In-line Coagulation Research Articles

Operating Cost Reduction of In-line Coagulation/Ultrafiltration Membrane Process Attributed to Coagulation Condition Optimization for Irreversible Fouling Control

This study examined the optimum coagulation conditions for reducing irreversible fouling during the in-line coagulation/ultrafiltration (UF) membrane process and assessed the decrease in operating cost. The coagulation conditions that generated charge-neutralization, sweep-flocculation, and under-dosing mechanisms were obtained by a jar-test, and a pilot-scale in-line coagulation/UF membrane process was operated under the coagulation conditions. Charge-neutralization and sweep-flocculation mechanisms reduced irreversible fouling effectively, and the under-dosing mechanism was able to reduce irreversible fouling only when flocs of a certain size or larger were formed. This revealed that floc size was a more important factor in reducing irreversible fouling than floc structure, and once initial cake layers were created by flocs of a fixed size, the structure of formed cake layers had only a minor effect on irreversible fouling. Regarding reduction in operating cost, 0.5 mg/L and 3 h, which were necessary to produce an under-dosing mechanism, were deemed the optimum coagulant dosage and coagulant injection time, respectively, to reduce irreversible fouling. In order to analyze the operating cost reduction effect, a pilot plant was operated under optimum operating conditions, and the total operating cost was approximately 11.2% lower than without in-line coagulation.

Fouling indicators for field monitoring the effectiveness of operational strategies of ultrafiltration as pretreatment for seawater desalination

The applicability of fouling indicators for real time performance assessment of UF feed pretreatment in RO seawater desalination was explored in a field study using an integrated seawater UF-RO desalination pilot plant. Fouling indictors were evaluated with respect to quantification of UF backwashability, unbackwashed fouling resistance and UF fouling rate. Feed water quality and coagulant dose demonstrated measurable impact on both UF fouling rate and effectiveness of foulant removal via UF backwash. Increased coagulant dose promoted higher rate of cake formation and in turn improved backwash efficiency. However, there was a maximum coagulant dose beyond which there was no further backwash improvement. Backwash effectiveness increased with higher backwash flux and duration, up to threshold upper limits, but declined as the filtration period increased above a threshold limit. Field tests during periods of temporally varying feed quality demonstrated that higher fouling rate (promoted by inline coagulation) resulted in more effective backwash and correspondingly lower progressive rise in post-backwash UF resistance. The study results suggest that real-time UF fouling indicators, based on UF filtration resistance metrics and backwash effectiveness, should be potentially useful for tracking UF performance and thus for deployment of UF feed-back control for optimal performance of UF feed pretreatment.

Combined Coagulation and Ultrafiltration Process to Counteract Increasing NOM in Brown Surface Water

Membrane hybrid processes—coagulation coupled with ultrafiltration (UF)—have become a common method to comply with the legal, chemical, and microbiological requirements for drinking water. The main advantages of integrating coagulation with membrane filtration are the enhanced removal of natural organic matter (NOM) and reduced membrane fouling. With in-line coagulation, coagulants are patched into the feed stream directly prior to the membrane process, without removing the coagulated solids. Compared with conventional coagulation/sedimentation, in-line coagulation/membrane reduces the treatment time and footprint. Coagulant dosing could be challenging in raw water of varying quality; however, with relatively stable specific ultraviolet absorbance (SUVA), dosing can be controlled. Recent studies indicate that UV absorbance correlates well with humic substances (HS), the major fraction to be removed during coagulation. This paper describes and evaluates a 30-month UF pilot trial on the surface water of Lake Neden (Sweden), providing drinking water to 60,000 residents. In this study, automatic coagulant dosing based on online measurement was successfully applied. Online sensor data were used to identify the current optimal aluminium coagulation conditions (0.5–0.7 mg L−1) and the potential boundaries (0.9–1.2 mg L−1) for efficient future (2040) NOM removal. The potential increase in NOM could affect the Al dose and drinking water quality significantly within 20 years, should the current trends in dissolved organic carbon (DOC) prevail. UV absorbance, the freshness index, and liquid chromatography-organic carbon detection (LC-OCD) measurements were used to optimise the process. Careful cross-calibration of raw and filtered samples is recommended when using online sensor data for process optimisation, even in low-turbidity water (formazin nephelometric unit (FNU) < 5).

