TY - JOUR
T1 - Monitoring biofouling potential using ATP-based bacterial growth potential in SWRO pre-treatment of a full-scale plant
AU - Abushaban, A.M.J.
AU - Salinas-Rodriguez, Sergio G.
AU - Kapala, Moses
AU - Pastorelli, Delia
AU - Schippers, Jan C.
AU - Mondal, Subhanjan
AU - Goueli, Said
AU - Kennedy, Maria D.
PY - 2020
Y1 - 2020
N2 - Several potential growth methods have been developed to monitor biological/organic fouling potential in seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO), but to date the correlation between these methods and biofouling of SWRO has not been demonstrated. In this research, the relation between a new adenosine triphosphate (ATP)-based bacterial growth potential (BGP) test of SWRO feed water and SWRO membrane performance is investigated. For this purpose, the pre-treatment of a full-scale SWRO plant including dissolved air flotation (DAF) and two stage dual media filtration (DMF) was monitored for 5 months using BGP, orthophosphate, organic fractions by liquid chromatography coupled with organic carbon detection (LC-OCD), silt density index (SDI), and modified fouling index (MFI). Results showed that particulate fouling potential was well controlled through the SWRO pre-treatment as the measured SDI and MFI in the SWRO feed water were below the recommended values. DAF in combination with coagulation (1–5 mg-Fe3+/L) consistently achieved 70% removal of orthophosphate, 50% removal of BGP, 25% removal of biopolymers, and 10% removal of humic substances. Higher BGP (100–950 µg-C/L) in the SWRO feed water corresponded to a higher normalized pressure drop in the SWRO, suggesting the applicability of using BGP as a biofouling indicator in SWRO systems. However, to validate this conclusion, more SWRO plants with different pre-treatment systems need to be monitored for longer periods of time.
AB - Several potential growth methods have been developed to monitor biological/organic fouling potential in seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO), but to date the correlation between these methods and biofouling of SWRO has not been demonstrated. In this research, the relation between a new adenosine triphosphate (ATP)-based bacterial growth potential (BGP) test of SWRO feed water and SWRO membrane performance is investigated. For this purpose, the pre-treatment of a full-scale SWRO plant including dissolved air flotation (DAF) and two stage dual media filtration (DMF) was monitored for 5 months using BGP, orthophosphate, organic fractions by liquid chromatography coupled with organic carbon detection (LC-OCD), silt density index (SDI), and modified fouling index (MFI). Results showed that particulate fouling potential was well controlled through the SWRO pre-treatment as the measured SDI and MFI in the SWRO feed water were below the recommended values. DAF in combination with coagulation (1–5 mg-Fe3+/L) consistently achieved 70% removal of orthophosphate, 50% removal of BGP, 25% removal of biopolymers, and 10% removal of humic substances. Higher BGP (100–950 µg-C/L) in the SWRO feed water corresponded to a higher normalized pressure drop in the SWRO, suggesting the applicability of using BGP as a biofouling indicator in SWRO systems. However, to validate this conclusion, more SWRO plants with different pre-treatment systems need to be monitored for longer periods of time.
KW - Bacterial growth potential
KW - Biofouling
KW - Desalination
KW - Pre-treatment
KW - Seawater reverse osmosis
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85096539103&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3390/membranes10110360
DO - 10.3390/membranes10110360
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85096539103
SN - 2077-0375
VL - 10
SP - 1
EP - 15
JO - Membranes
JF - Membranes
IS - 11
M1 - 360
ER -