• Membrane Journal
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.131-137
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• 2020

In this study, effect of inorganic particles on organic fouling was investigated by a laboratory-scaled pressurized membrane filtration. In order to cause organic fouling, sodium alginate (SA) was used as a feed solution. Regardless of the presence of inorganic SiO₂ particles, the complete pore blocking played an important role in determining the fouling rate during the initial period of membrane filtration. However, the formation of cake layer resulted in the membrane fouling more dominantly as filtration time progressed. In the presence of inorganic particles, both specific cake resistance and compressibility associated with the membrane fouling formed were relatively lower than that without SiO₂ particles. Membrane fouling was more severe at constant flux mode of filtration than that observed at constant pressure mode probably due to the concomitant increase of compressibility of fouling layer with transmembrane pressure (TMP). It was found that the presence of SA and SiO₂ particles in feed solution provided the synergistic effect on the hydraulic backwashing to reduce membrane fouling as compared to the SA solution alone without the inorganic particles.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.197-204
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• 2021

In MBR, extracellular polymeric substance (EPS) is known as an important factor of fouling; soluble EPS (sEPS) affects internal contamination of membrane, and bound EPS (bEPS) affects the formation of the cake layer. The production of EPS changes according to the composition of influent, which affects fouling characteristics. Therefore, in this study, the effects of the F/M ratio on the sEPS concentration, bEPS content, and fouling were evaluated. The effects of F/M ratio on the amount and composition of EPS were confirmed by setting conditions that were very low or higher than the general F/M ratio of MBR, and the fouling occurrence characteristics were evaluated by filtration resistance distribution. As a result, it was found that the sEPS increased significantly with the increase of the F/M ratio. When the substrate was depleted, bEPS content decreased because bEPS was hydrolyzed into BAP and seemed to be used as a substrate. In contrast, when the substrate is sufficient, UAP (utilization-associated products) was rapidly generated in proportion with the consumption of the substrate. UAP has a relatively higher Protein/Carbohydrate ratio (P/C ratio) than BAP, and this means, it has a higher adhesive force to the membrane surface. As a result, UAP seems like causing fouling rather than BAP (biomass-associated products). Therefore, R_f (Resistance of internal contamination) increased rapidly with the increase of UAP, and R_c (Resistance of cake layer) increased with the accumulation of bEPS in proportion, and as a result, the fouling interval was shortened. According to this study, a high F/M ratio leads to an increment in UAP generation and accumulation of bEPS, and by these UAP and bEPS, membrane fouling is promoted.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.35 no.6
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• pp.425-436
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• 2021

In this study, chemically enhanced steam cleaning(CESC) was applied as a novel and efficient method for the control of organic and inorganic fouling in ceramic membrane filtration. The constant filtration regression model and the resistance in series model(RISM) were used to investigate the membrane fouling mechanisms. For total filtration, the coefficient of determination(R²) with an approximate value of 1 was obtained in the intermediate blocking model which is considered as the dominant contamination mechanism. In addition, most of the coefficient values showed similar values and this means that the complex fouling was formed during the filtration period. In the RISM, R _c/R _f increased about 4.37 times in chemically enhanced steam cleaning compared to physical backwashing, which implies that the internal fouling resistance was converted to cake layer resistance, so that the membrane fouling hardly to be removed by physical backwashing could be efficiently removed by chemically enhanced steam cleaning. The results of flux recovery rate showed that high-temperature steam may loosen the structure of the membrane cake layer due to the increase in diffusivity and solubility of chemicals and finally enhance the cleaning effect. As a consequence, it is expected that chemically enhanced steam cleaning can drastically improve the efficiency of membrane filtration process when the characteristics of the foulant are identified.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.38-46
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• 2005

In this research, we tried to combine the coagulation/sedimentation process as pre-treatment with UF membrane filtration to reduce the membrane fouling and to improve the permeate water quality. We used the Jet Mixed Separator (JMS) as coagulation/sedimentation process. We observed that the HPC and E.Coli can't be removed through the direct UF memebrane filtation of surface water. The removal efficiency of dissolved organic substances, indicated by E260 and DOC, was 40% and 15%, respectively. However, the removal efficiency of it increased two time as a result of combination of JMS process as coagulation/sedimentation pre-treatment. This was resulted from the formation of high molecular humic micro-floc through JMS process. The accumulation amount of irreversible cake layer which was not removed by backwashing was less than direct UF membrane filtration of surface water. Moreover, the loading rate of fouling induced substances, such as humic substances and suspended substances, on membrane surface decreased drastically through JMS process. As a result, the accumulation amount of irreversible cake on membrane surface was decreased.

• Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.149-157
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• 2011

Nanofiltration (NF) experiments were conducted to investigate fouling of Al-hydroxide precipitate and the influence of organic compound, inorganic compound, and their combination, i.e., multiple foulants. $CaCl_2$ and $MgSO_4$ were employed as surrogates of inorganic compounds while humic acid was used as surrogate of organic compound. The flux attained from NF experiments was fitted with the mathematical fouling model to evaluate the potential fouling mechanisms. Al-hydroxide fouling with a cake formation mechanism had little effect on the NF membrane fouling regardless of the Al concentration. The NF fouling by Al-hydroxide precipitate was deteriorated in presence of inorganic matter. The effect of Mg was more critical in increasing the fouling than Ca. This is because the Mg ions enhanced the resistances of the cake layer accumulated by the Al-hydroxide precipitate on the membrane surfaces. However, the fouling with Mg was dramatically mitigated by adding humic acid. It is interesting to observe that the removal of the conductivity was enhanced to 61.2% in presence of Mg and humic acid from 30.9% with Al-hydroxide alone. The influence of dissolved matter (i.e., colloids) was more negative than particulate matter on the NF fouling for Al-hydroxide precipitate in presence of inorganic and organic matter.

