Long-term operation optimization of circulating cooling water systems under fouling conditions

Fouling caused by excess metal ions in hard water can negatively impact the performance of the circulating cooling water system(CCWS)by depositing ions on the heat exchanger's surface.Currently,the operation optimization of CCWS often prioritizes short-term flow velocity optimization for minimizing power consumption,without considering fouling.However,low flow velocity promotes fouling.Therefore,it's crucial to balance fouling and energy/water conservation for optimal CCWS long-term operation.This study proposes a mixed-integer nonlinear programming(MINLP)model to achieve this goal.The model considers fouling in the pipeline,dynamic concentration cycle,and variable frequency drive to optimize the synergy between heat transfer,pressure drop,and fouling.By optimizing the concentration cycle of the CCWS,water conservation and fouling control can be achieved.The model can obtain the optimal operating parameters for different operation intervals,including the number of pumps,frequency,and valve local resistance coefficient.Sensitivity experiments on cycle and environmental temperature reveal that as the cycle increases,the marginal benefits of energy/water conservation decrease.In periods with minimal impact on fouling rate,energy/water conservation can be achieved by increasing the cycle while maintaining a low fouling rate.Overall,the proposed model has significant energy/water saving effects and can comprehensively optimize the CCWS through its incorporation of fouling and cycle optimization.

Analysis of influence of heat exchangerfouling on heat transfer performancebased on thermal fluid coupling

A study on heat transfer performance by thermal fluid coupling simulation for the fouling in a shell-tube heat exchanger used in engineering was presented. The coupling simulation was performed in a fluid and solid domains under three different fouling conditions: fouling inside the tube, fouling outside the tube, and fouling inside the shell. The flow field, temperature, and pressure distributions in the heat exchanger were solved numerically to analyze the heat transfer performance parameters, such as thermal resistance. It is found that the pressure drop of the heat exchanger and the thermal resistance of the tube wall increase by nearly 30% and 20%, respectively, when the relative fouling thickness reaches 10%. The fouling inside the tube has more impact on the heat transfer performance of the heat exchanger, and the fouling inside the shell has less impact.

Seasonal Variability of Biofouling Community Structure in the Gulf of Mannar,Southeast Coast of India:A Multivariate Approach

In this research,an Underwater Biofouling Panel(UWBFP)system was erected for the qualitative and quantitative estimation of macro fouling organisms in the Gulf of Mannar.Forty-four biofoulers were identified from four types of selected test panels.Among these biofoulers,Amphibalanus amphitrite(Darwin,1854)was the dominant one.The concrete panel encouraged the highest barnacle density compared to the other panels.Three series of test panels were used to assess the seasonal density of biofouling communities.The overall variation in barnacle count in the seaward and shoreward sides of all these three series were tested.They were found to be significantly different from each other.The greater variations in the barnacle density observed in this study in A-series of test panels could be due to the lack of or absence of other foulers to compete within the fortnight.The Shannon-Wiener species diversity index showed the highest diversity in wood substratum among the three series with greater accumulation of different types of fouling organisms.Multivariate analyses were also performed to understand the seasonal variation as well as the settlement pattern on the different directions of test panels based on validated data.PCA showed a strong variability(PC1 between 70.8%and 98.6%variance)between the directions of the panels in connection with barnacle density.The shade plot and CAP analysis segregated the short-term A-series test panels from the long-term(B-and C-series)test panels.Hence,the output was helpful in understanding the recruitment status of various faunal resources involved in the biofouling processes.

Multivariable identification of membrane fouling based on compacted cascade neural network

The membrane fouling phenomenon,reflected with various fouling characterization in the membrane bioreactor(MBR)process,is so complicated to distinguish.This paper proposes a multivariable identification model(MIM)based on a compacted cascade neural network to identify membrane fouling accurately.Firstly,a multivariable model is proposed to calculate multiple indicators of membrane fouling using a cascade neural network,which could avoid the interference of the overlap inputs.Secondly,an unsupervised pretraining algorithm was developed with periodic information of membrane fouling to obtain the compact structure of MIM.Thirdly,a hierarchical learning algorithm was proposed to update the parameters of MIM for improving the identification accuracy online.Finally,the proposed model was tested in real plants to evaluate its efficiency and effectiveness.Experimental results have verified the benefits of the proposed method.

