This study aims at applying and verifying the MFI-UF method to predict particulate fouling in RO plants. Two full-scale RO plants treating surface water, with average capacity of 800–2000 m³/h, were studied. Firstly, the MFI-UF of RO feed and concentrate was measured using 5–100 kDa membranes at same flux applied in the RO plants (20–26 L/m².h). Subsequently, the particle disposition factor (Ω) was calculated to simulate particle deposition in RO cross-flow filtration. Finally, particulate fouling rates were predicted based on MFI-UF and Ω, and compared with the actual fouling rates in the plants. For plant A, the results showed that the fouling rates predicted using MFI-UF measured with 100 kDa membrane have the best agreement with the actual fouling (with 3–11 % deviation). For plant B, the fouling rates predicted based on both 10 and 100 kDa membranes agree well with the actual fouling (with 2 % and 15 % deviation, respectively). However, the fouling predicted based on 5 kDa membrane is considerably overestimated for both plants, which is attributed to the effect of the low surface porosity of 5 kDa membrane. More widespread applications of MFI-UF in full-scale RO plants are required to demonstrate the most suitable MFI-UF membranes for fouling prediction.

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This study aimed to calibrate and validate the MFI-UF method in order to ensure the accuracy of particulate fouling measurements in RO. Firstly, the MFI-UF calibration was examined using two solutions of standard particles (dextran and polystyrene). Two main criteria were investigated: (i) MFI-UF linearity with particle concentrations at both low and high ranges of fouling potential and (ii) the reproducibility of MFI-UF linearity. Dextran solutions showed a strong MFI-UF linearity over the entire range of measured MFI-UF. However, the linearity was not reproducible, and different batches of dextran prepared under the same conditions produced very variable results. For polystyrene solutions, the MFI-UF linearity was verified at the higher range of MFI-UF (>10,000 s/L2), while the MFI-UF at the lower range (<5000 s/L2) appeared to be underestimated. Secondly, MFI-UF linearity was investigated using natural (surface) water under a wide range of testing conditions (at 20–200 L/m2·h using 5–100 kDa membranes). Strong MFI-UF linearity was obtained over the entire range of measured MFI-UF (up to 70,000 s/L2). Thus, the MFI-UF method was validated to measure different levels of particulate fouling in RO. However, future research focusing on MFI-UF calibration is still required through the selection, preparation, and testing of heterogeneous mixtures of standard particles.@en

This study aimed to quantify the effect of membrane surface porosity on particulate fouling predicted by the MFI-UF method at constant flux. Firstly, the surface porosity of polyethersulfone UF membranes (5–100 kDa) was determined using ultra-high resolution SEM. Thereafter, the MFI-UF was measured using suspensions of polystyrene particles (75 nm), which were pre-washed to remove surfactant and particle fractions smaller than the pores of MFI-UF membranes, thus ensuring complete retention of particles during MFI-UF measurements. Consequently, the MFI-UF values of washed polystyrene particle suspensions were independent of the pore size and depended only on the surface porosity of MFI-UF membrane. The results showed that the membrane surface porosity decreased with MWCO from 10.5% (100 kDa) to 0.6% (5 kDa), and consequently the MFI-UF increased from 3700 to 8700 s/L², respectively. This increase in MFI-UF was attributed to the non-uniform distribution of membrane pores, which is exacerbated as surface porosity decreases. Consequently, preliminary correction factors of 0.4–1.0 were proposed for MFI-UF measured with UF membranes in the range 5–100 kDa. Finally, the surface porosity correction was applied to predict particulate fouling in a full-scale RO plant. However, additional research is required to establish correction factors for different types of feed water.

