Investigation of module vibration in ultrafiltration

Membrane fouling is still a critical issue which limits the application of industrial membrane utilizations. Membrane processes operating at a high shear rate are frequently used to control flux decline by reducing the deposition of particles on the membrane surface. In this work, ultrafiltration (UF) of a dairy model and industrial wastewaters was investigated. Membrane module vibration and no-vibration mode were compared by a laboratory mode vibratory shear enhanced processing device during membrane filtration with the same operational parameters. Membrane fluxes, rejections, and energy consumption were measured and calculated for comparison of the vibration effectiveness. Turbidity, chemical oxygen demand, and total organic carbon were measured. The UF experiments were carried out with constant parameters at a temperature of 50°C and recirculation flow rate of 910 L h−1 at 0.8 MPa. Furthermore, to understand the fouling mechanisms in depth, contact angles of the clean, prewetted, and fouled membrane were measured to determine the wettability for characterization of the membrane.