Fouling characterization and treatment of water reuse concentrate with membrane distillation: Do organics really matter

Presson, Luke K.; Felix, Varinia; Hardikar, Mukta; Achilli, Andrea; Hickenbottom, Kerri L.

doi:10.1016/j.desal.2023.116443

Fouling characterization and treatment of water reuse concentrate with membrane distillation: Do organics really matter

Journal Article · Sun Feb 26 00:00:00 EST 2023 · Desalination

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.desal.2023.116443· OSTI ID:2424474

Presson, Luke K. ^[1]; Felix, Varinia ^[1]; Hardikar, Mukta ^[1]; Achilli, Andrea ^[1]; Hickenbottom, Kerri L. ^[1]

Univ. of Arizona, Tucson, AZ (United States)

Membrane distillation (MD) for the treatment of concentrated brines has been limited in part by membrane fouling, resulting in subsequent flux decline and membrane wetting. This study provides new insight into the identification of fouling and scaling mechanisms and pretreatment strategies for mitigating flux decline with MD treatment of water reuse reverse osmosis concentrate (ROC). Bench-scale direct contact MD experiments were performed with untreated and pretreated ROC. Biological activated carbon (BAC), chemical water softening, or fluidized bed crystallization reactor coupled with ion exchange (FBCR-IX) were selected as pretreatment strategies to isolate the effects of organic fouling and calcium scaling. Organic and inorganic compounds were analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Calcium ions were found to be the major contributor to flux decline despite the high organic content in the ROC. Minimal organic fouling is likely because the organic matter in the ROC is hydrophilic, limiting hydrophobic-hydrophobic interactions between the organics and the membrane. Furthermore, the water flux declined by 63 % after removing organic compounds by BAC pretreatment, with 60 % of the calcium mass precipitating from the solution. Whereas, the water flux remained constant after removing multivalent ions with fluidized bed crystallization. Cleaning the membrane by acid washing and temperature reversal recovered 73 % and 12 % of the water flux, respectively. The analyses outlined in this study can assist in selecting appropriate fouling and scaling mitigation strategies for water reuse ROC and a wide range of feed solutions used in MD applications.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Univ. of Arizona, Tucson, AZ (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: US Bureau of Reclamation; USDOE

OSTI ID:: 2424474

Journal Information:: Desalination, Journal Name: Desalination Journal Issue: C Vol. 553; ISSN 0011-9164

Publisher:: ElsevierCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Fouling characterization and treatment of water reuse concentrate with membrane distillation: Do organics really matter

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