利用纳米气泡控制农业废水灌溉系统复合污垢的机制

The increasing demand for wastewater treatment has become a notable trend for addressing global water scarcity.However,fouling is a significant challenge for wastewater distribution engineering systems.This study provides an approach using nanobubbles(NBs)to control fouling.The antifouling capacities of three types of NBs,six oxygen concentrations,and two application procedures(prevention and removal)are investigated.The results show that NBs effectively mitigate composite fouling—including biofouling,inorganic scaling,and particulate fouling—in comparison with the non-NBs group.More specifically,hydroxyl radicals generated by the self-collapse of NBs oxidize organics and kill microorganisms in wastewater.The negatively charged surfaces of the NBs transform the crystalline form of CaCO_(3)from calcite to looser aragonite,which reduces the likelihood of ion precipitation.Furthermore,the NBs gas-liquid interfaces act as gas"bridges"between colloidal particles,enhancing the removal of particles from wastewater.Lastly,although the NBs inhibit the growth of fouling,they do not significantly remove the already adhered fouling in non-NBs treated groups.This study anticipates that the application of NBs will address the significant fouling issue for various wastewater distribution engineering systems in order to meet the global challenge of sustainable water supplies.

Effect of coagulation pretreatment on the fouling of ultrafiltration membrane

The purpose of this study is to understand the effect and mechanism of preventing membrane fouling, by coagulation pretreatment, in terms of fractional component and molecular weight of natural organic matter （NOM）. A relatively higher molecular weight （MW） of hydrophobic compounds was responsible for a rapid decline in the ultrafiltration flux. Coagulation could effectively remove the hydrophobic organics, resulting in the increase of flux. It was found that a lower MW of neutral hydrophilic compounds, which could remove inadequately by coagulation, was responsible for the slow declining flux. The fluxes in the filtration of coagulated water and supernatant water were compared and the results showed that a lower MW of neutral hydrophilic compounds remained in the supernatant water after coagulation could be rejected by a membrane, resulting in fouling. It was also found that the coagulated flocs could absorb neutral hydrophilic compounds effectively. Therefore, with the coagulated flocs formed on the membrane surface, the flux decline could be improved.

Comparison of membrane fouling during short-term filtration of aerobic granular sludge and activated sludge

Aerobic granular sludge was cultivated adopting internal-circulate sequencing batch airlift reactor. The contradistinctive experiment about short-term membrane fouling between aerobic granular sludge system and activated sludge system were investigated. The membrane foulants was also characterized by Fourier transform infrared （FTIR） spectroscopy technique. The results showed that the aerobic granular sludge had excellent denitrification ability; the removal efficiency of TN could reach 90%. The aerobic granular sludge could alleviate membrane fouling effectively. The steady membrane flux of aerobic granular sludge was twice as much as that of activated sludge system. In addition, it was found that the aerobic granular sludge could result in severe membrane pore-blocking, however, the activated sludge could cause severe cake fouling. The major components of the foulants were identified as comprising of proteins and polysaccharide materials.

Mechanism of calcium mitigating membrane fouling in submerged membrane bioreactors

Two parallel membrane bioreactors （MBRs） were operated under different calcium dosages （168.5, 27 mg/L） to gain a better understanding of the mechanism of retarding membrane fouling by adding calcium. The results showed that the particle size of sludge flocs increased and the particle size distribution tended to be narrow at the optimum dosage （168.5 mg/L）. Calcium was effective in decreasing loosely bound extracellular polymeric substances （LB-EPS） in microbial flocs and soluble microbial products （SMP） in the supernatant at the dosage of 168.5 mg/L by strengthening the neutralization and bridging of EPS with flocs. Furthermore, the amount of CODs and CODc decreased in both the mixed liquor and the fouling cake layer on the membrane surface. In order to compare the filtration characteristics of cake layers from the MBRs with the two calcium dosages, the specific cake resistance and the compressibility coefficient were measured. The specific cake resistance from the MBR with optimum dosage （168.5 mg/L） was distinctly lower than that with low dosage （27 mg/L）. The compressibility coefficient of the cake layers under two dosages were respectively attained as 0.65, 0.91. Scanning electron microscopy （SEM） and three-dimensional confocal scanning laser microscope analysis （CLSM） images were utilized to observe the gel layer directly.

