Membrane Fouling and Antifouling Strategies in Water and Wastewater Treatment

A special issue of Membranes (ISSN 2077-0375). This special issue belongs to the section "Membrane Processing and Engineering".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2023) | Viewed by 4136

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
School of Environment, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
Interests: water/wastewater treatment; membrane-based technology; membrane fouling and control; computational fluid dynamics; membrane module design

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

With increasing water demand and deteriorating water environment, the scarcity of freshwater resource and deterioration of water environment have jointly made water crisis a salient global concern. Water and wastewater treatment can not only mitigate water pollution, but also relieve water shortage by the production of high-quality freshwater. Membrane-based technologies have been widely used for water/wastewater treatment and reclamation owing to the merits of no need of chemical addition, relatively low energy consumption and high automation. However, irreversible membrane fouling encumbers the performance and efficiency of membrane systems. Insights into membrane fouling mechanism and strategies for membrane fouling control are of great importance.

This Special Issue aims to deepen the understanding of membrane fouling phenomena and mechanisms, and propose feasible membrane fouling control strategies during water/wastewater treatment.

In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include (but not limited to) the following:

  • Membrane fouling characterization
  • Modeling and simulation
  • Membrane fouling control
  • Membrane material
  • Membrane module design
  • Pressure-driven membrane technology
  • Electronic membrane technology

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Weichen Lin
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • membrane fouling
  • scaling
  • organic fouling
  • biofouling
  • fouling control/antifouling
  • water/wastewater treatment and reclamation
  • membrane bioreactors
  • MF/UF/NF/RO/FO
  • membrane modification

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

14 pages, 4181 KiB  
Article
Comparative Study of Membrane Fouling with Aeration Shear Stress in Filtration of Different Substances
by Weihao Yao, Bing Wang and Kaisong Zhang
Membranes 2023, 13(11), 867; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes13110867 - 1 Nov 2023
Viewed by 1483
Abstract
The formation process of membrane fouling is complex and diverse, which is an important problem that needs to be overcome in membrane applications. In this paper, three foulant systems consisting of humic acid, humic acid plus Ca2+ and humic acid plus Ca [...] Read more.
The formation process of membrane fouling is complex and diverse, which is an important problem that needs to be overcome in membrane applications. In this paper, three foulant systems consisting of humic acid, humic acid plus Ca2+ and humic acid plus Ca2+ plus yeast were selected to compare membrane fouling processes with different aeration intensities. The aim was to establish the quantitative relationship between membrane fouling rate and shear stress, respectively, in a large-scale flat sheet MBR (FSMBR). The shear stress values at different aeration intensities were obtained using computational fluid dynamics (CFD). The membrane fouling rate during the filtration of different substances was measured by performing experiments. The comparison results showed that the membrane fouling rate varied greatly during the filtration of different substances. With the help of particle size distribution, the effect of different shear forces on floc size was further explored. Using the dual control of fouling rate and floc size, the recommended aeration intensity was 6~8 L/(m2·min). Full article
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18 pages, 3169 KiB  
Article
Organic Compounds Responsible for the Fouling of Ultrafiltration Membrane Treating Algae-Laden Water
by Edwin Castilla-Rodriguez and Hongde Zhou
Membranes 2023, 13(9), 787; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes13090787 - 12 Sep 2023
Viewed by 1093
Abstract
Fouling comparisons of the organic fractions in surface and algae-laden waters make it possible to determine the main compounds responsible for the fouling of ultrafiltration (UF) membranes. This study examined the fouling of UF membranes and its relationship to the characteristics of the [...] Read more.
Fouling comparisons of the organic fractions in surface and algae-laden waters make it possible to determine the main compounds responsible for the fouling of ultrafiltration (UF) membranes. This study examined the fouling of UF membranes and its relationship to the characteristics of the organic fractions found in drinking-water supply. Four types of water were prepared by combining natural organic matter (NOM) from lake water with algal organic matter (AOM) from four algae species commonly found in freshwater. Liquid chromatography–organic carbon detection (LC–OCD) and a fluorescence excitation–emission matrix (FEEM) were used to analyze the feed water and permeate to assess the interactions between and fouling behavior of the organic fractions. The results showed that the interaction of large-molecular-weight AOMs on the membrane surfaces and their transport through the membrane pores were the main fouling mechanisms. Polysaccharides followed by protein-like substances were the organic compounds responsible for the fouling of the UF membranes. The fouling affinity of these substances was attributed to two processes, the adsorption of their carboxyl, hydroxyl and cationic groups on the membrane surfaces, and the molecular complexation of their organic groups. The humic substances’ retention was marginal and attributed to the synergetic effects of the polysaccharides and proteins. Full article
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17 pages, 7173 KiB  
Article
Monitoring of Particulate Fouling Potential of Feed Water with Spectroscopic Measurements
by Marc Weirich and Sergiy Antonyuk
Membranes 2023, 13(7), 664; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes13070664 - 12 Jul 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1047
Abstract
The modified fouling index (MFI) is a crucial characteristic for assessing the fouling potential of reverse osmosis (RO) feed water. Although the MFI is widely used, the estimation time required for filtration and data evaluation is still relatively long. In this study, the [...] Read more.
The modified fouling index (MFI) is a crucial characteristic for assessing the fouling potential of reverse osmosis (RO) feed water. Although the MFI is widely used, the estimation time required for filtration and data evaluation is still relatively long. In this study, the relationship between the MFI and instantaneous spectroscopic extinction measurements was investigated. Since both measurements show a linear correlation with particle concentration, it was assumed that a change in the MFI can be detected by monitoring the optical density of the feed water. To prove this assumption, a test bench for a simultaneous measurement of the MFI and optical extinction was designed. Silica monospheres with sizes of 120 nm and 400 nm and mixtures of both fractions were added to purified tap water as model foulants. MFI filtration tests were performed with a standard 0.45 µm PES membrane, and a 0.1 µm PP membrane. Extinction measurements were carried out with a newly designed flow cell inside a UV–VIS spectrometer to get online information on the particle properties of the feed water, such as the particle concentration and mean particle size. The measurement results show that the extinction ratio of different light wavelengths, which should remain constant for a particulate system, independent of the number of particles, only persisted at higher particle concentrations. Nevertheless, a good correlation between extinction and MFI for different particle concentrations with restrictions towards the ratio of particle and pore size of the test membrane was found. These findings can be used for new sensory process monitoring systems, if the deficiencies can be overcome. Full article
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