The addition of a coagulant as a pretreatment before membrane
filtration is becoming a common practice among utilities.
However, little is known about the effects of coagulation pretreatment
on membrane filtration performance.
The objective of this study was to
improve the understanding of the effects of coagulants on membrane
performance. The primary variables used in the study
included source water, type of coagulant, coagulant dose, coagulation
application conditions, and membrane material. Fouling was
evaluated using flat-sheet membranes in an unstirred filtration
cell. Prefiltration was used to separate the effect of coagulation
on particulate matter and dissolved organic carbon. To provide
more widespread applicability, five natural surface waters and
three membrane materials were included.
The research found that coagulant dose was an important factor
in determining whether performance was better or worse. A positive
linear relationship was found between the ability of coagulation to
remove dissolved organic carbon and to improve membrane performance.
No single coagulant was consistently better than the others;
rather, whichever coagulant tended to be most effective at removing
dissolved organic carbon in a particular source was also most effective
at improving membrane performance. Includes 31 references, tables, figures.
| Edition : | Vol. 98 - No. 4 |
| File Size : | 1
file
, 960 KB |
| Note : | This product is unavailable in Ukraine, Russia, Belarus |
| Number of Pages : | 14 |
| Published : | 04/01/2006 |
