The influence of surface characteristics and natural organic matter (NOM) on membrane performance is
significant but not well understood. This study investigated the impact of membrane surface characteristics and
NOM on membrane performance for varying pretreatment and
membranes. Surface charge, hydrophobicity and roughness varied
significantly among the four membranes used in the study. The membranes were tested
in parallel following two different pretreatment processes, an enhanced Zenon
ultrafiltration process (ZN) and a compact CSF process (Superpulsator (SP)) prior to reverse osmosis (RO)
membrane treatment for a total of eight integrated membrane systems. All membrane
systems were exposed to the similar temperature, recovery and flux as well as chemical
dosage. The feed water qualities were identical following ZN pretreatment and SP
pretreatment except for NOM concentration. Membrane surface characteristics, NOM
and SUVA measurements were used to describe mass transfer in a low pressure RO
integrated membrane system. Solute and water mass transfer coefficients were
systematically investigated for dependence on membrane surface properties and NOM
mass loading.
Inorganic MTCs were accurately described by a Gaussian distribution curve.
Water productivity, NOM rejection and inorganic rejection increased as membrane
surface charge and NOM loading increased. Inorganic MTCs were also correlated to
surface hydrophobicity and surface roughness. The permeability change of identical
membranes was related to NOM loading, hydrophobicity and roughness. Organic fouling
as measured by water, organic and inorganic mass transfer was less for membranes with
higher hydrophilicity and roughness. Includes 19 references, tables, figures.
| Edition : | Vol. - No. |
| File Size : | 1
file
, 1 MB |
| Note : | This product is unavailable in Ukraine, Russia, Belarus |
| Number of Pages : | 18 |
| Published : | 06/17/2004 |
