Biofouling on Membranes — A Short Review

Abstract

“Fouling” is referred to as the unwanted deposition of material from the bulk water phase on surfaces, such as membranes. This term has been adopted from heat exchanger technology (Epstein, 1981; Characklis, 1990). For membrane technology, the most important types of fouling include: crystalline fouling (“scaling”, deposition of minerals due to excess of the solution product) organic fouling (deposition of oil, grease, lipids etc.) particle fouling (deposition of clay, silt, humic substances, debris etc.) colloidal fouling (silica, humic acids) biofouling (adhesion and accumulation of microorganisms)