• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.9 no.5
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• pp.373-383
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• 2018

Fouling by solids and microorganisms is the major obstacle limiting the efficient use of membrane wastewater treatment. In our previous study, two stages microalgae/membrane filtration system was proposed to treat anaerobic digested palm oil mill effluent (AnPOME). This two stages microalgae/membrane filtration system had showed great potential for the treatment of AnPOME with high removal of COD, $NH_3-N$, $PO_4{^{3-}}$, TSS, turbidity, and colour. However, fouling behavior of the membrane in this two stages microalgae/membrane filtration system was still unknown. In this study, empirical models that describe permeate flux decline for dead-end filtration (pore blocking - complete, intermediate, and standard; and cake layer formation) presented by Hermia were used to fit the experimental results in identifying the fouling mechanism under different experimental conditions. Both centrifuged and non-centrifuged samples were taken from the medium with 3 days RT intervals, from day 0 to day 12 to study their influence on fouling mechanisms described by Hermia for ultrafiltration (UF), nanofiltration (NF), and reverse osmosis (RO) filtration mode. Besides, a more detailed study on the use of resistance-in-series model for deadend filtration was done to investigate the fouling mechanisms involved in membrane filtration of AnPOME collected after microalgae treatment. The results showed that fouling of UF and NF membrane was mainly caused by cake layer formation and it was also supported by the analysis for resistance-in-series model. Whereas, fouling of RO membrane was dominated by concentration polarization.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.327-339
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• 2016

Nanofiltration is useful to concentrate propolis extract. During the selection of membrane, both compound rejection and permeate flux are important indicators of process economy. Brazilian green propolis extract was studied to evaluate the separation performance of Startmen 122 and NF270 membranes. Compared to Starmen 122, NF270 membrane showed better rejection of bioactive compounds. The flux decline patterns were further studied using Hermia's model. Cake formation is the major fouling mechanism on the hydrophobic surface of Starmen 122. While the fouling mechanism for NF270 is pore blocking. The fouled membranes were further characterized using SEM and FT-IR to confirm on the predicted fouling mechanisms.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.855-864
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• 2009

The main object of this work was to determine the influence of periodic chemical backwash on filtration resistance in membrane filtration system. In this work Hermia's models were used to investigate the fouling mechanisms involved in the microfiltration of $0.45{\mu}m$ filtered sewage feed. Batch microfiltration experiments were performed at transmembrane pressure 0.4 bar and different feed SCOD concentration (9~67 mgSCOD/L). The results showed that the best fit to experimental data corresponded to the intermediate blocking model followed by the standard and complete blocking model for all the experimental conditions tested. From the simulation results of filtration performance, it was found that in order to maintain sustainable operation of membrane filtration system, irreversible foulant component accumulated continuously on membrane surface and/or pore must be effectively removed. In addition, it was verified that periodic chemical backwash using NaOCl or NaOH effectively improved filtration performance of membrane.