• Membrane Journal
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.191-197
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• 2008

In this study, we used hybrid module that was composed of packing granular activated carbon (GAC) between module inside and outside of ceramic microfiltration membrane for advanced drinking water treatment. Instead of natural organic matters (NOM) and fine inorganic particles in natural water source, synthetic water was prepared with humic acid and kaolin. Packing fraction of GAC was changed from 0 to 24.05% to see effect of packing fraction. As a result, changing curves of resistance of membrane fouling ($R_f$) and permeate flux (J) during 3 h operation were almost overlapped independent of packing fraction of GAC. Treatment efficiencies of turbidity were very high above 99.46% at all packing fractions of GAC. And treatment efficiency of NOM, which was measured by $UV_{254}$ absorbance, was the highest value of 99.43% at packing fraction of 24.05%. Then, we operated the hybrid process during 13 h at packing fraction of 24.05%. As a result, J was rapidly dropped according to increase of membrane fouling within initial 1 h of operation, and almost constant after 3 h. And treatment efficiencies of turbidity and NOM were stable and high values of 99.52% and 96.63%, respectively.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.72-83
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• 2011

For advanced drinking water treatment of high turbidity water, we used the hybrid module that was composed of photocatalyst packing between outside of tubular ceramic microfiltration membrane and membrane module inside. Photocatalyst was PP (polypropylene) bead coated $TiO_2$ powder by CVD (chemical vapor deposition) process. Instead of natural organic matters (NOM) and fine inorganic particles in natural water source, modified solution was prepared with humic acid and kaolin. Water-back-flushing of 10 sec was performed per every period of 10 min to minimize membrane fouling. Resistance of membrane fouling ($R_f$) decreased and J increased as concentration of humic acid changed from 10 mg/L to 2 mg/L, and finally the highest total permeate volume ($V_T$) could be obtained at 2 mg/L. Then, treatment efficiencies of turbidity and $UV_{254}$ absorbance were above 98.5% and 85.7%, respectively. As results of treatment portions by membrane filtration, photocatalyst adsorption, and photo-oxidation in MF, MF + $TiO_2$, and MF + $TiO_2$ + UV processes, turbidity was treated little by photocatalyst adsorption, and photo-oxidation. However, treatment portions of humic acid by adsorption and photo-oxidation were above 10.7 and 8.6%, respectively.

• Proceedings of the Membrane Society of Korea Conference
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• 2004.05b
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• pp.144-146
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• 2004

Various polymeric hollow fiber membranes have been prepared and been used widely due to their high surface area per unit volume and high permselectivity. However, the organic materials are only limited to mild operating conditions because of their weak thermal stability and ease of fouling.(omitted)

• Membrane Journal
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.216-223
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• 2012

The effect of water back-flushing period (FT) was investigated in hybrid process of carbon fiber microfiltration membrane and photocatalyst for advanced drinking water treatment in this study, and compared with the previous study using alumina ultrafiltration membrane. The FT was changed in the range of 2~10 min with fixed 10 sec of BT. Then, the FT effects on resistance of membrane fouling ($R_f$), permeate flux (J) and total permeate volume ($V_T$) were observed during total filtration time of 180 min. As decreasing FT, $R_f$ decreased and J increased, which was same with the previous result using alumina ultrafiltration membrane. The treatment efficiency of turbidity was high beyond 99.2%, and the effect of FT was not shown on treatment efficiency of turbidity, which was different with the previous result. The treatment efficiency of organic matters was the lowest value of 65.6% at NBF, and it increased as decreasing FT, which was different with the previous result, too. The reason was that the membrane fouling phenomena could show a different mechanism depending on ceramic membrane materials.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.121-137
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• 2010

