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AN INVESTIGATION OF SIZE EXCLUSION AND DIFFUSION CONTROLLED MEMBRANE FOULING
Title
AN INVESTIGATION OF SIZE EXCLUSION AND DIFFUSION CONTROLLED MEMBRANE FOULING.
Creator
Hobbs, Colin, Taylor, James, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description
The reduction of membrane productivity (i.e. membrane fouling) during operation occurs in virtually all membrane applications. Membrane fouling originates from the method by which membranes operate: contaminants are rejected by the membrane and retained on the feed side of the membrane while treated water passes through the membrane. The accumulation of these contaminants on the feed side of the membrane results in increased operating pressures, increased backwashing frequencies, increased...
Show moreThe reduction of membrane productivity (i.e. membrane fouling) during operation occurs in virtually all membrane applications. Membrane fouling originates from the method by which membranes operate: contaminants are rejected by the membrane and retained on the feed side of the membrane while treated water passes through the membrane. The accumulation of these contaminants on the feed side of the membrane results in increased operating pressures, increased backwashing frequencies, increased chemical cleaning frequencies, and increased membrane replacement frequencies. The most significant practical implication of membrane fouling is increased operating and maintenance costs. As such, membrane fouling must be properly managed to ensure successful and efficient operation of membrane systems. This document presents four independent studies regarding the fouling of size exclusion and diffusion controlled membranes. A brief description of each study is presented below. The first study systematically investigated the fouling characteristics of various thin film composite polyamide reverse osmosis (RO) and nanofiltration (NF) membranes using a high organic surficial groundwater obtained from the City of Plantation, Florida. Prior to bench-scale fouling experiments, surface properties of the selected RO and NF membranes were carefully analysed in order to correlate the rate and extent of fouling to membrane surface characteristics, such as roughness, charge and hydrophobicity. More specifically, the surface roughness was characterized by atomic force microscopy, while the surface charge and hydrophobicity of the membranes were evaluated through zeta potential and contact angle measurements, respectively. The results indicated that membrane fouling became more severe with increasing surface roughness, as measured by the surface area difference, which accounts for both magnitude and frequency of surface peaks. Surface roughness was correlated to flux decline; however, surface charge was not. The limited range of hydrophobicity of the flat sheet studies prohibited conclusions regarding the correlation of flux decline and hydrophobicity. Mass loading and resistance models were developed in the second study to describe changes in solvent mass transfer (membrane productivity) over time of operation. Changes in the observed solvent mass transfer coefficient of four low pressure reverse osmosis membranes were correlated to feed water quality in a 2,000 hour pilot study. Independent variables utilized for model development included: temperature, initial solvent mass transfer coefficient, water loading, ultraviolet absorbance, turbidity, and monochloramine concentration. Models were generated by data collected throughout this study and were subsequently used to predict the solvent mass transfer coefficient. The sensitivity of each model with respect to monochloramine concentration was also analyzed. In the third study, mass loading and resistance models were generated to predict changes in solvent mass transfer (membrane productivity) with operating time for three reverse osmosis and nanofiltration membranes. Variations in the observed solvent mass transfer coefficient of these membranes treating filtered secondary effluent were correlated to the initial solvent mass transfer coefficient, temperature, and water loading in a 2,000 hour pilot study. Independent variables evaluated during model development included: temperature, initial solvent mass transfer coefficient, water loading, total dissolved solids, orthophosphorous, silica, total organic carbon, and turbidity. All models were generated by data collected throughout this study. Autopsies performed on membrane elements indicated membranes that received microfiltered water accumulated significantly more dissolved organic carbon and polysaccharides on their surface than membranes that received ultrafiltered water. Series of filtration experiments were systematically performed to investigate physical and chemical factors affecting the efficiency of backwashing during microfiltration of colloidal suspensions in the fourth study. Throughout this study, all experiments were conducted in dead-end filtration mode utilizing an outside-in, hollow-fiber module with a nominal pore size of 0.1 µm. Silica particles (mean diameter ~ 0.14 µm) were used as model colloids. Using a flux decline model based on the Happel's cell for the hydraulic resistance of the particle layer, the cake structure was determined from experimental fouling data and then correlated to backwash efficiency. Modeling of experimental data revealed no noticeable changes in cake layer structure when feed particle concentration and operating pressure increased. Specifically, the packing density of the cake layer (l-cake porosity) in the cake layer ranged from 0.66 to 0.67, which corresponds well to random packing density. However, the particle packing density increased drastically with ionic strength. The results of backwashing experiments demonstrated that the efficiency of backwashing decreased significantly with increasing solution ionic strength, while backwash efficiency did not vary when particle concentration and operating pressure increased. This finding suggests that backwash efficiency is closely related to the structure of the cake layer formed during particle filtration. More densely packed cake layers were formed under high ionic strength, and consequently less flux was recovered per given backwash volume during backwashing.
