Research on Autopsy Results of over 10 Year Old Low Pressure Hollow Fiber Membrane from Domestic Water Treatment Plant

Abstract

Objectives In this study, membrane autopsy was performed for a parallel arrayed low-pressure membrane (microfiltration) filtration process that is actually applied to water treatment, to check out whether there are differences in the degree of membrane fouling due to the uneven flow rate into each module. Also, membrane foulants were evaluated quantitatively. Methods In this study, autopsy was performed for over 10 year old membranes used for drinking water purification. In this way, the outer casings of membrane modules at different positions were disassembled and visually observed. In addition, In addition, the size of the pores and the porosity were investigated by taking a SEM (Scanning Electron Microscope) photograph for the new and the used membrane module fiber samples in different positions from the header pipe. The used membrane foulants were classified into organic and inorganic matters and quantitatively analyzed. Results and Discussion As a result of visually observing inside the membrane module that has produced drinking water for over 10 years, the inside of the No. 1 membrane module close to the inlet was contaminated with black foulants. On the other hand, in the case of No. 10 membrane module located farthest from the header pipe inlet, no foulants were observed with the naked eye. Also, it was observed from SEM photograph results that there were large differences in the surfaces among No. 1, 4, 6, 8 and 10 MF module fibers. Conclusion Even after periodic physical and chemical cleaning, it was concluded that the fouling levels were different each other in the parallel arrayed low-pressure membrane modules. In addition, the pore size distribution and porosities of the membrane modules may vary depending on the position.

Keywords

• low-pressure membrane module
• hollow fiber
• autopsy
• scanning electron microscope
• membrane foulants