This work presents inexpensive inorganic precursor formulations to yield submicron range symmetric ceramic microfiltration (MF) membranes whose average pore sizes were between 0.1 and $0.4{\mu}m$. Incidentally, the sintering temperature used in this work was about 800 to $950^{\circ}C$ instead of higher sintering temperatures ($1100^{\circ}C$) that are usually deployed for membrane fabrication. Thermogravimetric (TGA) and X-Ray diffraction (XRD) analysis were carried out to evaluate the effect of temperature on various phase transformations during sintering process. The effect of sintering temperature on structural integrity of the membrane as well as pore size distribution and average pore size were evaluated using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis. The average pore sizes of the membranes were increased from 0.185 to $0.332{\mu}m$ with an increase in sintering temperature from 800 to $950^{\circ}C$. However, a subsequent reduction in membrane porosity (from 34.4 to 19.6%) was observed for these membranes. Permeation experiments with both water and air were carried out to evaluate various membrane morphological parameters such as hydraulic pore diameter, hydraulic permeability, air permeance and effective porosity. Later, the membrane prepared with a sintering temperature of $950^{\circ}C$ was tested for the treatment of synthetic oily waste water to verify its real time applicability. The membrane exhibited 98.8% oil rejection efficiency and $5.36{\times}10^{-6}\;m^3/m^2.s$ permeate flux after 60 minutes of experimental run at 68.95 kPa trans-membrane pressure and 250 mg/L oil concentration. Based on retail and bulk prices of the inorganic precursors, the membrane cost was estimated to be $220 /$m^2$ and $1.53 /$m^2$, respectively.

• Korean Membrane Journal
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.26-32
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• 2008

The Gongji stream water of Chuncheon city was filtrated by 2 kinds of tubular alumina ceramic MF membranes with periodic $N_2$-back-flushing. $N_2$-back-flushing time (BT) was changed in $0{\sim}50$ sec at fixed filtration time (FT), or back-flushing period, of 4 min for NCMT-5231 membrane ($0.05\;{\mu}m$). Then, FT was changed in $0{\sim}32$ min at fixed BT of 40 sec for NCMT-7231 $0.1{\mu}m)$). In the viewpoints of total permeate volume ($V_T$), dimensionless permeate flux ($J/J_0$) and resistance of membrane fouling ($R_f$), the optimal $N_2$-BT was 50 sec, which was the longest BT, at 4 min FT for NCMT-5231. It means the longest BT was the most effective to minimize the membrane fouling, and we could acquire the most $V_T$. But the optimal FT for NCMT-7231 was 16 min in the viewpoint of $V_T$, and was 8 min in the viewpoints of $J/J_0$ and $R_f$ at fixed BT of 40 sec. The rejection rates were excellent as $80.6{\sim}96.6\;%$ for turbidity, $35.2{\sim}58.4%$ for $NH_3$-N, $16.3{\sim}45.2%$ for T-P and $16.3{\sim}45.2%$ for $COD_{Mn}$. However, the rejection rate of T-N was very low as $2.7{\sim}13.4%$ and it of TDS below 6.1%.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.113-119
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• 2010

Biodiesel was produced from Canola, soybean and Jatropha oils combined methanol using continuously recycled membrane reactor. The membrane served to react and separate the unreacted oil from the product stream, producing high-purity fatty acid methyl ester (FAME). Two ceramic tubular membranes having different nominal pore sizes of 0.2 and 0.5 ${\mu}m$ were used. Permeate was observed at 0.5, 1.0 and 2.0 bar with a given flow rate, respectively. The permeate flux for 0.2 ${\mu}m$ membrane at 0.5 bar and 400 mL/min flow rate was 15 L/$m^2{\cdot}hr$. Also FAME content in permeate was the highest at 0.5 bar, and decreased with increasing operating pressure.