Bacteriophage Removal Efficiency of In-line Coagulation with Ceramic Membrane Filtration

Bacteriophage Removal Efficiency of In-line Coagulation with Ceramic Membrane Filtration

Optimization of air sparging and in-line coagulation for ultrafiltration fouling control

Abstract A major drawback to ultrafiltration membrane operation for drinking water treatment is fouling, which results in lower water production and increased maintenance costs. The impact of different fouling mitigation strategies including, sparging conditions (duration and air flow rate) as well as phased in-line coagulation were investigated at pilot-scale. Unexpectedly, sparging during permeation and backwash resulted in a significantly higher rate of increase in irreversible resistance compared to Sparging only during backwash. Lower irreversible fouling observed without sparging during permeation was attributed to the formation of a protective layer on the membrane in the absence of sparging. Sparging at reduced air flow rates and intermittently, during the permeation cycle did not improve the irreversible resistance rate when compared to sparging only during backwash. The application of phased in-line coagulation to pre-coat membranes was also investigated. Coagulating for only the first half of the permeation cycle (phased coagulation) did not negatively impact membrane performance in terms of irreversible resistance and organics removal. Phased coagulation, which would lead to reduced coagulant and sludge disposal costs, appears to be a promising fouling control strategy.

Investigation of in-line coagulation-MF hybrid process for oily wastewater treatment by using novel ceramic membranes

Oily wastewater is one of the great threats for environment, animals and plants due to high hazardous organic content. In this paper, oily wastewater was treated with in-line coagulation-MF hybrid process using novel and high performance Mullite-Alumina-Zeolite (MAZ) and Mullite-Zeolite (MZ) ceramic microfiltration (MF) membranes. The MF membranes were fabricated by extrusion method using cheap and convenient accessible raw materials such as kaolin clay, natural zeolite and α-alumina powder. Aluminum and iron salts (Al2(SO4)3, FeCl3, Fe2(SO4)3 and FeSO4) were used for in-line coagulation in the hybrid process with 50, 100, 150 and 200 mg L−1 concentrations. Experiments were carried out in order to determine the effects of coagulation agent dose on the Permeation Flux (PF) and the Oil Rejection Percent (ORP) during oily wastewater treatment. Results showed that FeSO4 with 200 mg L−1 concentration is the best coagulation agent for enhancement of PF of two types of membranes significantly. Also, Al2(SO4)3 was the best coagulation agent that enhanced ORP of MAZ from 96.2% to 99% and 96.6%–98.8% for MZ membranes.

Understanding and Control of Biopolymer Fouling in Ultrafiltration of Different Water Types

The present work focuses on understanding and control of biopolymer fouling in ultrafiltration of a typical surface water and nearby secondary effluent for direct and indirect portable use. Characterization results show that both kinds of biopolymers are of similar molecular weight. Longer than one year water quality monitoring results show that the C/N ratio in the secondary effluent biopolymers was relatively constant at around 4.8, while that in the surface water macromolecules fluctuated at around 6.9. Under a similar mass load, the investigated secondary effluent biopolymers lead to hydraulic resistance slightly higher than that caused by filtering surface water macromolecules; however, the correspondingly formed fouling is significantly less reversible by hydraulic backwashing. The quantity of the nitrogenous biopolymers in the secondary effluent demonstrated a strong correlation with the extent of the irreversible fouling in ultrafiltration (UF), while that from the surface water did not. In membrane fouling cleaning tests, certain detergent demonstrated high efficiency in removing the irreversible fouling after UF of the secondary effluent, but presented no effect in eliminating fouling caused by the surface water foulants. In-line coagulation using FeCl3 prior to UF was shown as an effective fouling control method, but the effect depends heavily on the type of feed water.

