A new folded plate membrane module for hydrodynamic characteristics improvement and flux enhancement

•A new folded plate membrane module (FPMM) was first designed.•The new designed FPMM effectively improved hydrodynamic characteristics.•The new designed FPMM increased flux and mitigated fouling without extra energy.•The new designed FPMM had a better adaptability to change of operating conditions. To intensify the air scouring efficiency and reduce the membrane fouling, a new folded plate membrane module (FPMM) was designed by modifying the configuration of conventional flat sheet membrane module (FSMM). The hydrodynamic characteristics near the folded plate membrane surface, and its filtration performance in different operating conditions were studied. The particle image velocimetry (PIV) measurement results showed that, the higher flow velocity, the stronger turbulence, and more vortices existed near the folded plate membrane surface. The stable flux of the FPMMs had an increase of 17.8–57.7% over that of the FSMM, and the optimal vertical inclination angle was 15°. Moreover, in the filtration process, the flux enhancement of the FPMM was affected by the aeration intensity, yeast suspension concentration and trans-membrane pressure (TMP).