• Korean Membrane Journal
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.34-41
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• 2005

The wastewater discharged from a paper plant was filtrated by 3 kinds of tubular carbon ceramic UF and MF membranes with $N_2$-backflushing. The filtration time (FT) was fixed at 8 min or 16 min, and $N_2$-backflushing time (BT) was changed in 0${\~}$60 sec. The optimal condition was discussed in the viewpoints of total permeate volume ($V_T$), dimensionless permeate flux (J/Jo) and resistance of membrane fouling ($R_f$). In the viewpoints of $V_T$, J/Jo and $R_f$, the optimal $N_2$-BT was 40 sec at both FT for M9 (MWCO: 300,000 Daltons) and C005 ($0.05{\mu}m$) membranes. However, for C010 ($0.1{\mu}m$) it was 10 sec at FT=8 min, and 20 sec at FT=16 min in the viewpoints of J/Jo and $R_f$, and 5 sec at both FT in the viewpoints of $V_T$. It means that the short $N_2$-BT could reduce the membrane fouling and recover the permeate flux sufficiently for MF membrane having a large pore size as C010. Average rejection rates of pollutants were higher than $99.0\%$ for turbidity and $22.8{\~}59.6\%$ for $COD_{cr}$, but rejection rates of total dissolved solid (TDS) were lower than $8.9\%$. Therefore, the low turbidity water purified in our system could be reused for paper process.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.8 no.5
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• pp.499-515
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• 2017

The purpose of this study was to investigate membrane fouling caused by microalgal cells in submerged membrane systems consisting of polymeric and ceramic microfiltration membranes. In this study, one polymeric (flat-sheet, pore size: $0.2{\mu}m$) and two ceramic (flat-sheet, pore size: $0.2{\mu}m$ and cylindrical, pore size: $1{\mu}m$) membranes were used. Physical cleaning was performed with water and air to determine the potential for reversible and irreversible membrane fouling. The study results showed that substantial irreversible membrane fouling (after four filtration cycles, irreversible fouling degree 27% (cleaning with water) and 38% (cleaning with air)) occurs in the polymeric membrane. In cleaning studies performed using water and air on ceramic membranes, it was observed that compressed air was more effective (recovery rate: 87-91%) for membrane cleaning. The harvesting performance of the membranes was examined through critical flux experiments. The critical flux values for polymeric membrane with a pore size of $0.20{\mu}m$ and ceramic membranes with a pore size of $0.20{\mu}m$ and $1{\mu}m$ were ${\leq}95L/m^2hour$, ${\leq}70L/m^2hour$ and ${\leq}55L/m^2hour$, respectively. It was determined that critical flux varies depending on the membrane material and the pore size. To obtain more information on membrane fouling caused by microalgal cells, the characterization of the fouled polymeric membrane was performed. This study concluded that ceramic membranes with a pore size of $0.2-1{\mu}m$ in the submerged membrane system could be efficiently used for microalgae harvesting by cleaning the membrane with compressed air at regular intervals.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.267-277
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• 2013

The effect of water back-flushing period (FT) and water back-flushing time (BT) was compared with the previous study of nitrogen back-flushing in viewpoints of resistance of membrane fouling ($R_f$), permeate flux (J), and total permeate volume ($V_T$) in hybrid process of tubular ceramic microfiltration and PES (polyethersulfone) beads loaded $TiO_2$ photocatalyst for advanced drinking water treatment. As FT decreasing, Rf decreased, but J and $V_T$ increased. Turdity treatment efficiency was the maximum at NBF (no back-flushing) and increased a little as FT decreasing in both water and nitrogen back-flushing. Organic matter treatment efficiency was the maximum at FT 4 min in water back-flushing, but increased as FT decreasing in nitrogen back-flushing. As BT increasing, Rf and resistance of reversible membrane fouling ($R_{rf}$) decreased, but J and $V_T$ increased. The turdity treatment efficiency was almost constant beyond 98% in water back-flushing, but increased as BT increasing except NBF in nitrogen. The organic matter treatment efficiency was the maximum at BT 6 sec in water back-flushing, but increased as BT increasing except NBF in nitrogen. The $V_T$ was the maximum at BT 30 and FT 2 min, and optimal condition was BT 30 sec per FT 2 min in this experimental range.