• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.327-334
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• 2016

The effects of dissolved inorganic and organic matter in seawater and the characteristics of fouling on the membrane surface were investigated within membrane distillation (MD) process. The changes of the membrane flux of PE and PVDF hollow fiber membranes under natural and synthetic seawater were compared with given variances of temperature. The flux of both membranes under the synthetic seawater, without any organic matter, were higher than that of the natural seawater, indicating the organic fouling on the membrane surface. The surface of the membrane was analyzed using scanning electron microscope (SEM) to examine the fouling. The experiment with organics has shown the formation of thin film over the membrane surface, while the experiment with inorganics has shown only the formation of inorganic crystals. The results indicated the organic matter as the major foulants and that the organics affected the formation of the crystals. Permeate water conductivity of all conditions verified the quality of the water to be better if not similar to that of RO.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.25 no.6
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• pp.817-827
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• 2016

The resistance in series model has been frequently used for determination of various filtration resistance to correctly understand the membrane fouling behaviour in MBR (membrane bio-reactor) for wastewater treatment. The cake layer resistance ($R_c$) which is commonly determined by calculation of flux dataset that are obtained empirically before and after removing the cake layer on membrane surface. However, the calculated Rc values are very dependent on the cleaning methods adapted for removal of cake layer. This study investigated how the various cleaning options affect $R_c$. Seven different cleaning methods were employed: i) ultrasonication (100 W, 10 min), ii) ultrasonication (200 W, 60 min), iii) ultrasonication (400 W, 120 min), iv) water rinsing in a shaker (100 rpm, 10 min), v) water rinsing in a shaker (300 rpm, 60 min), vi) water rinsing, vii) sponge scrubbing. For the hydrophilic PES membrane, the cake layer removal efficiencies ranged from 64% to 10%, indicating that the removal of cake layer was highly dependent on the cleaning options. For the hydrophobic PVDF membrane, the cake layer removal efficiencies ranged from 79% to 97%. Consequently, a standardized method for cake layer removal to determine cake resistance ($R_c$) is needed for correct interpretation of the fouling phenomena.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.51 no.5
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• pp.580-586
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• 2013

In this paper, polymer composite membranes and ceramic composite membranes were prepared in order to compare differences in pervaporation performances relative to the support layers. PVDF was used for the polymer support layers, and $a-Al_2O_3$ was used for the ceramic support layers. For active layer was coated for PDMS, which is a rubbery polymer. The characterization of membranes were analysed by SEM, contact angle, and XPS. We studied performances relative to the composite membrane support layers in the ABE mixture solutions. The results of the pervaporation, the flux of the ceramic composite membrane was shown to be $250.87g/m^2h$, which was higher than that of polymer composite membranes, at $195.64g/m^2h$. However, it was determined that the separation factor of the polymer composite membranes was 31.98 which were higher than that of the ceramic composite membranes, at 20.66.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.24 no.6
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• pp.373-378
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• 2015

The structure of the human ear is divided into the outer ear, the middle ear, and the inner ear. The inner ear includes the cochlea that plays a very important role in hearing. Recently, the development of an artificial cochlear device for the hearing impaired with cochlear damage has been actively researched. Research has been carried out on the biomimetic piezoelectric thin film ABM (Artificial Basilar Membrane) in particular. In an effort to improve the frequency separation performance of the existing piezoelectric thin film ABM, this paper presents the design, fabrication, and characterization of the production and performance of a partially etched-type ABM material. $O_2$ plasma etching equipment was used to partially etch a piezoelectric thin film ABM to make it more flexible. The mechanical-behavior characterization of the manufactured partially etched-type ABM showed that the overall separation frequency range shifted to a lower frequency range more suitable for audible frequency bandwidths and it displayed an improved frequency separation performance. In addition, the maximum magnitude of the vibration displacement at the first local resonant frequency was enhanced by three times from 38 nm to 112 nm. It is expected that the newly designed, partially etched-type ABM will improve the issue of cross-talk between nearby electrodes and that the manufactured partially etched-type ABM will be utilized for next-generation ABM research.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.53-62
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• 2018