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Date Issued
2007
Identifier
CFE0001854, ucf:47366
Format
Document (PDF)
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0001854
MODELING OF MEMBRANE SOLUTE MASSTRANSFER IN RO/NF MEMBRANE SYSTEMS
Title
MODELING OF MEMBRANE SOLUTE MASSTRANSFER IN RO/NF MEMBRANE SYSTEMS.
Creator
Zhao, Yu, Taylor, James S., University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description
Five articles describing the impact of surface characteristics, and development of mass transfer models for diffusion controlled membrane applications are published in this dissertation. Article 1 (Chapter 3) describes the impact of membrane surface characteristics and NOM on membrane performance for varying pretreatment and membranes during a field study. Surface charge, hydrophobicity and roughness varied significantly among the four membranes used in the study. Membrane surface...
Show moreFive articles describing the impact of surface characteristics, and development of mass transfer models for diffusion controlled membrane applications are published in this dissertation. Article 1 (Chapter 3) describes the impact of membrane surface characteristics and NOM on membrane performance for varying pretreatment and membranes during a field study. Surface charge, hydrophobicity and roughness varied significantly among the four membranes used in the study. Membrane surface characteristics, NOM and SUVA measurements were used to describe mass transfer in a low pressure RO integrated membrane system. Inorganic and organic 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. Article 2 (Chapter 4) describes the development of a diffusion controlled solute mass transfer model to assess membrane performance over time. The changing mass transfer characteristics of four low-pressure reverse osmosis (LPRO) membranes was correlated to feed stream water quality in a 2000 hour pilot study. Solute mass transfer coefficients (MTCs) were correlated to initial solute MTCs, solute charge, feed water temperature, monochloramine loading and organic loading (UV254). The model can be used to predict cleaning frequency, permeate water quality and sensitivity of permeate water quality to variation of temperature, organic and monochloramine mass loading.Article 3 (Chapter 5) describes a comparison of the long standing method of assessing membrane performance (ASTM D 45160 and another approach using mass transfer coefficients (MTCs) from the homogenous solution diffusion model (HSDM) using a common data set, water productivity and standardized salt passage. Both methods were shown to provide identical assessments of water productivity, however different assessments of salt passage. ASTM D 4516 salt passage is normalized for pressure and concentration and does not show the effects of flux, recovery, temperature or specific foulants on salt passage. However the MTC HSDM method is shown to consider all those effects and can be easily used to predict membrane performance at different sites and times of operation, whereas ASTM D 45160 can not. The HSDM MTC method of membrane evaluation is more versatile for assessment of membrane performance at varying sites and changing operational conditions.Article 4 (Chapter 6) describes the development of a fully integrated membrane mass transfer model that considers concentration, recovery and osmotic pressure for prediction of permeate water quality and required feed stream pressures. Osmotic pressure is incorporated into the model using correction coefficients that are calculated from boundary conditions determined from stream osmotic pressures of the feed and concentrate streams. Comparison to homogenous solution diffusion model (HSDM) with and without consideration of osmotic pressure and verification of IOPM using independently developed data from full and pilot scale plants is presented. The numerical simulation and statistical assessment show that osmotic pressure corrected models are superior to none-osmotic pressure corrected models, and that IOPM improves model predictability.Article 5 (Chapter 7) describes the development and comparison of a modified solution diffusion model and two newly developed artificial neural network models to existing mechanistic or empirical model
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Date Issued
2004
Identifier
CFE0000026, ucf:52859
Format
Document (PDF)
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0000026