View Item 
      •   Home
      • 2. Research Centres and Institutes
      • Nanyang Environment and Water Research Institute (NEWRI)
      • NEWRI Journal Articles
      • View Item
      •   Home
      • 2. Research Centres and Institutes
      • Nanyang Environment and Water Research Institute (NEWRI)
      • NEWRI Journal Articles
      • View Item
      JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.
      Subject Lookup

      Browse

      All of DR-NTUCommunities & CollectionsTitlesAuthorsBy DateSubjectsThis CollectionTitlesAuthorsBy DateSubjects

      My Account

      Login

      Statistics

      Most Popular ItemsStatistics by CountryMost Popular Authors

      About DR-NTU

      Monitoring membrane biofouling via ultrasonic time-domain reflectometry enhanced by silica dosing

      Thumbnail
      Author
      Sim, S. T. V.
      Suwarno, S. R.
      Chong, T. H.
      Krantz, William B.
      Fane, Anthony Gordon
      Date of Issue
      2012
      School
      School of Civil and Environmental Engineering
      Research Centre
      Nanyang Environment and Water Research Institute
      Singapore Membrane Technology Centre
      Abstract
      Detecting biofouling noninvasively in real-time has been a long-standing challenge in membrane processes. Ultrasonic Time Domain Reflectometry (UTDR) offers the potential to address this challenge when used in a ‘canary cell’ that samples a slip stream from the feed to the membrane process. However, adapting UTDR to detect biofouling is problematic owing to the small difference in acoustic properties between a biofouling layer and water or a membrane. In this study UTDR has been adapted to detect biofouling by periodic dosing of colloidal silica as an ‘acoustic enhancer’. This novel UTDR technique was applied to detect biofouling on flat sheet polyethersulfone ultrafiltration (UF) and thin film composite polyamide reverse osmosis (RO) membranes in a canary cell flow configuration. The UTDR response correlates with the transmembrane pressure and off-line measurements of the biofilm thickness via confocal laser scanning microscopy, the bacterial count, and extra-polymeric cellular substances (EPS). The acoustic enhancer was shown to have no effect on the viability of the bacteria. Hence, UTDR can be used for the noninvasive real-time detection of biofouling in high pressure membrane processes such as RO by periodic dosing of an enhancer such as colloidal silica in a canary cell.
      Type
      Journal Article
      Series/Journal Title
      Journal of membrane science
      Rights
      © 2012 Elsevier B.V.
      Collections
      • NEWRI Journal Articles
      http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.memsci.2012.10.032
      Get published version (via Digital Object Identifier)

      Show full item record


      NTU Library, Nanyang Avenue, Singapore 639798 © 2011 Nanyang Technological University. All rights reserved.
      DSpace software copyright © 2002-2015  DuraSpace
      Contact Us | Send Feedback
      Share |    
      Theme by 
      Atmire NV
       

       


      NTU Library, Nanyang Avenue, Singapore 639798 © 2011 Nanyang Technological University. All rights reserved.
      DSpace software copyright © 2002-2015  DuraSpace
      Contact Us | Send Feedback
      Share |    
      Theme by 
      Atmire NV
       

       

      DCSIMG