• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.493-501
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• 2007

The membrane pilot plant has being operated in the Hyeondo pumping station to find the optimal operation technique of Gong-Ju membrane water treatment plant (WTP) which is constructing in $250m^3/d$ scale. The pilot plant was consisted of two trains which can treat $30,000m^3/d$ per train. First train was operated for one year under the condition of flux $1m^3/m^2{\cdot}d$ while the effects of flux variation and addition of powdered activated carbon(PAC) were evaluated in second train. The turbidity of membrane product water of first train which is operated on Flux $1m^3/m^2{\cdot}d$ was always below 0.05 NTU regardless of raw water turbidity. And also, the trance-membrane pressure(TMP) was maintained at $0.3{\sim}0.5kgf/cm^2$ for about 9 months and increased rapidly to $1.8kgf/cm^2$ which is maximum operating TMP. However, TMP was rapidly increased to $1.8kgf/cm^2$ within 2 months as flux was increased from 1 to $2m^3/m^2{\cdot}d$, especially, within 10 days under high turbidity(30~50NTU). This reault means that if Gongju membrane WTP is operated in flux $1m^3/m^2{\cdot}d$, chemical cleaning period can be maintained over 6 months. Only 10% of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) was removed in membrane process while the removal efficiencies of manganese and iron were 60% and 77% respectively. However, because only solid manganese and iron were removed in membrane process, an additional process for treating soluble manganese is required if souble manganese is high in raw water. 70% of 70ng/L 2-MIB which is causing taste & odor was removed in powdered activated carbon (PAC) tank with 50mg/L PAC which is design concentration of Gongju WTP. In addition, TMP was reduced with addition of 50mg/L PAC regardless of flux. Because TMP was not influenced even if 100mg/L PAC was added, the high taste and odor problem can be controled by additional injection of PAC.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.17 no.11
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• pp.1235-1241
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• 2008

Membrane separation is extensively used for water/wastewater treatment because of its efficiency separation processes. However, particles in the feed water can deposit and accumulate on the membrane surface to created cake layer. As a consequence, the selectivity of the membrane and flux through the membrane are decreased, which is called fouling/blocking phenomenon. In order to solve fouling problem, we developed a novel membrane named Carbon Whisker Membrane (CWM) which contains vapor-grown carbon fibers/whiskers on the surface of the membrane and a layer of carbon film coated on the ceramic substrate. We firstly employed polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) as a testing material to investigate the fouling mechanism. The results suggested that Carbon Whiskers on the surface of the membrane can prevent the directly contact between the membrane body and particles so that the fouling/blocking could not occurred easily compared to the membrane without carbon whiskers. We also researched the relationship with the diameter, density of carbon whisker on the membrane surface and total flux of solutions. Finally, we will be able to control the diameter and density of carbon whiskers on the membrane and existence of carbon whiskers on the membrane, it is important factor, might be prevent fouling/blocking in the water treatment.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.231-240
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• 2011

The objectives of this research are to investigate coagulation efficiencies of two coagulants l.e., alum and polyaluminum chloride and to understand effects of the coagulants on membrane fouling in microfiltration. The turbidity of supernatant from alum coagulation was increased with increasing doses whereas the turbidity from PACl coagulation was maintained at the low values. The observed injection volume of PACl for the same removal was approximately 30 percent less than alum, which produced a low sludge volume. The settling velocity of PACl flocs was greater than alum flocs. The results corresponded well with floc size measurements. Flux decline from alum coagulation was significant due in part to small sizes of flocs. At the low dose, alum floc had less specific cake resistance than PACl floc. However, as the dosage was increased, the increases in specific cake resistances of alum was substantial. Alum coagulation pretreatment needs careful operation to reduce membrane fouling by flocs. In general, PACl coagulants were more effective than alum coagulants for pretreatment of membrane processes because PACl showed the better performance in coagulation and membrane fouling.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.104-112
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• 2009

Ultrafiltration membranes (UF) were manufactured by the conventional phase inversion method using an additives with N-methyl-2-pyrrolidinone as a solvent. Characteristics of performance could be controlled by the preparation conditions and the operating methods. The fouling resistance was observed by the relative ratio of permeate flux $(J_t)$/pure water flux $(J_o)$. Compared with the anion charged membranes and its original polyamide membrane, fouling resistance to the protein was increasing in proportion to the ion exchange capacity. The relative flux for the bovin serum albumin (BSA) solution increased as pH value further away from isoelectric point of BSA. The hydrophilicity of a membrane, the pH condition, and the operating temperature played the important role in the membrane permeations.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.113-124
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• 1999

