• Membrane Journal
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.41-50
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• 2002

The streaming potential generated by the electrokinetic flow within electric double layer of charged microchannel is applied to determine the zeta potential of hollow-fiber membrane pore by using the general Helmholtz-Smoluchowski equation. The streaming potential is know to provide a useful real-time information on the surface property and the interaction between pore and particles in actual situations and physicochemical conditions. The influence of physicochemical parameters upon the filtration with hollow-fibers has been examined with an in-situ and simultaneously monitoring the streaming potential as well as permeate flux. In particular, the present study examined an experimental method to identify the effect of cake layer which can vary according to the axial position of a hollow-fiber and the progress of membrane fouling by measuring the position-dependent streaming potential. As the latex concentration increases, the permeate flux decreased but the streaming potential increased. The growth of cake layer has been mire developed with increasing latex concentration, however, the effect of surface charges of latexes deposited on the membrane surface leads to increase the streaming potential. With increasing ionic concentration of KCI, both the permeate flux and the streaming potential decrease. The increase of ionic concentration provides a compact cake layer due to the shrinkage of Debye length and the decreased streaming potential results from the weakened ionic flows owing to a thin diffusive double layer.