Effect of humic acid, photo-oxidation, and adsorption at air back-flushing in hybrid water treatment of multi-channel alumina MF and photocatalyst-coated PP beads

Abstract

AbstractThe effect of humic acid (HA) on membrane fouling and treatment efficiency was observed in a hybrid process of seven channel alumina microfiltration (MF) and TiO2 photocatalyst-coated polypropylene (PP) beads with air back-flushing for advanced water treatment, and compared with the previous study with water back-flushing. As a result, the organic matter could be one of the main factors affecting membrane fouling because the final membrane fouling resistance decreased significantly as reducing HA concentration. The turbidity treatment efficiencies were very high as 95.5–98.3% independent of HA, but that of dissolved organic matters (DOM) was the maximal 80.1% at HA 8 mg/L. However, in the result with water back-flushing, the DOM treatment efficiency was almost constant between 78.9 and 81.8% independent of HA. Treatment portions of MF, photocatalyst adsorption, and photo-oxidation were investigated by comparing the treatment efficiencies of (MF), (MF + TiO2), and (MF + TiO2 + UV) processes. The me...