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This study systematically investigated the effect of organic micropollutants (OMPs) on biofouling in forward osmosis (FO) integrating wastewater treatment and seawater dilution. Synthetic seawater (0.6 M sodium chloride) was used as a draw solution and synthetic municipal wastewater as a feed solution. To evaluate the impact of OMPs in a replicate parallel study, wastewater was supplemented with a mixture of 7 OMPs (OMPs-feed) and without OMPs (control) during 8 batch filtration cycles with feed and draw solution replacement after each filtration. The FO performance (water flux), development and microbial composition properties of biofilm layers on the wastewater side of the FO membrane were studied. Compared to the control without OMPs, the FO fed with OMPs containing wastewater showed (i) initially the same water flux and flux decline during the first filtration cycle, (ii) with increasing filtration cycle a lower flux decline and (iii) lower concentrations for the total cells, ATP, EPS carbohydrates and proteins in biofilm layers, and (iv) a lower diversity of the biofilm microbial community composition (indicating selective pressure) and (v) increasing rejection of 6 of the 7 OMPs. In essence, biofouling on the FO membrane showed (i) a lower flux decline in the presence of OMPs in the feed water and (ii) a higher OMPs rejection, both illustrating better membrane performance. This study has a significant implication for optimizing osmotic dilution in terms of FO operation and OMPs rejection.

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The manner in which membrane-fouling experiments are conducted and how fouling performance data are represented have a strong impact on both how the data are interpreted and on the conclusions that may be drawn. We provide a couple of examples to prove that it is possible to obtain misleading conclusions from commonly used representations of fouling data. Although the illustrative example revolves around dead-end ultrafiltration, the underlying principles are applicable to a wider range of membrane processes. When choosing the experimental conditions and how to represent fouling data, there are three main factors that should be considered: (I) the foulant mass is principally related to the filtered volume; (II) the filtration flux can exacerbate fouling effects (e.g., concentration polarization and cake compression); and (III) the practice of normalization, as in dividing by an initial value, disregards the difference in driving force and divides the fouling effect by different numbers. Thus, a bias may occur that favors the experimental condition with the lower filtration flux and the less-permeable membrane. It is recommended to: (I) avoid relative fouling performance indicators, such as relative flux decline (J/J0); (II) use resistance vs. specific volume; and (III) use flux-controlled experiments for fouling performance evaluation.

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In this study, we analyzed the heat requirement of membrane distillation (MD) to investigate the trade-off between the evaporation efficiency and driving force efficiency in a single effect MD system. We found that there exists a non-zero net driving temperature difference that maximizes efficiency. This is the minimum net driving temperature difference necessary for a rational operational strategy because below the minimum net driving temperature, both the productivity and efficiency can be increased by increasing the temperature difference. The minimum net driving temperature has a similar magnitude to the boiling point elevation (~0.5 °C for seawater), and depends on the properties of the membrane and the heat exchanger. The minimum net driving temperature difference concept can be used to understand the occurrence of optimal values of other parameters, such as flux, membrane thickness, and membrane length, if these parameters are varied in a way that consequently varies the net driving temperature difference.

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A vital component of spiral-wound membrane modules is the spacer mesh. It not only structurally supports the membranes but also aids in mass-transport enhancement through the membrane surface. Fundamental understanding of hydrodynamics associated with these spacer designs is critical to improve the permeate flux performance by decreasing concentration polarization and minimizing (bio)fouling, as well as minimizing the axial pressure drop. In the present study, time and space resolved Direct Numerical Simulations (DNS) were performed for a commercial spacer geometry. The spacer geometry was reconstructed by measurements using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). Computations were performed for three spacer cells, allowing elimination of stream-wise periodicity that was a major bottleneck in earlier studies. The numerical solver was well checked in terms of boundary layer profiles obtained from Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) data and with pressure measurements corresponding to various flow channel velocities. Non-dimensional computations were performed for Reynolds Numbers (Re) ranging from 73 to 375 (inlet channel velocity of 0.073–0.375 m/s) covering the flow transition dynamics regime. Results indicate that flow transition from steady to unsteady regime occurs for Re > 250. The flow transition could be primarily attributed to the interaction between vortices attached to the spacer filaments and the screw-vortex that originates along the diagonal of the spacer cells. No turbulent transition was observed even at the highest investigated velocity (Re = 375). The frequency spectra of time-varying velocity signal shows that at Re > 350 a sudden shift of frequency spectra occurs from discrete to continuous mode indicating the onset of advanced instability. Spacer design criteria in terms of maximum principal stress is also proposed, which can potentially aid in minimizing biofilm seeding.

