Research and development to overcome fouling of membranes. First annual report, October 1, 1989--October 31, 1990

Technical Report · Mon Jun 01 04:00:00 EDT 1992

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/10155368· OSTI ID:10155368

Narang, S C; Sharma, S K; Ventura, S C; Roberts, D L; Ahner, N

During this first year of the program, we have successfully accomplished the main objective of demonstrating the feasibility of using piezoelectrically assisted ultrafiltration to reduce membrane fouling and enhance the flux through ultrafiltration membranes. A preliminary economic evaluation, accounting for the power consumption of the piezoelectric driver and the extent of permeate flow rate enhancement, has also shown that piezoelectrically assisted ultrafiltration is cost effective and economically competitive with traditional separation processes. Piezoelectric transducers, such as a piezoelectric lead zirconate titanate (PZT) disc or a piezoelectric horn, driven by moderate power, significantly enhance the permeate flux on fouled membranes, presumably because they promote local turbulence. Several experiments were conducted on polysulfone and regenerated cellulose UF membranes fouled during filtration of model feed solutions. Solutions of poly(ethylene glycol) and of high-molecular weight dextran were used as models. We found that we could significantly increase the permeate flux by periodically driving the piezoelectric transducer, horn, or PZT disc, by application of moderate power over short periods of time, from 20 to 90 seconds. Enhancements as high as a factor of 8 were recorded with a few seconds, and enhanced permeate fluxes were maintained over a prolonged period (up to 3 hours). The prolonged flux enhancement makes it feasible to drive the piezoelectric transducer intermittently, thereby reducing the power consumption of the piezoelectric driver.

• Research Organization: SRI International, Menlo Park, CA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: FC07-89ID12906
• OSTI ID: 10155368
• Report Number(s): DOE/ID/12906--T1; ON: DE92016817
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION
320303
EQUIPMENT AND PROCESSES
FEASIBILITY STUDIES
FOULING
MEMBRANES
PERMEABILITY
PIEZOELECTRICITY
POLYMERS
PROGRESS REPORT
PZT
TRANSDUCERS
ULTRAFILTRATION