Impact of organic nutrient load on biomass accumulation, feed channel pressure drop increase and permeate flux decline in membrane systems

Szilard Bucs; Rodrigo Valladares Linares; Mark C.M. van Loosdrecht; Joop C. Kruithof; Johannes S. Vrouwenvelder

doi:10.1016/j.watres.2014.09.005

Impact of organic nutrient load on biomass accumulation, feed channel pressure drop increase and permeate flux decline in membrane systems

Szilard Bucs, Rodrigo Valladares Linares, Mark C.M. van Loosdrecht, Joop C. Kruithof, Johannes S. Vrouwenvelder

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

59 Scopus citations

Abstract

The influence of organic nutrient load on biomass accumulation (biofouling) and pressure drop development in membrane filtration systems was investigated. Nutrient load is the product of nutrient concentration and linear flow velocity. Biofouling - excessive growth of microbial biomass in membrane systems - hampers membrane performance. The influence of biodegradable organic nutrient load on biofouling was investigated at varying (i) crossflow velocity, (ii) nutrient concentration, (iii) shear, and (iv) feed spacer thickness. Experimental studies were performed with membrane fouling simulators (MFSs) containing a reverse osmosis (RO) membrane and a 31 mil thick feed spacer, commonly applied in practice in RO and nanofiltration (NF) spiral-wound membrane modules. Numerical modeling studies were done with identical feed spacer geometry differing in thickness (28, 31 and 34 mil). Additionally, experiments were done applying a forward osmosis (FO) membrane with varying spacer thickness (28, 31 and 34 mil), addressing the permeate flux decline and biofilm development. Assessed were the development of feed channel pressure drop (MFS studies), permeate flux (FO studies) and accumulated biomass amount measured by adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and total organic carbon (TOC).Our studies showed that the organic nutrient load determined the accumulated amount of biomass. The same amount of accumulated biomass was found at constant nutrient load irrespective of linear flow velocity, shear, and/or feed spacer thickness. The impact of the same amount of accumulated biomass on feed channel pressure drop and permeate flux was influenced by membrane process design and operational conditions. Reducing the nutrient load by pretreatment slowed-down the biofilm formation. The impact of accumulated biomass on membrane performance was reduced by applying a lower crossflow velocity and/or a thicker and/or a modified geometry feed spacer. The results indicate that cleanings can be delayed but are unavoidable.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	227-242
Number of pages	16
Journal	Water Research
Volume	67
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2014.09.005
State	Published - Dec 2014

Bibliographical note

KAUST Repository Item: Exported on 2020-10-01
Acknowledgements: This work was performed at Wetsus, Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Water Technology (www.wetsus.n1). Wetsus is funded by the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs, the European Union European Regional Development Fund, the Province of Fryslan, the City of Leeuwarden and by the EZ-KOMPAS Program of the "Samenwerkingsverband Noord-Nederland". The work was funded by Wetsus, the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) and Evides waterbedrijf. The authors like to thank the participants of the Wetsus research theme "Biofouling", KAUST and Evides waterbedrijf for the fruitful discussions and their financial support.

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Water Science and Technology
Pollution
Ecological Modeling
Waste Management and Disposal

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10.1016/j.watres.2014.09.005

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@article{ee0c8d2f5ba048568636e63009e1c8d8,

title = "Impact of organic nutrient load on biomass accumulation, feed channel pressure drop increase and permeate flux decline in membrane systems",

abstract = "The influence of organic nutrient load on biomass accumulation (biofouling) and pressure drop development in membrane filtration systems was investigated. Nutrient load is the product of nutrient concentration and linear flow velocity. Biofouling - excessive growth of microbial biomass in membrane systems - hampers membrane performance. The influence of biodegradable organic nutrient load on biofouling was investigated at varying (i) crossflow velocity, (ii) nutrient concentration, (iii) shear, and (iv) feed spacer thickness. Experimental studies were performed with membrane fouling simulators (MFSs) containing a reverse osmosis (RO) membrane and a 31 mil thick feed spacer, commonly applied in practice in RO and nanofiltration (NF) spiral-wound membrane modules. Numerical modeling studies were done with identical feed spacer geometry differing in thickness (28, 31 and 34 mil). Additionally, experiments were done applying a forward osmosis (FO) membrane with varying spacer thickness (28, 31 and 34 mil), addressing the permeate flux decline and biofilm development. Assessed were the development of feed channel pressure drop (MFS studies), permeate flux (FO studies) and accumulated biomass amount measured by adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and total organic carbon (TOC).Our studies showed that the organic nutrient load determined the accumulated amount of biomass. The same amount of accumulated biomass was found at constant nutrient load irrespective of linear flow velocity, shear, and/or feed spacer thickness. The impact of the same amount of accumulated biomass on feed channel pressure drop and permeate flux was influenced by membrane process design and operational conditions. Reducing the nutrient load by pretreatment slowed-down the biofilm formation. The impact of accumulated biomass on membrane performance was reduced by applying a lower crossflow velocity and/or a thicker and/or a modified geometry feed spacer. The results indicate that cleanings can be delayed but are unavoidable.",

author = "Szilard Bucs and {Valladares Linares}, Rodrigo and {van Loosdrecht}, {Mark C.M.} and Kruithof, {Joop C.} and Vrouwenvelder, {Johannes S.}",

