Application of physical and chemical enhanced backwashing to reduce membrane fouling in the water treatment process using ceramic membranes

Abstract

This study investigated the improvement of operating efficiency through physical cleaning and chemical enhanced backwashing (CEB) using ceramic membranes with high permeability and chemical safety compared to organic membranes. The turbidity and DOC (Dissolved Organic Carbon) concentrations were selected to ensure that the degree of contamination was always constant. The operating pressures were fixed at 100, 200, and 300 kPa, and the filtration was terminated when the effluent flow rate decreased to 30% or less from the initial value. After filtration, backwashing was performed at a pressure of 500 kPa using 500 mL backwash water. The membrane was cleaned by dipping in NaOCl, and a new washing technique was proposed for steam washing. In this study, we investigated the recovery rate of membranes by selectively performing physical cleaning and CEB by changing the influent water quality and operating pressure conditions.