Coagulation-ultrafiltration integrated process for membrane fouling control: Influence of Al species and SUVA values of water

Natural organic matter (NOM) pollution is a great challenge for the ultrafiltration (UF) process owing to the inevitable membrane fouling. In this study, three Al species coagulants (Ala/Alb/Alc) and their composites in combination with Poly dimethyl ammonium chloride (PolyDMDAAC) were used as a pretreatment strategy for the UF process. Then, test waters with different NOM fractions (i.e., humic acid, fulvic acid, protein, and polysaccharide) were prepared to analyze the effects of NOM characteristics on membrane fouling behaviors. The results indicated that compared with Alb and Alc, Ala showed higher removal efficiencies for hydrophobic NOM, aromatic organic matters, and suspended particles, but a limited effect on removing dissolved organic carbon (DOC). Ala or Ala-PolyDMDAAC effectively mitigated membrane fouling by removing the hydrophobic NOM in the coagulation process and forming the porous cake layer in the UF process. The test waters with higher specific ultraviolet absorbance (SUVA) resulted in more severe total and reversible membrane fouling but lighter irreversible fouling. After pretreatment by Ala or Ala-PolyDMDAAC, water samples with the medium SUVA value exhibited remarkable alleviation of membrane fouling due to the formation of large, compact, and robust flocs, as well as the construction of loose and poriferous cake layer on the membrane surface. Although hydrophilic NOM was challenging to be removed by coagulation, the interception and re-adsorption of porous cake layers contributed to the alleviation of irreversible fouling. [Display omitted] •Ala showed better performance in controlling UF fouling than Alb and Alc.•Ala-PolyDMDAAC removed hydrophobic NOM by charge neutralization.•Coagulation pretreatment could alleviate total and reversible membrane fouling.•Test waters with higher SUVA values led to the more severe membrane fouling.•Medium SUVA water could form a porous cake layer and mitigate irreversible fouling.