Effect of coagulation conditions on ultrafiltration for wastewater effluent

Low-pressure membrane filtration is increasingly used for tertiary treatment of wastewater effluent organic matter (EfOM), mainly comprising organic base/neutral compounds. In-line coagulation with underdosing, charge neutralization, and sweep floc conditions prior to ultrafiltration (UF) was studied to determine removals of the EfOM components and consequent reduction of fouling using polyethersulfone membranes. Coagulation and UF substantially reduced fouling for all coagulation conditions while removing from 7 to 38% of EfOM organic acids. From 7 to 16% of EfOM organic base/neutrals were removed at neutral pH but there was no significant removal for slightly acid coagulation conditions even though fouling was substantially reduced. Sweep floc produced the lowest resistance to filtration but may be inappropriate for in-line use due to the large added volume of solids. Charge-neutralization resulted in poor recovery of the initial flux with hydraulic cleaning. Under-dosing paralleled sweep floc in reducing hydraulic resistance to filtration (for sub-critical flux) and the initial flux was also easily recovered with hydraulic cleaning. Hydrophobic and hydrophilic base/neutrals were identified on the fouled membranes but as previously reported the extent of fouling was not correlated with accumulation of organic base/neutrals.

Assessment of the efficacy of membrane filtration processes to remove human enteric viruses and the suitability of bacteriophages and a plant virus as surrogates for those viruses

Here, we evaluated the efficacy of direct microfiltration (MF) and ultrafiltration (UF) to remove three representative human enteric viruses (i.e., adenovirus [AdV] type 40, coxsackievirus [CV] B5, and hepatitis A virus [HAV] IB), and one surrogate of human caliciviruses (i.e., murine norovirus [MNV] type 1). Eight different MF membranes and three different UF membranes were used. We also examined the ability of coagulation pretreatment with high-basicity polyaluminum chloride (PACl) to enhance virus removal by MF. The removal ratios of two bacteriophages (MS2 and φX174) and a plant virus (pepper mild mottle virus; PMMoV) were compared with the removal ratios of the human enteric viruses to assess the suitability of these viruses to be used as surrogates for human enteric viruses. The virus removal ratios obtained with direct MF with membranes with nominal pore sizes of 0.1–0.22 μm differed, depending on the membrane used; adsorptive interactions, particularly hydrophobic interactions between virus particles and the membrane surface, were dominant factors for virus removal. In contrast, direct UF with membranes with nominal molecular weight cutoffs of 1–100 kDa effectively removed viruses through size exclusion, and >4-log10 removal was achieved when a membrane with a nominal molecular weight cutoff of 1 kDa was used. At pH 7 and 8, in-line coagulation–MF with nonsulfated high-basicity PACls containing Al30 species had generally a better virus removal (i.e., >4-log10 virus removal) than the other aluminum-based coagulants, except for φX174. For all of the filtration processes, the removal ratios of AdV, CV, HAV, and MNV were comparable and strongly correlated with each other. The removal ratios of MS2 and PMMoV were comparable or smaller than those of the three human enteric viruses and MNV, and were strongly correlated with those of the three human enteric viruses and MNV. The removal ratios obtained with coagulation–MF for φX174 were markedly smaller than those obtained for the three human enteric viruses and MNV. However, because MS2 was inactivated after contact with PACl during coagulation pretreatment, unlike AdV, CV, MNV, and PMMoV, the removal ratios of infectious MS2 were probably an overestimation of the ability of coagulation–MF to remove infectious AdV, CV, and caliciviruses. Thus, PMMoV appears to be a suitable surrogate for human enteric viruses, whereas MS2 and φX174 do not, for the assessment of the efficacy of membrane filtration processes to remove viruses.

