• Proceedings of the Membrane Society of Korea Conference
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• 1998.06a
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• pp.81-94
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• 1998

Nowadays, membrane separation such as reverse osmosis (RO) and ultrafiltration (UF) play an important role in the industrial separation technology. Among desalination technologies available today, reverse osmosis is usually the most economical process for wide range of water salinity. Main applications include production of high purity water, desalination of seawater and brackish water for a drinking water supply, treatment of waste water for environmental protection, and recovery of precious materials from industrial waste water. In this paper, we will mention membrane performance and these practical use focused on reverse osmosis membranes and ultrafiltration membranes recently developed by Toray.

• Proceedings of the Membrane Society of Korea Conference
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• 1995.06a
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• pp.27-38
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• 1995

Based on innovative membrane module concepts reverse osmosis and nanofiltration are going to become important instruments in environmental engineering. One example is the Disc-Tube-module and its application for the purification of landfill leachate. Currently over 45 different landfills are using this ROCHEM DT-module, in some cases combined with the high pressure reverse osmosis versions of this module, operating at up to 120 bar and 200 bar. This state of the art membrane technology and the DTF-module for nanofiltration, developed by ROCHEM on the basis of the DT-module and RO-systems for the purification of landfill leachate, make possible in hybrid processes permeate recovery rates of more than 97 % with concentration factors up to 40.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.136-141
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• 2014

In this study, cellulose acetate (CA) membrane was prepared by phase inversion precipitation and then evaluated the forward osmosis (FO) membrane performance. Differences in water flux and salt rejection between RO and FO with prepared membranes were observed. The different structure membranes were prepared with various solvent which evaluate the influence of membrane structure on permeability. The structure of the prepared membrane was confirmed through scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and the permeability changes were estimated using the bench-scale FO test equipment.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.232-239
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• 2017

In this study, the regeneration investigation for waste reverse osmosis membrane filters which were discarded after use for the household water purifiers has been carried out. Sodium hydroxide, sodium bisulfate, and ethylenediamine tetra acetic acid(EDTA). as the chemical cleaning agents were used. And they were in-situ cleaned with the micro-bubble generator as well. The best result was obtained when both 0.1% EDTA and micro-bubbles were used for 30 min cleaning. Thus, when the performance of the brand new RO membrane and restorated RO membrane were compared, the flux, 19.9%, the recovery ratio 45% were enhanced while the salt rejection was reduced for NaCl 100 mg/L solution, in other words, it has been recovered to the original brand new RO membrane filter. Also the removal of pollutants on membrane surface was confirmed in a naked eye through the scanning electron microscopy. Finally, this research has provided the possibility of the re-use of the waste RO membrane filters of household water purifier which were reclaimed or incinerated after use.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.1-24
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• 2011

The deficiency of clean water is a major global concern because all the living creatures rely on the drinkable water for survival. On top of this, abundant of clean water supply is also necessary for household, metropolitan inhabitants, industry, and agriculture. Among many purification processes, advances in low-energy membrane separation technology appear to be the most effective solution for water crisis because membranes have been widely recognized as one of the most direct and feasible approaches for clean water production. The aim of this article is to give an overview of (1) two new emerging membrane technologies for water reuse and desalination by forward osmosis (FO) and membrane distillation (MD), and (2) the molecular engineering and development of highly permeable hollow fiber membranes, with polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) and polybenzimidazole (PBI) as the main focuses for the aforementioned applications in National University of Singapore (NUS). This article presents the main results of membrane module design, separation performance, membrane characteristics, chemical modification and spinning conditions to produce novel hollow fiber membranes for FO and MD applications. As two potential solutions, MD and FO may be synergistically combined to form a hybrid system as a sustainable alternative technology for fresh water production.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.292-299
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• 2012

