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CONTENTS
3
Advanced Membrane Fouling Characterization
in Full-Scale Reverse Osmosis Processes
Lianfa Song and Kwee Guan Tay
INTRODUCTION
MEMBRANE FOULING AND CONTROL
QUANTIFICATION OF FOULING POTENTIAL OF FEED WATER
PREDICTION OF FOULING IN FULL-SCALE REVERSE OSMOSIS PROCESSES
MEMBRANE FOULING QUANTIFICATION IN FULL-SCALE REVERSE OSMOSIS
PROCESSES
CONCLUSIONS
ACRONYMS
NOMENCLATURE
REFERENCES
Abstract Fouling alleviation and control in full-scale reverse osmosis (RO) processes can be
seriously hindered by ineffective fouling characterization. Fouling characterization is currently
done primarily by measuring the silt density index (SDI) of feed water and monitoring
the average permeate flux of full-scale RO processes. However, the SDI or related fouling
indices have been known not capable to catch all possible foulants to RO membranes, and the
average permeate flux may fail to correctly reflect membrane fouling in full-scale RO
processes under certain circumstances.
In this chapter, an advanced characterization method is introduced for membrane fouling
in full-scale RO processes. An inclusive fouling potential indicator is proposed for a better
characterization of the fouling strength of feed water, which is defined in a way that it can be
easily determined with a small lab-scale RO membrane device and that it is readily usable to
predict fouling development in the full-scale RO processes. A model based on basic membrane
filtration and mass conservation principles is presented to calculate the average
permeate flux in a full-scale RO process as fouling is progressing. The main intention of
the advanced characterization method is to provide a reliable assessment of membrane
fouling in the full-scale RO processes, so that the need for pilot tests can be significantly
reduced.
From: Handbook of Environmental Engineering, Volume 13: Membrane and Desalination Technologies
Edited by: L.K. Wang et al., DOI: 10.1007/978-1-59745-278-6_3 # Springer ScienceþBusiness Media, LLC 2011
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