce membrane fouling in wastewater reuse membrane processes, evaluated and compared the transmembrane pressure with or without the application of microbubbles and the cleaning efficiency with the application of aeration and microbubbles. In addition, this study analyzed foulants removed from the membrane surface. Changes in the transmembrane pressure of membranes with the presence or absence of microbubbles were observed. As a result, transmembrane pressure (TMP) increasing rate decreased twofold when applying microbubbles to realize stable operations. This study compared and evaluated cleaning efficiency applying aeration and microbubbles. As a result, the cleaning efficiency was 5% higher on average when applying microbubbles. In turbidity and total organic carbon (TOC), foulants were discharged when applying microbubbles twice as much as applying aeration. It is thought that particulate foulants precipitated on the membrane surface were more likely to desorb because the adhesion between the membrane surface and particle was weakened by microbubbles. Therefore, it is considered possible to effectively control membrane fouling because of the increase in cleaning efficiency when applying microbubbles to wastewater reuse membrane processes.

• Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
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• v.41 no.1
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• pp.19-26
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• 2024

Recently, separation membranes have been applied to fields such as water supply, sewage treatment, gray water reuse, and air pollution control. Chemical cleaning technology is attracting attention among the methods of reusing these expensive separation membranes. It was found that the separation membrane could be regenerated using chemical cleaning. Specifically, it was found that the use time of the separation membranes regenerated by chemical cleaning was sustainable for more than 1,700 hours. Additionally, it was found that the flux recovery ratio after chemical cleaning was maintained at least 60%. In addition, the flux recovery ratio of HYDREX 4710, an organic membrane cleaner, and 4703, an inorganic membrane cleaner, was 76% and 62%, respectively, showing the highest flux recovery ratio among the chemicals used. Considering that the target raw water of this study is biological secondary treatment water, it was suggested that chemical cleaning could be actively used to regenerate separation membranes in future water treatment.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.229-236
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• 2017

In this study, a direct contact membrane module was manufactured to be used in a pilot scale membrane distillation process to treat $3m^3/day$ of the digestate produced from anaerobic digestion of livestock manure. In order to investigate the performance of the membrane module, permeate flux was measured with and without spacer inside the module under various condition of temperature difference and cross flow velocity (CFV) through the membrane surfaces. Flux recovery rate after chemical cleaning was also investigated by applying three different cleaning methods. Additionally, thermal energy consumption was theoretically simulated based on actual pilot plant operation conditions. As results, we observed flux of the module with spacer was almost similar to the theoretically predicted value because the installation of spacer reduced the channeling effect inside the module. Under the same operating condition, the permeate flux also increased with increasing temperature difference and CFV. As a result of chemical in-line cleaning using NaOCl and citric acid for the fouled membranes, the recovery rate was 83.7% compared to the initial flux when NaOCl was used alone, and 87% recovery rate was observed when only citric acid was used. However, in the case of using only citric acid, the permeate flux was decreased at a rapid rate. It seemed that a cleaning by NaOCl was more effective to recover the flux of membrane contaminated by the organic matter as compared to a cleaning by citric acid. The total heat energy consumption increased with increasing CFV and temperature difference across the membrane. Thus, further studies should be intensively conducted to obtain a high permeate flux while keeping the energy consumption to a minimum for a practical application of membrane distillation process to treat wastewater.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.277-286
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• 2019

In 2014, the first demineralization plant, using nanofiltration (NF) membrane coupled with renewable energies was realized at Al Annouar high school of Sidi Taibi, Kenitra, Morocco. This project has revealed difficulties related to the membrane performances loss (pressure increase, flux decline, poor water quality of the produced water and increase of energy consumption), as consequences of membrane fouling. To solve this problem, an autopsy of the membrane was done in order to determine the nature and origin of the fouling. The samples of membrane and fouling were then analyzed by scanning electron microscopy using a scanning electron microscope (SEM) connected with an energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) detection system and X-ray diffractometer (XRD). Moreover, three cleaning solutions (hydrochloric acid, nitric acid and sulfuric acid) were tested and assessed in a single cleaning step to find the suitable one for the fouled membrane to regain its initial permeability and performances. The analysis of the experimental results showed that the fouling layer is mainly composed of calcium carbonate (inorganic fouling). Results showed also that the permeability is improved by the hydrochloric acid cleaning (pH=3) with a cleaning efficiency of 93%. Cleaning efficiency did not exceed 75 % with nitric acid (pH=3) and 40 % with sulfuric acid (pH=3).