• 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.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.93-101
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• 2010

This study examined the effects of feed water chemistry and membrane fouling on the rejection of trace organics by a loose nanofiltration membrane. One ionisable and one non-ionisable trace organics were selected for investigation. Results reported here indicate that the solution pH and ionic strength can markedly influence the removal of the ionisable trace organic compound sulfamethoxazole. These observations were explained by electrostatic interactions between the solutes and the membrane surface and by the speciation of the ionisable compound. On the other hand, no appreciable effects of solution pH and ionic strength on the rejection of the neutral compound carbamazepine were observed in this study. In addition, membrane fouling has also been shown to exert some considerable impact on the rejection of trace organics. However, the underlying mechanisms remain somewhat unclear and are subject to on-going investigation.

• Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.149-157
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• 2011

Nanofiltration (NF) experiments were conducted to investigate fouling of Al-hydroxide precipitate and the influence of organic compound, inorganic compound, and their combination, i.e., multiple foulants. $CaCl_2$ and $MgSO_4$ were employed as surrogates of inorganic compounds while humic acid was used as surrogate of organic compound. The flux attained from NF experiments was fitted with the mathematical fouling model to evaluate the potential fouling mechanisms. Al-hydroxide fouling with a cake formation mechanism had little effect on the NF membrane fouling regardless of the Al concentration. The NF fouling by Al-hydroxide precipitate was deteriorated in presence of inorganic matter. The effect of Mg was more critical in increasing the fouling than Ca. This is because the Mg ions enhanced the resistances of the cake layer accumulated by the Al-hydroxide precipitate on the membrane surfaces. However, the fouling with Mg was dramatically mitigated by adding humic acid. It is interesting to observe that the removal of the conductivity was enhanced to 61.2% in presence of Mg and humic acid from 30.9% with Al-hydroxide alone. The influence of dissolved matter (i.e., colloids) was more negative than particulate matter on the NF fouling for Al-hydroxide precipitate in presence of inorganic and organic matter.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.299-305
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• 2019

Managed aquifer recharge (MAR) systems are gaining interest as an alternative to conventional water resources. However, when the water recovered in MAR systems, dissolved iron and manganese species may easily oxidize and they cause well screen clogging or require abandonment of extraction wells. In this study, both oxic and anoxic conditions were analyzed to verify the feasibility of the membrane filtration performance under various solution chemistries. The fouling mechanisms of the metal ions under anoxic conditions were also investigated by employing synthetic wastewater. The fouled membranes were then further analyzed to verify the major causes of inorganic fouling through SEM and XPS. The newly suggested anoxic process refining existing membrane process is expected to provide more precious information about nanofiltration (NF) membrane fouling, especially for demonstrating the potential advantages to chemical-free drinking water production for indirect potable reuse.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.111-121
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• 2020

The fouling of Nanofiltration membrane (NF) was examined using wastewater containing reactive black dye RB5 of 1500 Pt/Co color concentrations with 16890 mg/l TDS collected from El-alamia Company for Dying and Weaving in Egypt. The NF-unit was operated at constant pressure of 10 bars, temperature of 25℃, and flowrate of 420 L/min. SEM, EDX, and FTIR were used for fouling characterization. Using the ROIFA-4 program, the total inorganic fouling load was 1.07 mM/kg present as 49.3% Carbonates, 10.1% Sulfates, 37.2% Silicates, 37.2% Phosphates, and 0.93% Iron oxides. The permeate flux, recovery, salt rejection and mass transfer coefficients of the dye molecules were reduced significantly after fouling. The results clearly demonstrate that the fouling had detrimental effect on membrane performance in dye removal, as indicated by a sharp decrease in permeate flux and dye recovery 68%. The dye mass transfer coefficient was dropped dramatically by 34%, and the salt permeability increased by 14%. In this study, all the properties of the membrane used and the fouling that caused its poor condition are identified. Another study was conducted to regeneration fouled membrane again by chemical methods in another article (Abdel-Fatah et al. 2017).

• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.277-286
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• 2019

In 2014, the first demineralization plant, using nanofiltration (NF) membrane coupled with renewable energies was realized at Al Annouar high school of Sidi Taibi, Kenitra, Morocco. This project has revealed difficulties related to the membrane performances loss (pressure increase, flux decline, poor water quality of the produced water and increase of energy consumption), as consequences of membrane fouling. To solve this problem, an autopsy of the membrane was done in order to determine the nature and origin of the fouling. The samples of membrane and fouling were then analyzed by scanning electron microscopy using a scanning electron microscope (SEM) connected with an energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) detection system and X-ray diffractometer (XRD). Moreover, three cleaning solutions (hydrochloric acid, nitric acid and sulfuric acid) were tested and assessed in a single cleaning step to find the suitable one for the fouled membrane to regain its initial permeability and performances. The analysis of the experimental results showed that the fouling layer is mainly composed of calcium carbonate (inorganic fouling). Results showed also that the permeability is improved by the hydrochloric acid cleaning (pH=3) with a cleaning efficiency of 93%. Cleaning efficiency did not exceed 75 % with nitric acid (pH=3) and 40 % with sulfuric acid (pH=3).

• Membrane Journal
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.244-253
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• 2007

This research investigated the effect of a photocatalytic reaction on nanofiltration(NF) membrane fouling by natural organic matter(NOM). The photocatalytic degradation was very effective for destruction and transformation of NOM and was carried out by titanium dioxide($TiO_2$) and $TiO_2$-immobilized bead as a photocatalyst. In order to compare their phtocatalytic properties, the photocatalytic degradation of humic acid in the presence of calcium ion was used as a model reaction. After the photocatalytic degradation the membrane fouling was dramatically decreased.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.145-149
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• 2009

The aim of this paper is to investigate removal of salts in hydrolyzed sericin solution by a prepared nanofiltration membrane. The nanofiltration membrane was prepared by the interfacial polymerization method, and then compared with commercialized nanofiltration membrane in terms of salts removal. The sericin solution was hydrolyzed by a protease. The molecular weight distribution of the hydrolyzed sericin was determined by electrophoresis method. Relative flux measurements were carried out to investigate membrane fouling.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.34-43
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• 2005

The poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA)-based thin film composite nanofiltration (NF) membranes were prepared by coating polysulfone ultrafiltration membranes, sulfonated polyethersulfone and polyamide NF membranes with aqueous PVA solution by a pressurizing method. The PVA was cross-linked with aqueous glutaraldehyde solution. The NF membranes coated with a very low concentration of PVA on all the support membranes was successfully prepared. With increasing the hydrophilicity of the support membranes, the water flux increased. Especially, ζ-potential of negatively charged polyamide NF membrane was reduced by coating the membrane with PVA. A fouling experiment was carried out with positively charged surfactant, humic acid, complex of humic acid and calcium ion and bovine serum albumin. A non-coated polyamide NF membrane was significantly fouled by various foulants. The fouling process when using humic acid and protein occurred at the isoelectric point. There was severe fouling when using humic acid and adding bivalent cations. By coating the polyamide NF membrane with aqueous PVA solution, fouling was reduced. The polyamide NF membrane coated with PVA was resistant to the acidic and basic solution.

• Korean Membrane Journal
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.58-66
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• 2005

Nanofiltration (NF) of a dyeing wastewater was carried out using polyamide NF-membranes. Before applying the wastewater to the membrane process, it was pretreated with various chemical coagulants such as alum, ferric chloride and HOC-100A. In order to see the effect of the pretreatment of the wastewater using chemical coagulants on the membrane separation process, the optimum conditions for the coagulation and sedimentation process using the chemical coagulants were sought. By the pretreatment, despite the different coagulants used, the chemical oxygen demand (COD) and UV-absorbance of the wastewater were lowered by more than $70\%$. The pretreated wastewater was then applied to the membrane process. The effect of the coagulants used for the pretreatment on the membrane fouling was studied. From this study, it was found that the HOC-100A was the best out of the coagulants used far the removal of the materials that could cause membrane fouling.