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The improvement of feed spacers with optimal geometry remains a key challenge for spiral-wound membrane systems in water treatment due to their impact on the hydrodynamic performance and fouling development. In this work, novel spacer designs are proposed by intrinsically modifying cylindrical filaments through perforations. Three symmetric perforated spacers (1-Hole, 2-Hole, and 3-Hole) were in-house 3D-printed and experimentally evaluated in terms of permeate flux, feed channel pressure drop and membrane fouling. Spacer performance is characterized and compared with standard no perforated (0-Hole) design under constant feed pressure and constant feed flow rate. Perforations in the spacer filaments resulted in significantly lowering the net pressure drop across the spacer filled channel. The 3-Hole spacer was found to have the lowest pressure drop (50%–61%) compared to 0-Hole spacer for various average flow velocities. Regarding permeate flux production, the 0-Hole spacer produced 5.7 L m⁻².h⁻¹ and 6.6 L m⁻².h⁻¹ steady state flux for constant pressure and constant feed flow rate, respectively. The 1-Hole spacer was found to be the most efficient among the perforated spacers with 75% and 23% increase in permeate production at constant pressure and constant feed flow, respectively. Furthermore, membrane surface of 1-Hole spacer was found to be cleanest in terms of fouling, contributing to maintain higher permeate flux production. Hydrodynamic understanding of these perforated spacers is also quantified by performing Direct Numerical Simulation (DNS). The performance enhancement of these perforated spacers is attributed to the formation of micro-jets in the spacer cell that aided in producing enough unsteadiness/turbulence to clean the membrane surface and mitigate fouling phenomena. In the case of 1-Hole spacer, the unsteadiness intensity at the outlet of micro-jets and the shear stress fluctuations created inside the cells are higher than those observed with other perforated spacers, resulting in the cleanest membrane surface.

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Re-thinking our approach to dealing with waste is one of the major challenges in achieving a more sustainable society. However, it could also generate numerous opportunities. Specifically, in the context of wastewater, nutrients, energy and water could be mined from it. Because of its exceptionally high nitrogen (N) and phosphorous (P) concentration, human urine is particularly suitable to be processed for fertiliser production. In the present study, forward osmosis (FO) was employed to mine the P and N from human urine. Two Mg²⁺-fertilisers, i.e. MgSO₄ and Mg(NO₃)₂ were selected as draw solution (DS) to dewater synthetic non-hydrolysed urine. In this process, the Mg²⁺ reverse salt flux (RSF) were used to recover P as struvite. Simultaneously, the urea was recovered in the DS as it is poorly rejected by the FO membrane. The results showed that, after concentrating the urine by 60%, about 40% of the P and 50% of the N were recovered. XRD and SEM – EDX analysis confirmed that P was precipitated as mineral struvite. If successfully tested on real urine, this process could be applied to treat the urine collected in urban areas e.g., high-rise building. After the filtration, the solid struvite could be sold for inland applications whereas the diluted fertiliser used for direct fertigation of green walls, parks or for urban farming. Finally, reduction in the load of N, P to the downstream wastewater treatment plant would also ensure a more sustainable urban water cycle.

