Prediction of Particulate Fouling in Reverse Osmosis Systems: MFI-UF Method Development and Application

The application of reverse osmosis (RO) membranes in water treatment has rapidly grown over the last few decades thanks to the continuous advancements in both design and operation. However, RO membrane fouling still remains a key challenge. Fouling can cause a decline in membrane permeability, which requires higher operational energy and more frequent membrane cleaning/replacement to maintain stable water production, which eventually results in increased O&M costs. Particulate fouling, due to the deposition of particles and colloids onto RO membranes, is one of the types of fouling persistently experienced in RO systems. Therefore, there is a real need for a reliable method to predict particulate fouling in order to effectively monitor and control the performance of RO systems....