In this study, vacuum membrane distillation (VMD) was used to treat high-salinity wastewater (concentration about 17%) discharged by chlor-alkali plant after resin regeneration. The feasibility of VMD for the treatment of real saline wastewater by using Polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) microporous plate membrane with a pore diameter of $0.2{\mu}m$ was investigated. The effects of critical operating parameters such as feed temperature, velocity, vacuum degree and concentration on the permeate water flux were analyzed. Numerical simulation was used to predict the flux and the obtained results were in good agreement with the experimental data. The results showed that an increase in the operating conditions could greatly promote the permeate water flux which in turn decreased with an increase in the concentration. When the concentration varied from 17 to 25%, the permeate water flux dropped marginally with time indicating that the concentration was not sensitive to the decrease in permeate water flux. The permeate water flux decreased sharply until zero due to the membrane fouling resistance as the concentration varied from 25 to 26%. However, the conductivity of the produced water was well maintained and the average value was measured to be $4.98{\mu}s/cm$. Furthermore, a salt rejection of more than 99.99% was achieved. Overall, the outcome of this investigation clearly indicates that VMD has the potential for treating high-salinity wastewater.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.139-147
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• 2000

Non-Fickian (or anomalous) diffusion was observed in transient sorption of aromatic solvents(such as benzene, toluene, and chlorobenzene) in fluoropolymers (such as ETFE, ECTFE and PVDF). In this study, five other transient sorption models (Crank, Long ＆ Richman, Berens ＆ Hopfenberg, Neogi, Li) based on Fick's law were employed to fit the anomalous sorption data for aromatic solvents. The adjustable parameters were determined by least square analysis of the measured and predicted fractional uptake. For ETFE sorption data slightly deviating from Fickian behavior, all the models exhibited satisfactory results in fitting the anomalous sorption data. In particular, Neogj model predicted intrinsic diffusivity (0.4～0.8$\times$10$^{-5}$ $\textrm{cm}^2$/day) and equilibrium diffusivity (0.13～0.31$\times$10$^{-4}$ $\textrm{cm}^2$/day) as well as relaxation kinetics related to non-Fickain diffusion. For a typical sigmoidal sorption behavior in PVDF, only Crank's model could give the reasonable evaluation on transport properties. The ratio of intial diffusivity (D$_{i}$) to final equilibrium diffusivity (D$_{\infty}$) was ranged from 80 to 200. For the final stage of uptake In ECTFE with drastic acceleration, all the models exhibited significant deviations from the sorption data. New diffusion models based on thermodynamics and continuum mechanics should be employed to get valuable information on transport properties as well as relaxation kinetics coupled with non-Fickian diffusion.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.113-123
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• 2017

This study investigated effects of physical and chemical cleaning methods on the initial flux recovery of fouled membrane in membrane distillation process. A laboratory scale direct contact membrane distillation (DCMD) experiment was performed to treat digested livestock wastewater with 3.89 mg/L suspended solids, 874.7 mg/L COD, 543.7 mg/L nitrogen, 15.6 mg/L total phosphorus, and pH of 8.6. A hydrophobic PVDF membrane with an average pore size of $0.22{\mu}m$ and a porosity of 75 % was installed inside a direct contact type membrane distillation module. The temperature difference between feed and permeate side was maintained at $40^{\circ}C$ with the feed and permeate stream velocity of 0.18 m/s. The results showed that the permeate flux decreased from $22.1L{\cdot}m^{-2}{\cdot}hr^{-1}$ to $19.0L{\cdot}m^{-2}{\cdot}hr^{-1}$ after 75 hours of distillation. The fouled membrane was cleaned first by physical flushing and consecutively by chemicals with NaOCl and citric acid. After the physical cleaning the flux was recovered to 92 % as compared with the initial clean water flux of the virgin membrane. Then 94 % of the flux was recovered after cleaning by 2,000 ppm NaOCl for 90 minutes and finally 97 % of flux recovered after 3 % citric acid for 90 minutes. SEM-EDS and FT-IR analysis results presented that the foulants on the membrane surface were removed effectively after each cleaning step. The contact angle measurement showed that the hydrophobicity of the membrane surface was also restored gradually after each cleaning step to reach nearly the same hydrophobicity level as the virgin membrane.

