Hybrid photocatalysis and microfiltration pretreatment for organic fouling control of reverse osmosis membrane

Abstract

Organic fouling caused by aqueous organic matters (AOM) from secondary effluents or natural water bodies has been the prime bottleneck for the application of reverse osmosis (RO) membrane technology. TiO2-based photocatalytic reaction combined with microfiltration process was employed as pretreatment process for fouling reduction of RO membrane, with effluent organic matters, a model hydrophilic polysaccharide (sodium alginate), a model protein (bovine serum albumin) and Suwannee River natural organic matters as foulants in a lab-scale cross flow RO membrane filtration system. The hybrid system provided a good alternative to effectively control the organic fouling development on RO membrane. This reduction in fouling potential could be ascribed to the changes in physicochemical properties of AOM introduced by this pretreatment, leading to attenuated interactions between the organic molecules and membrane surface. The effects of solution chemistry, operation, and configuration parameters on the fouling behaviors of the major organic foulants on RO membrane were investigated.