In the practical operation of MF/UF processes, membrane integrity is critical to assure the
consistent production of high-quality finished water. However, there is currently a lack of
availability of detailed assessment knowledge bases and selection methodologies for
recommended integrity monitoring methods, especially those derived from full-scale testing.
Previous work in this area has focused mostly at pilot scale assessment. While this provides
useful information, there is a critical need to perform and present a more detailed, realistic, and
systematic assessment of integrity monitoring methods derived from full scale testing. Full-scale
testing is essential to capture the realistic dilution effects that are not available through pilot
testing. This project focused on assessment of existing and improved integrity monitoring methods for
MF/UF processes from full-scale testing. Testing of several direct and indirect monitoring
methods was performed at six membrane plants. Four
of the participating plants are located in the U.S., while the remaining two are located
internationally. These plants range in capacity from about 7 to 24 mgd and represent a range of
design and operational parameters characterizing available MF/UF systems. Full-scale microbial
challenge testing with Bacillus subtilis spores was also included at two MF/UF plants to validate
the monitoring methods. The testing was performed at one full-scale membrane rack at each
plant. Experiments were performed with integral and artificially compromised membranes to
monitor, analyze, and compare integrity monitoring signals at various levels of breach. Indirect monitoring methods tested include
particle counting, particle monitoring, turbidity monitoring, laser turbidity monitoring, multisensor
laser turbidity monitoring, and a "particle amplifier" approach. Includes 5 references, tables, figures.
| Edition : | Vol. - No. |
| File Size : | 1
file
, 260 KB |
| Note : | This product is unavailable in Ukraine, Russia, Belarus |
| Number of Pages : | 10 |
| Published : | 11/02/2003 |
