Submerged microfiltration (SMF) has proven to be effective for the removal of particles
and microorganisms under low operation pressures. However, a major challenge to further
application of SMF processes in water treatment plants is to solve the problems of high
energy consumption caused by continuous or periodic aeration and flux decline due to
membrane fouling. The objective of this research was to develop a technique to minimize
energy consumption in SMF system by adjusting aeration rate and filtration mode and to
implement this in a pilot scale.
A pilot scale submerged filtration unit (50 m<sup>3</sup>/day), employing hollow fiber modules, was
operated to examine the microfiltration efficiency under various operation conditions.
Filtration modes such as continuous filtration and batch filtration were compared at various
aeration rates. Experimental results indicate that membrane permeability and total hydraulic
resistance were sensitive to the aeration rate. The aeration rate should be optimized to
generate enough shear and keep the chemical flocs unchanged. Operation with intermittent or
even no aeration was possible for feed water with low turbidity (< 5 NTU) and effective to
save energy. Includes 6 references, table, figures.
| Edition : | Vol. - No. |
| File Size : | 1
file
, 480 KB |
| Note : | This product is unavailable in Ukraine, Russia, Belarus |
| Number of Pages : | 9 |
| Published : | 03/01/2007 |