• Textile Coloration and Finishing
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.10-18
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• 2004

In this work, Aqueous sericin solution was prepared by degumming process with electrolytic reduction water. Then, the microfiltration and ultrafiltration systems were applied to the concentration of aqueous sericin solution. The objective of this study was to select the optimum operating condition among the different pressure. The permeate flux and rejection ratio were observed with time, pressure, flow rate and concentration. and, the wastewater and permeated water quality values such as pH, BOD, COD, and NH levels were measured. In order to see the influence of electrolytic reduction water, the flux of pure water and electrolytic reduction water by PVDF22(MF) and PS100(UF) membrane was measured. In microfiltration system, the relative flux reduction decreased rapidly to 0.02 in the 30min, as the concentration polarization and gel layer formation were increased. and then the sericin concentration rejection ratio was 40%. In ultrafiltration system, the permeate flux decreased with time and concentration, and increased with the operating pressure and flow rate. Optimal condition in PS100 membrane system for sericin concentration was operating pressure 1.464kgf/$cm^24, operating flow rate $7\ell/min at\; 40^{\circ}C$. At that time, sericin concentration rejection ratio was 83% respectably. The sericin solution was concentrated from 0.1wt% solution to 0.2 wt % solution during about 2 hrs by the UF filteration membrane system.

• Journal of the Korean Solar Energy Society
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• v.34 no.5
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• pp.23-31
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• 2014

This study was accomplished to get the foundation design data of VMD(Vacuum Membrane Distillation) system for Solar Thermal VMD plant. VMD experiment was designed to evaluate thermal performance of VMD using PVDF(polyvinylidene fluoride) hollow fiber hydrophobic membranes. The total membrane surface area in a VMD module is $5.3m^2$. Experimental equipments to evaluate VMD system consists of various parts such as VMD module, heat exchanger, heater, storage tank, pump, flow meter, micro filter. The experimental conditions to evaluate VMD module were salt concentration, temperature, flow rate of feed sea water. Salt concentration of feed water were used by aqueous NaCl solutions of 25g/l, 35g/l and 45g/l concentration. As a result, increase in permeate flux of VMD module is due to the increasing feed water temperature and feed water flow rate. Also, decrease in permeate flux of VMD module is due to increasing salinity of feed water. VMD module required about 590 kWh/day of heating energy to produce $1m^3/day$ of fresh water.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.598-607
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• 2004

In this study, the effects of two pre-treatment processes were observed prior to membrane filtration: pre-coagulation and pre-ozonation. To compare the effect of two above-mentioned pre-treatments, we adopted the four schemes: first one is direct membrane filtration of river surface water, second one is membrane filtration after pre-coagulation, third one is membrane filtration after pre-ozonation and fourth one is membrane filtration after pre-coagulation and pre-ozonation. There are two exceptional characteristics in applied processes. One is the usage of the MF membrane which has high ozone resisting characteristic. Therefore, ozone resides in membrane module during filtration. The other is adoption of Jet Mixed Separator (JMS) as coagulation-sedimentation process. The change in transmembrane pressure and permeate water quality were also examined. As a result, considering the filtration performance efficiency and permeate water quality, the process composed of filtration with combination of both pre-coagulation and pre-ozonation was proved most effective. The improved efficiency was due to the reduction of loading rate of fouling inducing materials to membrane module by coagulation process as well as variable reactions, such as degradation, particle destabilization and coagulation, occurred by residual ozone in membrane module. The additional effect of pre-coagulation before pre-ozonation is suppression of AOC, one of the by-products induced by ozonation. Therefore, combination of pre-coagulation and pre-ozonation is the effective process to overcome the major de-merit of ozonation i.e. by-products formation.