The objective of this study is to develop a novel method for evaluating forward osmosis (FO) membrane performances using a non-pressurized FO system. Basic membrane performance parameters including water (A) and solute (B) permeability coefficients and unique parameter for FO membrane such as the support layer structural parameter (S) were determined in two FO modes (i.e., active layer faces feed solution (AL-FS) and active layer faces draw solution (AL-DS)). Futhermore, these parameters were compared with those determined in a pressurized reverse osmosis (RO) system. Theoretical water flux was calculated by employing these parameters to a model that accounts for the effects of both internal and external concentration polarization. Water flux from FO experiment was compared to theoretical water fluxes for assessing the reliability of those parameters determined in three different operation modes (i.e., AL-FS FO, AL-DS FO, and RO modes). It is demonstrated that FO membrane performance parameters can be accurately measured in non-pressurized FO mode. Specifically, membrane performance parameters determined in AL-DS FO mode most accurately predict FO water flux. This implies that the evaluation of FO membrane performances should be performed in non-pressurized FO mode, which can prevent membrane compaction and/or defect and more precisely reflect FO operation conditions.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.273-280
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• 2016

Pressure assisted forward osmosis (PAFO) is recently introduced because of its improved process efficiency to overcome drawbacks of forward osmosis (FO) such as low water flux and reverse solute diffusion. However, it is known that membrane fouling becomes deteriorated by additional hydraulic pressure applied in PAFO compared to FO. This study was performed to investigate possibility of intermittent pressure-assisted forward osmosis (I-PAFO) operation for fouling mitigation using colloidal silica particles as model foulants. FO, PAFO were operated as well to compare with. Two different solution pH conditions (pH 3, 10) were applied to see the effect of electrostatic interactions between the membrane and silica particles on fouling tendency. In the results, higher water flux was observed during pressurization and pressure relaxation periods in I-PAFO than water flux of PAFO, and FO on both pH conditions. Water flux decreased less in I-PAFO than PAFO after fouling. It resulted in higher water flux recovery in I-PAFO than PAFO after physical cleaning.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.811-823
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• 2009

Seawater desalination process using a reverse osmosis (RO) membrane has been considered as one of the most promising technologies in solving the water scarcity problems in many arid regions around the world. To protect RO membrane in the process, a thorough understanding of the pretreatment process is particularly needed. Seawater organic matters (SWOMs) may form a gel layer on the membrane surface, which will increase a concentration polarization. As the SWOMs can be utilized as a substrate, membrane biofouling will be progressed on the RO membrane surface, resulting in the flux decline and increase of trans-membrane pressure drop and salt passage. In the middle of disinfection, an optimal chlorine dosage and neutralizer (sodium bisulfite, SBS) should be practiced to prevent oxidizing the surface of RO membranes. Additional fundamental research including novel non-susceptible biofouling membranes would be necessary to provide a guide line for the proper pretreatment process.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.417-425
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• 2016

Desalination is a key technology to overcome water shortage problem in a near future. High energy consumption is an Achilles' heel in desalination technology. Osmotically driven membrane processes like forward osmosis(FO) was introduced to address this energy issue. Characterizing membrane properties such as water permeability(A), salt permeability(B), and the resistance to salt diffusion within the support layer($K_{ICP}$) are very important to predict the performance of scaled-up FO processes. Currently, most of researches reported that the water permeability of FO membrane was measured by reverse osmosis(RO) type test. Permeating direction of RO and FO are different and RO test needs hydraulic pressure so that several problems can be occurred(i.e. membrane deformation, compaction and effect of concentration polarization). This study focuses on measuring water permeability of FO membrane by FO type test results in various experimental conditions. A statistical approach was developed to evaluate the three FO membrane properties(A, B, and $K_{ICP}$) and it predicted test result by the internal and external concentration polarization model.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.159-168
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• 2002

A lab-scale Reverse Osmosis(RO) membrane reactor was installed to investigate the membrane permeability, characteristics of membrane fouling at each conditions, and performance of elimination at different trans-membrane pressure(TMP) in the liquid fertilizer accumulated system. Experimental setup was divided to three different TMP conditions. As a result of experiment, permeability of RO membrane was proportional to the increase of TMP and temperature. After experiment was completed, two types chemical cleaning(remove the organic foulant and inorganic foulant) was done, and recover rate of permeability was each 99.8, 99.7 and 99.7%, respectively. From this experimental data, membrane fouling could be determined that the most of it was recoverable in this system, and major reason of fouling was concentration polarization. Elimination rate of solute substance in the liquid fertilizer indicated very stable(above 99%), except ammonia nitrogen, and the most stable elimination rate was investigated at the highest TMP condition (Run 3).