We elucidated factors such as membrane pore size, activity of the activated sludge and MLSS. affecting filtering characteristics or filtering resistance in an activated sludge bio-process using tubular type membranes. We used a commercial membrane module with $0.5m^2$ of effective membrane area and a bundle of 7 tubes(13mm of ID and 2m long) in the experiments. As a result, the flux was maintained in the range of $35{\sim}105l/m^2$ hr at 5,000~20,000mg/l of MLSS concentration, and there seemed to be a correlation between the flux and the MLSS. Also the greater the pores were, the higher the flux was in some comparison experiments using UF and MF membranes, but the water permeated through both of the membranes showed almost the same quality. However, the MF membrane showed a great reduction in filtering resistance initially, but went back to a stable stage afterwards. The activity of the activated sludge in the aeration tank was also found to be considered as a factor showing permeation characteristics of the membrane.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.47 no.7
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• pp.859-866
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• 2015

The aim of this work is to investigate the transport mechanism of radioactive nuclides through the reverse osmosis (RO) membrane and to estimate its effectiveness for nuclide separation from radioactive liquid waste. An analytical model is developed to simulate the RO separation, and a series of experiments are set up to confirm its estimated separation behavior. The model is based on the extended Nernst-Plank equation, which handles the convective flux, diffusive flux, and electromigration flux under electroneutrality and zero electric current conditions. The distribution coefficient which arises due to ion interactions with the membrane material and the electric potential jump at the membrane interface are included as boundary conditions in solving the equation. A high Peclet approximation is adopted to simplify the calculation, but the effect of concentration polarization is included for a more accurate prediction of separation. Cobalt and cesium are specifically selected for the experiments in order to check the separation mechanism from liquid waste composed of various radioactive nuclides and nonradioactive substances, and the results are compared with the estimated cobalt and cesium rejections of the RO membrane using the model. Experimental and calculated results are shown to be in excellent agreement. The proposed model will be very useful for the prediction of separation behavior of various radioactive nuclides by the RO membrane.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.39-49
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• 2022

Seawater desalination is doubtlessly a viable option to supply fresh drinking water. Nevertheless, RO (reverse osmosis) desalination plants in specific areas may be intermittently operated to match the imbalance between water demand and supply. Although a handful of works have been done on other membrane systems, few studies have attempted to mitigate fouling in intermittent RO systems. Accordingly, the objectives of this paper were to examine the effect of the intermittent operation on RO fouling; and to compare four intermittent operation modes including feed solution recirculation, membrane storage in the feed solution, deionized water (DI) recirculation, and membrane storage in DI water. Results showed that intermittent operation reduced RO fouling under several conditions. However, the extents of fouling mitigation were different depending on the feed conditions, foulant types, and membrane lay-up methods. When the feed solution was recirculated during the lay-up, the restoration of the flux was less significant than that by the feed solution feed-up. The use of deionized water during the lay-up was effective to restore flux, especially when the feed solution contains scale-forming salts (CaSO₄) and/or colloidal silica.

• Korean Membrane Journal
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.1-11
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• 2007

To prepare chemically stable asymmetric microporous membranes with a hydrophilic surface, which would be expected to have better antifouling properties, poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) blend membranes were prepared by the phase inversion process. PVDF mixture solutions in N-methylpyrrolidone (NMP) blended with several polar potential ionic polymers such as polyacrylonitrile (PAN), poly(methylmethacrylate) (PMMA) and poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (NIPAM) were used for the formation of the PVDF blend membranes. They were then characterized with several analytical methods such as FESEM, FTIR, contact angle measurement, pore size distribution and permeability measurement. Regardless of different polar polymers blended, they all showed a finger-like structure with more hydrophilic surface than the pristine PVDF membrane. For all the PVDF blend membrane, due to the polar potential ionic polymers used, the flux of those was improved. Especially the PVDF blend membrane with NIPAM showed the highest flux among the membranes prepared. Also antifouling property of the PVDF membrane was improved by the use of the polar polymers.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.87-100
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• 2016

A numerical simulation of membrane evaporation process was carried out in this work. The aim of simulation is to describe transport of water through porous membranes applicable to the concentration of aqueous solutions. A three-dimensional mathematical model was developed which considers transport phenomena including mass, heat, and momentum transfer in membrane evaporation process. The equations of model were then solved numerically using finite element method. The results of simulation in terms of evaporation flux were compared with experimental data, and confirmed the accuracy of model. Moreover, profile of pressure, concentration, and heat flux were obtained and analyzed. The results revealed that developed 3D model is capable of predicting performance of membrane evaporators in concentration of aqueous solutions.

• Korean Membrane Journal
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.61-67
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• 2003

Various characteristics of ion transport properties of a charged mosaic membrane with a parallel array of positive and negative functional charges were investigated, From the analysis of the volume flux, it was found that the salt flux based on nonequilibrium thermodynamics, preferential salt transport across the charged mosaic membrane. Transport properties of the magnesium sulfate(MgSO$_4$) and sucrose across the charged mosaic membrane were estimated. As a result, metal salts transport depended largely on the charged states and molecular weight otherwise nonelectrolyte solution was rejected under all experimental conditions. On the other hand, the reflection coefficient s indicated the negative value that suggested preferential material transport and was independent of charged mosaic thickness.