Ultrafiltration with in-line coagulation for the removal of natural humic acid and membrane fouling mechanism

Experimental and theoretical analysis were made on the natural humic acid removal and the membrane fouling of ultrafiltration （UF） with in-line coagulation. The results showed dissolved organic carbon （DOC） and UV254 removals by the UF with in-line coagulation at pH 7 were increased from 28% to 53% and 40% to 78% in comparison with direct UF treatment respectively. At the same time, the analysis of high performance liquid chromatography showed that UF with coagulation had significant improvement of removal of humic acid with molecular weights less than 6000 Da in particular. Compared to direct UF, the in-line coagulation UF also kept more constant permeate flux and very slight increase oftransmembrane pressure during a filtration circle. Two typical membrane fouling models were used by inducing two coefficients Kc and Kp corresponding to cake filtration model and pore narrowing model respectively. It was found that membrane fouling by pore-narrowing effect was effectively alleviated and that by cake-filtration was much decreased by in-line coagulation. Under the condition of coagulation prior to ultrafiltration at pH 7, the cake layer formed on the membrane surface became thicker, but the membrane filtration resistance was lower than that at pH 5 with the extension of operation time.

Lowering ash slagging and fouling tendency of high-alkali coal by hydrothermal pretreatment

High-alkali species in coal are notorious for causing ash slagging and fouling incidents.In this paper,four high-alkali coals were individually subject to hydrothermal pretreatment(HTP),within a batch-type autoclave at 300 -C for 1 h,and the treated coals were analyzed,along with the oxygen-containing functional groups determined by Fourier transform infrared spectrometer(FT-IR).Then the alkali species and other components in the coal ash were quantified by X-ray fluorescence(XRF)for evaluating the ash slagging and fouling tendency.Apart from this,FactSage was adopted to simulate the occurrence and transformation of alkali species during coal thermal conversion ending at various temperatures.The findings indicate that the treated coals are superior to the parent ones in terms of certain remarkable changes via HTP.The moisture,oxygen and sulfur of the hydrothermally treated coals decline obviously,while the calorific value rises sharply.HTP could reduce the alkali species to less than 2%(%,by weight,equivalent to Na2O in dry ash),with a maximum removal ratio of 88.9%,lowering the ash slagging and fouling tendency.The proposed mechanism of HTP was that the alkali species in coal matrix became released due to the breakage of the coal functional groups and micropores during HTP.

Selective swelling of polysulfone/poly(ethylene glycol) block copolymer towards fouling-resistant ultrafiltration membranes

Fouling resistance of ultrafiltration(UF) membranes is critical for their long-term usages in terms of stable performance, so convenient approaches to prepare fouling-resistant membranes are always anticipated. Herein, we demonstrate the facile fabrication of antifouling polysulfone-block-poly(ethylene glycol)(PSF-b-PEG, SFEG)composite membranes. SFEG layer was coated onto macroporous supports and cavitated by immerging them in acetone/n-propanol following the mechanism of selective swelling induced pore generation. Thus-produced SFEG membranes possessed high permeance and excellent mechanical strength. Meanwhile, the structures and separation performances of the SFEG layers can be continuously tuned through simply changing swelling durations. More importantly, the hydrophilic PEG chains were spontaneously enriched onto the pore walls through swelling treatment, endowing intrinsic antifouling property to the SFEG membranes. Bovine serum albumin(BSA)/humic acid(HA) fouling tests proved the prominent fouling resistance of SFEG membranes, and the fouling resistance is expected to be long-standing because of the firm connection between PEG chains and PSF matrix by covalent bonding.

Study on membrane fouling of submerged membrane bioreactor in treating bathing wastewater

A pilot-scale submerged membrane bioreactor (MBR) was used to treat the bathing wastewater for more than 90 d. Several factors a?ecting membrane fouling were studied, including the variation in transmembrane pressure (TMP), changes in extracellular polymeric substance (EPS), and distribution of membrane resistance (R). The relationships between R and EPS concentration were found to be R = 0.00008(EPSS)2.915 in the mixed liquor (EPSS) and R = 0.2853(EPSm) – 0.824 on the membrane surface (EPSm). The constant ...

Study of reverse osmosis membranes fouling by inorganic salts and colloidal particles during seawater desalination

Fouling phenomenon is considered among the major reasons that cause significant increase of operating cost of desalination plants equipped with reverse osmosis(RO)membranes.This phenomenon is studied in the present work in the case of RO polyamide aromatic membranes using model seawater containing inorganic salts and colloidal compounds.Different solubility conditions of CaCO3 and CaSO4 were applied to study RO performances with and without colloid presence.During experiments,the membrane permeate fluxes were continuously monitored.Moreover,studies of chemical composition,structure,and morphology of the materials deposited on the membrane surface were conducted using energy dispersive microanalysis(EDS)X-ray diffraction and scanning electronic microscopy(SEM).Results show that in conditions of calcium carbonate oversaturation there is a reduction in the permeate flow of 11.2%due to fouling of the membrane by the precipitation of this compound.While in the same conditions of calcium sulphate oversaturation the reduction of the flow is 5%,so we can conclude that in conditions of oversaturation of both salts,calcium carbonate produces a greater fouling of the membrane that in its view causes greater decrease in the flow of permeate.All this based on the results of the test with both salts in oversaturated conditions.Resulting in the formation of calcite and gypsum crystals onto the membranes as XRD analyses stated.Additional presence of colloidal silica in those conditions intensifies strongly the fouling,leading until to 24.1%of permeate flux decrease.

