Investigating the efficiency of thermosonication for controlling biofouling in batch membrane systems
Article
Article Title | Investigating the efficiency of thermosonication for controlling biofouling in batch membrane systems |
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ERA Journal ID | 3874 |
Article Category | Article |
Authors | Al-Juboori, Raed A. (Author), Yusaf, Talal (Author) and Aravinthan, Vasanthadevi (Author) |
Editors | Hilal, Nidall |
Journal Title | Desalination |
Journal Citation | 286, pp. 349-357 |
Number of Pages | 9 |
Year | 2012 |
Place of Publication | Amsterdam, Netherlands |
ISSN | 0011-9164 |
1873-4464 | |
Digital Object Identifier (DOI) | https://doi.org/10.1016/j.desal.2011.11.049 |
Web Address (URL) | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0011916411009829 |
Abstract | The potency of thermosonication as a pre-treatment technique to deactivate microorganisms was investigated in this work in order to reduce the biofouling in Reverse Osmosis (RO) system. E. coli with a concentration of 106 Colony Forming Unit (CFU)/mL was selected as a sample of microorganisms in water. Composite polyamide RO membrane in a stirred cell was used as a model for the membrane system. The efficiency of thermosonication in reducing the formation of biofouling on RO membrane was assessed based on two criteria i) measuring the permeate flux of the stirred cell and ii) analysing the developed biofilm on RO membrane using staining and epiflourescence microscopy techniques. Thermosonication treatment with intensity of 21.5 W/cm2, temperature of 48 °C and treatment time of 4 min eliminated almost 103 CFU/mL of the presented E. coli in the feed solution of RO and injured more than 10% of the surviving population. As a consequence, it was possible to recover the permeate flux of the treated feed by more than 0.1 L/m2.hr during fouling treatment for 60 h. Moreover, the captured microphotographs of the membrane used with untreated and treated feeds revealed that the treated E. coli built sparse biofilm on the membrane, while the developed biofilm by untreated E. coli covered almost all the membrane area. |
Keywords | ultrasound; biofouling; RO; thermosonication; E. coli; reverse osmosis membrane; stirred cell; epiflourescence microscopy |
ANZSRC Field of Research 2020 | 401703. Energy generation, conversion and storage (excl. chemical and electrical) |
401199. Environmental engineering not elsewhere classified | |
400411. Water treatment processes | |
Public Notes | Files associated with this item cannot be displayed due to copyright restrictions. |
Byline Affiliations | Faculty of Engineering and Surveying |
Department of Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering | |
Institution of Origin | University of Southern Queensland |
https://research.usq.edu.au/item/q1260/investigating-the-efficiency-of-thermosonication-for-controlling-biofouling-in-batch-membrane-systems
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