Optimization of fouling control in submerged hollow fiber membrane systems

超滤膜因其能有效去除多种污染物而被越来越多地用于水和废水处理领域。然而，残留的污染物会积聚并污染膜表面，增加了对渗透流动的阻力。到目前为止，关于管理污垢的机制的基础知识仍然有限。因此，现有的商用膜系统的设计和运行在很大程度上是基于一种试错的方法，使用试点测试来确定操作条件。除了资金和时间密集外，这种方法不能确保确定将污染控制的能耗降至最低并使膜的运行寿命最大化的条件。这限制了膜系统的广泛应用，特别是对于无法获得资金或专业知识来设计和/或运行膜系统的小型和偏远社区。不列颠哥伦比亚大学(UBC)的研究人员与GE Water and Process Technologies(GE)的工程师合作，建议开发优化充气浸没式中空纤维膜系统设计和操作所需的基础知识，而不必广泛依赖当前使用的反复试验的经验方法。拟议研究的结果将是开发新的空气喷射设备和方法，以优化水力可逆污染的清除，以及量化化学清洗剂和方法对膜系统运行寿命的影响的程序。

Ultrafiltration membranes are increasingly being used for water and wastewater treatment applications because of their ability to effectively remove many contaminants of interest. However, the retained contaminants can accumulate and foul a membrane surface, increasing the resistance to the permeate flow. To date, limited fundamental knowledge exists regarding the mechanisms governing fouling. As a result, existing commercial membrane systems are designed and operated based largely on a trial-and-error approach using pilot testing to identify the operating conditions. In addition to being capital and time intensive, this approach does not ensure that the conditions that minimize power consumption for fouling control and maximize operating lifetime of membranes are identified. This has limited the widespread application of membrane systems, especially for small and remote communities that do not have access to the capital or expertise to design and/or operate membrane systems. In partnership with engineers at GE Water and Process Technologies (GE), researchers at the University of British Columbia (UBC) propose to develop the fundamental knowledge necessary to optimize the design and operation of air sparged submerged hollow fiber membrane systems without having to extensively rely on the currently used trial-and-error empirical approach. The outcome from the proposed research would be the development of new air sparging equipment and approaches to optimize the removal of hydraulically reversible fouling and procedures to quantify the effects of chemical cleaning agents and approaches on the operating lifetime of membrane systems.