Hydrophilic fraction of natural organic matter causing irreversible fouling of microfiltration and ultrafiltration membranes

Abstract

Although membrane filtration is a promising technology in the field of drinking water treatment, persistent membrane fouling remains a major disadvantage. For more efficient operation, causative agents of membrane fouling need to be identified. Membrane fouling can be classified into physically reversible and irreversible fouling on basis of the removability of the foulants by physical cleaning. Four types of natural organic matter (NOM) in river water used as a source of drinking water were fractionated into hydrophobic and hydrophilic fractions, and their potential to develop irreversible membrane fouling was evaluated by a bench-scale filtration experiment together with spectroscopic and chromatographic analyses. In this study, only dissolved NOM was investigated without consideration of interactions of NOM fractions with particulate matter. Results demonstrated that despite identical total organic carbon (TOC), fouling development trends were significantly different between hydrophilic and hydrophobic fractions. The hydrophobic fractions did not increase membrane resistance, while the hydrophilic fractions caused severe loss of membrane permeability. These results were identical with the case when the calcium was added to hydrophobic and hydrophilic fractions. The largest difference in NOM characteristics between hydrophobic and hydrophilic fractions was the presence or absence of macromolecules; the primary constituent causing irreversible fouling was inferred to be "biopolymers", including carbohydrates and proteins. In addition, the results demonstrated that the extent of irreversible fouling was considerably different depending on the combination of membrane materials and NOM characteristics. Despite identical nominal pore size (0.1 μm), a polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) membrane was found to be more rapidly fouled than a PE membrane. This is probably explained by the generation of strong hydrogen bonding between hydroxyl groups of biopolymers and fluorine of the PVDF membrane. On the basis of these findings, it was suggested that the higher fouling potential of the hydrophilic fraction of the dissolved NOMs from various natural water sources are mainly attributed to macromolecules, or biopolymers.

Keywords: Hydrophilic organic matter; Membrane fouling; Microfiltration; Natural organic matter; Ultrafiltration.