• Journal of Korea Technical Association of The Pulp and Paper Industry
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.47-53
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• 2004

In this experiment the effects of the packing structure of pigment on the surface characteristics (smoothness and gloss) of coated paper are studied. Four different kinds of inorganic pigments(clay), ground calcium carbonate(GCC), two of precipitated calcium carbonates(PCC), and two organic pigments(solid bead and hollow type) were used. The method of measuring the relative sediment volume(RSV) was used to analyze the packing structure of coating layer. The relative sediment volume was measured, using the pressure dewatering dry-cake method(PDDM) and centrifuge method. Also, the particle size distribution of coating pigment was determined. The results showed that small amount of organic pigment, added to inorganic pigment, improved smoothness and its effect was greater when GCC was used as inorganic pigment. The efficiency of organic pigment depended upon the inorganic pigment since the organic pigment is packed in the pores formed by the inorganic pigment.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.329-338
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• 2019

The constant-pressure and constant-flux membrane filtration experiments of alumina colloidal solution are performed to investigate defouling effect of the natural convection instability flow (NCIF) induced in membrane module. The permeate flux at constant-pressure and the transmembrane pressure (TMP) at constant-flux experiments are measured by changes the inclined angle (0, 90 and 180°) of membrane module to the gravity, and flux results are analyzed by using the blocking filtration model. NCIF are more induced as the inclined angles increased from 0° to 180°, and the maximum induced NCIF at 180° angle enhances flux to 2.8 times and reduces TMP to 85% after two-hour operation. As a result of analyzing flux data by applying the blocking filtration model, it is more reasonable to analyze them by using the intermediate blocking model within 15-minute operation time and then thereafter times by using the cake filtration model. The induced NCIF at 180° angle reduces the intermediate blocking fouling at 52% in the early operation time of 15-minute and thereafter the cake layer fouling at 93%. The main membrane fouling control mechanism of NCIF induced in membrane module is evaluated as suppressing the formation of the cake layer of particulate colloidal materials on membrane surface.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.18-29
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• 2019

The dead-end ultrafiltration (UF) of BSA protein solution was performed to investigate the defouling effects of natural convection instability flow (NCIF) induced in membrane module. The permeate fluxes were measured according to the inclined angles ($0{\sim}180^{\circ}$) of membrane module with respect to gravity, and analyzed using the blocking filtration model. NCIF are more induced as the inclined angles increased from $0^{\circ}$ to $180^{\circ}$, and the induced NCIF enhances flux. Comparing the fluxes at $0^{\circ}$ inclined angle (no NCIF induction) and $180^{\circ}$ (maximum NCIF induction), the flux enhancements by NCIF induction are increased about 5 times in the short-term UF operation (2 hours) and about 17 times in the long-term operation (20 hours). As applying the blocking filtration model, it is more suitable to analyze the flux results by using the intermediate blocking model in the early times of UF operation within 15 minutes and then thereafter times by using the cake filtration model. NCIF induced at $180^{\circ}$ inclined angle reduces the intermediate blocking fouling at about 67% in the early times operation and thereafter the cake layer fouling at about 99.9%. The main defouling mechanism of NCIF induced in the membrane module is suppress the formation of protein cake layer.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.53-62
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• 2011

During the construction of vertical cutoff walls, filtration of bentonite slurry into the adjacent soil formation fabricates a layer of bentonite filter cake on the wall surface. The bentonite filter cake possesses much lower hydraulic conductivity compared to that of backfill materials in the cutoff wall. Hydraulic conductivity of bentonite filter cakes formed with three different types of bentonites has been measured by performing the modified fluid loss test under various pressure levels. Three different mixture ratios, 4, 6, and 8%, were selected for fabricating bentonite filter cakes to represent common field conditions. Two analysis methods for interpreting the experimental data from the modified fluid loss tests were employed to estimate hydraulic conductivity of the bentonite cakes. The range of hydraulic conductivities of the three bentonite cakes is between $2.15{\times}10^{-11}\;m/s$ and $2.88{\times}10^{-10}\;m/s$ which is 1 to 2.7 orders of magnitude lower than that of the design cutoff wall backfill. The stress distribution and thickness of the bentonite cakes were also evaluated in this paper.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.3 no.4
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• pp.730-738
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• 1992

Filtration characteristics according to membrane materials were studied In the ultrafiltration of anaerobic digestion broth as a post treatment method. A series of resistances for different membranes were quantitatively assessed on the basis of the resistance-in-series model. Flux behavior observed with the digestion broth was irrelevant to initial water permeabilities of each membrane. The fluoro polymer membrane showed the most significant improvement of flux with increase of cross-flow velocity, which suggests that the cake layer formed on this membrane is more weakly attached to the membrane surface than those on the other membranes. Flux reduction during longtime running was attrib-used to the polarization layer resistance ($R_p$) as well as the fouling layer resistance($R_f$). Continuous increase of $R_p$ may reflect the variation in the characteristics of cake layers, which could result from size, shape, and structure changes due to lysis and growth of biomass. Hydrophilic cellulosic membrane had a much lower fouling tendency than hydrophobic polysulfone membrane. The depressurization method induced a small increase in flux of $5-10L/m^2/h$. During washing and cleaning, filtrability of each membrane was rapidly recovered within 15 minutes until a stationary value was reached.