Fouling of WO3 nanoparticle-incorporated PSf membranes in ultrafiltration of landfill leachate and dairy a combined wastewaters： An investigation using model

As fouling has always been a major drawback of membrane technology, qualitative and quantitative understanding of membrane fouling mechanisms therefore becomes vital in order to help push membrane separation technologies forward. In this study, firstly, self-cleaning Polysulfone(PSf) membranes were synthesized by incorporation of WO_3nanoparticles(0–2 wt%) and subsequent UV irradiation for efficient ultrafiltration(UF)of landfill leachate and dairy wastewater. The membrane surface properties were characterized by scanning electron microscopy(SEM) and contact angle analysis. It was found that UV-irradiated membranes exhibited higher percent COD removals due to the hydrophilicity and photocatalytic properties of nano-WO_3. Subsequently, in order to analyze the fouling behavior of the membranes, a set of experimental data from cross-flow ultrafiltration of municipal landfill leachate and industrial dairy wastewater at 25 °C was obtained. A new model of membrane fouling was proposed based on a resistance in series concept and was fitted well with all experimental data sets.Almost all relative errors of prediction provided by the proposed model were less than 2.5%. In addition, it was revealed that this newly-developed model exhibited smooth transition between the common successive twostep pore blockage-cake filtration phenomena and thus eliminates the need to use separate equations for different mechanisms.

Insights into membrane fouling implicated by physical adsorption of soluble microbial products onto D3520 resin

Membrane fouling is a major problem in membrane bioreactors(MBRs).In this study,membrane fouling caused by membrane rejection and adsorption was study.Filtration tests indicated that membrane rejected SMP,causing membrane pore blockage and then forming a gel layer.Batch adsorption experiments showed that adsorption of SMP onto PVDF membrane was a spontaneous physical adsorption process.Meanwhile,the absolute valueΔG of adsorption of SMP onto D3520 was higher than that of adsorption of SMP onto PVDF membrane,so SMP preferentially adsorbed onto D3520 rather than PVDF membrane.Thus,the effect of ARs on reducing the SMP concentration was investigated.It was found that,6 g of D3520 was suitable for adsorption of SMP.This physical adsorption involved external film diffusion,intra-particle diffusion,and surface adsorption.The Redlich–Peterson isotherm model performed best in terms of describing this equilibrium data.The mechanism of membrane fouling mitigation was verified by MBR simulation system.A case study of AR–MBR system was conducted.The results showed that addition of D3520 can effectively alleviate the development of membrane fouling.

Fouling and cleaning of membrane——a literature review

Membrane fouling curtails severely the economical and practical implementation of membrane process. The fundamental principles and mechanisms of membrane fouling as well as factors affecting fouling have been summarized in this paper. It also has covered three fouling resistance models and four kinds of approaches to improve membrane performance. Membrane cleaning methods are also discussed including physical, chemical, physico\|chemical and biological methods. In the four groups of basic cleaning methods, biological cleaning has considerable advantages and potentials. Extensive research work should be carried out further to explore and develop new ideas and techniques in the field of membrane cleaning and restoration.

Research on Influence Factors of Membrane Fouling in A/O-MBR System

[Objective] The aim was to study the influence factors of membrane fouling in A/O-MBR system,so as to control membrane fouling better,prolong the service life of membrane,further reduce the cost of water treatment and promote the popularization of membrane bioreactor(MBR) effectively.[Method] Based on small A/O-MBR device,an orthogonal test with three factors(including aeration intensity,pump-stop ratio and mixed liquor suspended solid) and three levels was designed to optimize three parameters,and the effects of factors on membrane fouling and their mechanisms were studied through single-factor analysis.[Result] The order of operation parameters affecting membrane fouling in A/O-MBR was aeration intensity>pump-stop ratio>mixed liquor suspended solid(MLSS),and the optimum operating parameters were composed of 1.6 m3/h of aeration intensity,4 500 mg/L of MLSS and 9:2 of pump-stop ratio.With the increase of running time,soluble microbial product(SMP) and extracellular polymeric substance(EPS) accumulated gradually in the reactor,and EPS accumulated more rapidly than SMP;meanwhile,membrane fouling was accelerated.Therefore,EPS was the priority factor for membrane fouling compared with SMP.In addition,membrane fouling was accelerated gradually with the increase of protein content in EPS,while the variation of polysaccharides content in EPS had no obvious effect on membrane fouling,so protein content in EPS was the main factor for membrane fouling.[Conclusion] The study could provide theoretical references for the choice of parameters,operation and running in practical engineering.