note = "KAUST Repository Item: Exported on 2020-10-01 Acknowledgements: This work was performed at Wetsus, Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Water Technology (www.wetsus.n1). Wetsus is funded by the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs, the European Union European Regional Development Fund, the Province of Fryslan, the City of Leeuwarden and by the EZ-KOMPAS Program of the {"}Samenwerkingsverband Noord-Nederland{"}. The work was funded by Wetsus, the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) and Evides waterbedrijf. The authors like to thank the participants of the Wetsus research theme {"}Biofouling{"}, KAUST and Evides waterbedrijf for the fruitful discussions and their financial support.",

year = "2014",

month = dec,

doi = "10.1016/j.watres.2014.09.005",

language = "English (US)",

volume = "67",

pages = "227--242",

journal = "Water Research",

issn = "0043-1354",

publisher = "Elsevier Ltd",

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T1 - Impact of organic nutrient load on biomass accumulation, feed channel pressure drop increase and permeate flux decline in membrane systems

AU - Bucs, Szilard

AU - Valladares Linares, Rodrigo

AU - van Loosdrecht, Mark C.M.

AU - Kruithof, Joop C.

AU - Vrouwenvelder, Johannes S.

N1 - KAUST Repository Item: Exported on 2020-10-01 Acknowledgements: This work was performed at Wetsus, Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Water Technology (www.wetsus.n1). Wetsus is funded by the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs, the European Union European Regional Development Fund, the Province of Fryslan, the City of Leeuwarden and by the EZ-KOMPAS Program of the "Samenwerkingsverband Noord-Nederland". The work was funded by Wetsus, the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) and Evides waterbedrijf. The authors like to thank the participants of the Wetsus research theme "Biofouling", KAUST and Evides waterbedrijf for the fruitful discussions and their financial support.

PY - 2014/12

Y1 - 2014/12

N2 - The influence of organic nutrient load on biomass accumulation (biofouling) and pressure drop development in membrane filtration systems was investigated. Nutrient load is the product of nutrient concentration and linear flow velocity. Biofouling - excessive growth of microbial biomass in membrane systems - hampers membrane performance. The influence of biodegradable organic nutrient load on biofouling was investigated at varying (i) crossflow velocity, (ii) nutrient concentration, (iii) shear, and (iv) feed spacer thickness. Experimental studies were performed with membrane fouling simulators (MFSs) containing a reverse osmosis (RO) membrane and a 31 mil thick feed spacer, commonly applied in practice in RO and nanofiltration (NF) spiral-wound membrane modules. Numerical modeling studies were done with identical feed spacer geometry differing in thickness (28, 31 and 34 mil). Additionally, experiments were done applying a forward osmosis (FO) membrane with varying spacer thickness (28, 31 and 34 mil), addressing the permeate flux decline and biofilm development. Assessed were the development of feed channel pressure drop (MFS studies), permeate flux (FO studies) and accumulated biomass amount measured by adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and total organic carbon (TOC).Our studies showed that the organic nutrient load determined the accumulated amount of biomass. The same amount of accumulated biomass was found at constant nutrient load irrespective of linear flow velocity, shear, and/or feed spacer thickness. The impact of the same amount of accumulated biomass on feed channel pressure drop and permeate flux was influenced by membrane process design and operational conditions. Reducing the nutrient load by pretreatment slowed-down the biofilm formation. The impact of accumulated biomass on membrane performance was reduced by applying a lower crossflow velocity and/or a thicker and/or a modified geometry feed spacer. The results indicate that cleanings can be delayed but are unavoidable.

AB - The influence of organic nutrient load on biomass accumulation (biofouling) and pressure drop development in membrane filtration systems was investigated. Nutrient load is the product of nutrient concentration and linear flow velocity. Biofouling - excessive growth of microbial biomass in membrane systems - hampers membrane performance. The influence of biodegradable organic nutrient load on biofouling was investigated at varying (i) crossflow velocity, (ii) nutrient concentration, (iii) shear, and (iv) feed spacer thickness. Experimental studies were performed with membrane fouling simulators (MFSs) containing a reverse osmosis (RO) membrane and a 31 mil thick feed spacer, commonly applied in practice in RO and nanofiltration (NF) spiral-wound membrane modules. Numerical modeling studies were done with identical feed spacer geometry differing in thickness (28, 31 and 34 mil). Additionally, experiments were done applying a forward osmosis (FO) membrane with varying spacer thickness (28, 31 and 34 mil), addressing the permeate flux decline and biofilm development. Assessed were the development of feed channel pressure drop (MFS studies), permeate flux (FO studies) and accumulated biomass amount measured by adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and total organic carbon (TOC).Our studies showed that the organic nutrient load determined the accumulated amount of biomass. The same amount of accumulated biomass was found at constant nutrient load irrespective of linear flow velocity, shear, and/or feed spacer thickness. The impact of the same amount of accumulated biomass on feed channel pressure drop and permeate flux was influenced by membrane process design and operational conditions. Reducing the nutrient load by pretreatment slowed-down the biofilm formation. The impact of accumulated biomass on membrane performance was reduced by applying a lower crossflow velocity and/or a thicker and/or a modified geometry feed spacer. The results indicate that cleanings can be delayed but are unavoidable.

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SN - 0043-1354

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JO - Water Research

JF - Water Research

ER -

Impact of organic nutrient load on biomass accumulation, feed channel pressure drop increase and permeate flux decline in membrane systems

Abstract

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ASJC Scopus subject areas

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