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Aquaporin plays a promising role in fabricating high performance biomimetic forward osmosis (FO) membranes. However, aquaporin as a protein also has a risk of denaturation caused by various chemicals, resulting in a possible decay of membrane performance. The present study tested a novel aquaporin based biomimetic membrane in simulated membrane cleaning processes. The effects of cleaning agents on water flux and salt rejection were evaluated. The membrane showed a good resistance to the chemical agents. The water flux after chemical cleaning showed significant increases, particularly after cleaning with NaOCl and Alconox. Changes in the membrane structure and increased hydrophilicity in the surrounding areas of the aquaporin may be accountable for the increase in water permeability. The membrane shows stable salt rejection up to 99% after all cleaning agents were tested. A 15-day experiment with secondary wastewater effluent as the feed solution and seawater as the draw solution showed a stable flux and high salt rejection. The average rejection of the dissolved organic carbon from wastewater after the 15-day test was 90%. The results demonstrated that the aquaporin based biomimetic FO membrane exhibits chemical resistance for most agents used in membrane cleaning procedures, maintaining a stable flux and high salt rejection.

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Forward osmosis (FO) is a novel membrane separation process that potentially can be used as an energy-saving alternative to conventional membrane processes. A hybrid sequential batch reactor (SBR)-FO process was explored. In this system, a plate and frame FO cell including two flat-sheet FO membranes was submerged in a bioreactor treating synthetic domestic wastewater. The dissolved organic carbon (DOC) removal efficiency of the system was 98.55%. Total nitrogen removal was 62.4%, with nitrate, nitrite and ammonium removals of 58.4%, 96.2% and 88.4%, respectively. Phosphate removal was almost 100%. The 15-hour cycle average water flux of a virgin membrane with air scouring was 2.95L/m²·h^-1. Air scouring can help to remove loose foulants from the membrane active layer, thus helping to recover up to 89.5% of the original flux. Chemical cleaning of the fouled active layer of the FO membrane was not as effective as air scouring. Natural organic matter (NOM) characterization methods (liquid chromatography-organic carbon detection (LC-OCD) and 3-D fluorescence excitation emission matrix (FEEM)) show that the FO membrane has a very good performance in rejecting biopolymers, humics and building blocks, but a limited ability in rejecting low molecular weight neutrals. Transparent exopolymer particles (TEP) and other biopolymers might be associated with fouling of the membrane on the support layer. A 1% sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl) cleaning solution was proved to be effective for removing the foulants from the support layer and recovering the original flux.

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In recent years, forward osmosis (FO) hybrid membrane systems have been investigated as an alternative to conventional high-pressure membrane processes (i.e. reverse osmosis (RO)) for seawater desalination and wastewater treatment and recovery. Nevertheless, their economic advantage in comparison to conventional processes for seawater desalination and municipal wastewater treatment has not been clearly addressed. This work presents a detailed economic analysis on capital and operational expenses (CAPEX and OPEX) for: i) a hybrid forward osmosis - low-pressure reverse osmosis (FO-LPRO) process, ii) a conventional seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) desalination process, and iii) a membrane bioreactor - reverse osmosis - advanced oxidation process (MBR-RO-AOP) for wastewater treatment and reuse. The most important variables affecting economic feasibility are obtained through a sensitivity analysis of a hybrid FO-LPRO system. The main parameters taken into account for the life cycle costs are the water quality characteristics (similar feed water and similar water produced), production capacity of 100,000 m(3) d(-1) of potable water, energy consumption, materials, maintenance, operation, RO and FO module costs, and chemicals. Compared to SWRO, the FO-LPRO systems have a 21% higher CAPEX and a 56% lower OPEX due to savings in energy consumption and fouling control. In terms of the total water cost per cubic meter of water produced, the hybrid FO-LPRO desalination system has a 16% cost reduction compared to the benchmark for desalination, mainly SWRO. Compared to the MBR-RO-AOP, the FO-LPRO systems have a 7% lower CAPEX and 9% higher OPEX, resulting in no significant cost reduction per m(3) produced by FO-LPRO. Hybrid FO-LPRO membrane systems are shown to have an economic advantage compared to current available technology for desalination, and comparable costs with a wastewater treatment and recovery system. Based on development on FO membrane modules, packing density, and water permeability, the total water cost could be further reduced.@en