Effects of a novel bimetallic catalytic biofilter-based pretreatment technique on the form of ultrafiltration membrane fouling

Pretreatments of influents using bimetallic catalytic biofilter(BC-biofilter)can help reduce transmembrane pressures.For ultrafiltration membranes coupled with a conventional biofilter pretreatment,the cake layer resistance accounts for 25.0%of the total resistance.However,for those coupled with BC-biofilter pretreatment,the cake layer resistance accounts only for 12.5%of the total resistance.Confocal laser scanning microscopy is employed to determine the porosity of cake layer.It is found that ultrafiltration membranes with BC-biofilter pretreatment show a cake layer porosity of up to 0.56 or greater,whereas those with a conventional biofilter pretreatment exhibit a cake layer porosity of only 0.36.This is because micro-flocculation occurs in the effluents of BC-biofilter.The flocs generated through flocculation deposit on membrane surfaces to create highly porous cake layer.Moreover,catalytic reduction can increase the zeta potentials of the biofilter effluents.This makes the deposition of colloidal particles and flocs on membrane surfaces difficult under electrostatic repulsion.Simultaneously,micro-flocculation after BC-biofilter pretreatment can remove colloidal particles with particle sizes of200–350 nm in water.This can effectively prevent the blockage of ultrafiltration membrane pores.Furthermore,compared to conventional biofilter,BC-biofilter pretreatment can more effectively reduce the number of colloidal particles and the van der Waals forces of ultrafiltration membranes.They can also change the action directions of electric double layers and thereby mitigate ultrafiltration membrane fouling.

Fouling behavior of poly(vinylidene fluoride)(PVDF)ultrafiltration membrane by polyvinyl alcohol(PVA)and chemical cleaning method

Severe fouling to poly(vinylidene fluoride)(PVDF)membrane is usually caused as filtrating the papermaking wastewater in the ultrafiltration(UF)process.In the paper,fouling behavior and mechanism were investigated,and the low-concentration polyvinyl alcohol(PVA)contained in the sedimentation tank wastewater was found as the main foulant.Consequently,the corresponding cleaning approach was proposed.The experiment and modeling results elaborated that the fouling mode developed from pore blockage to cake layer along with filtration time.Chemical cleaning conditions including the composition and concentration of reagents,cleaning duration and trans-membrane pressure were investigated for their effect on cleaning efficiency.Pure water flux was recovered by over 95% after cleaning the PVDF membrane using the optimal conditions 0.5 wt% NaClO(as oxidant)and 0.1 wt% sodiumdodecyl benzene sulfonate(SDBS,as surfactant)at 0.04MPa for 100 min.In the chemical cleaning method,hypochlorite(ClO−)could first chain-scissor PVA macromolecules to small molecules and SDBS could wrap the fragments in micelles,so that the foulants were removed from the pores and surface of membrane.After eight cycling tests,pure water flux recovery maintained above 95% and the reused membrane was found intact without defects.

The fouling properties of SiO2-CaO-P2O5 system in high-temperature rotary kiln phosphoric acid process

Kiln phosphoric acid(KPA)technology could produce P2O5 with high purity and has been applied in thermal phosphoric acid industry;however the formation of fouling in the high-temperature rotary kiln restricts the stable and long-term operation.In this paper,the reaction of phosphate ores with gaseous P2O5 was investigated in a high-temperature reactor,and the Ca O-SiO2-P2O5 ternary phase diagram was analyzed to understand the fouling formation mechanism.The results showed that the low-melting-point products,such as Ca(PO3)2and Ca2P2O7,are responsible for the fouling in the KPA process.In addition,a small amount of impurities,e.g.,aluminum and iron,could facilitate the generation of the low-melting-point products and cause serious fouling.Based on the high-temperature SiO2-P2O5 and CaO-SiO2-P2O5 phase diagram analysis,the control of Si/Ca molar ratio(e.g.,Si/Ca=2.0)was found to avoid fouling formation in the kiln.These results could provide the operation parameters of reaction temperature and feeds composition to suppress the fouling in the kiln reactor for the phosphoric acid production in industry.