Biological filtration with and without prior in-line coagulation to reduce UF fouling by secondary effluent

Abstract The objectives of this research were to investigate biofiltration prior to ultrafiltration (UF) for treatment of secondary effluent. Biofiltration with and without prior in-line coagulation was assessed for UF membrane fouling reduction. Two parallel pilot-scale biofilters, each with different media (sand vs. anthracite), were operated under identical conditions at a hydraulic loading rate of 0.75 m/h. A component of this investigation included the in-line application of a 1.0 mg/L dose of ferric sulfate prior to an anthracite biofilter. All UF membrane fouling experiments were conducted at bench-scale at a constant flux of 32 L/m2h (LMH). The sand (BF1) and anthracite biofilters (BF2) removed on average 25 and 20%, respectively, of the biopolymer fraction of the effluent organic matter. Humic substances were less well removed at about 10%, while biofilter influent turbidity was reduced by 75 and 70% through BF1 and BF2, respectively. Feeding the UF membrane with biofilter effluent (no prior coagulant addition) substantially reduced both hydraulically reversible and irreversible membrane fouling by up to 60 and 80%, respectively. Hydraulically reversible and irreversible fouling were further reduced (up to 69 and 87%, respectively) by the integration of the in-line coagulation/biofiltration pre-treatment processes compared to biofiltration alone.

Self-adaptive cycle-to-cycle control of in-line coagulant dosing in ultrafiltration for pre-treatment of reverse osmosis feed water

Real-time self-adaptive approach to in-line UF coagulant dosing was developed and field demonstrated for integrated UF-RO seawater desalination. A novel coagulant dose controller was designed and successfully implemented in a pilot UF-RO seawater desalination plant. The coagulant controller, which tracks the UF resistance during filtration and backwash, adjusts coagulant dose to the UF feed with the objective of reducing the incremental cycle-to-cycle UF post-backwash (PB) resistance change (i.e., Δn). Real-time tracking the above UF resistance metrics, as well as the rate of change of Δn with coagulant dose, enabled the controller to quantify the progression of both irreversible fouling and UF backwash effectiveness. The above information was then utilized by the controller to make the appropriate coagulant adjustment. Field tests of the proposed self-adaptive coagulant dosing approach demonstrated measurable coagulant dose reduction while maintaining robust UF operation even during periods of both mild and severe water quality degradation. The approach to real-time coagulant dose control developed in the present work should be suitable for both seawater and brackish water UF treatment and has the potential of providing both effective UF operation as well as reduction in coagulant use.

Ultrafiltration with self-generated RO concentrate pulse backwash in a novel integrated seawater desalination UF-RO system

Ultrafiltration as a pretreatment for RO feedwater with enhanced UF backwash, which combines continuous with pulse backwash, was investigated in a novel UF-RO process integration. Direct supply of RO concentrate to the UF module served for UF backwash which was further enhanced with pulse backwash generated using bladder-type hydraulic accumulators. Model analysis of the hydraulic accumulator operation, which was validated via a series of field experiments, demonstrated a capability for accumulator charging directly from the RO concentrate stream within a period of 30–40s. Moreover, pulse backwash over a short period (~5s) which was added to the continuous UF backwash (directly from the RO brine stream), enabled peak UF backwash flux up to a factor of 4.2–4.6 higher than the normal filtration flux. The above mode of UF operation with multiple consecutive backwash pulses was more effective than with a single pulse, while inline coagulation further increased the UF performance. Relatively long-term field operation (over eight days where) of the UF-RO system with self-adaptive triggering of UF backwash, whereby the number of consecutive pulses increased when a higher membrane fouling resistance was encountered, was highly effective in enabling stable UF operation over a wider range of water quality conditions and without the need for chemical cleaning. These encouraging results suggest that direct UF-RO integration with enhanced pulse UF backwash is an effective approach for dead-end UF filtration without sacrificing water productivity.

Comparative study of in-line coagulation and/or ozonization pre-treatment for drinking-water production with spiral-wound ultrafiltration membranes

The application of pre-treatments is a common approach for improving ultrafiltration membrane limitations. However, most studies have been performed for lab-scale hollow-fibre or flat-sheet membrane modules. The present study was conducted to test the performance of fullscale spiral-wound ultrafiltration (UF) membranes for potabilization of influents rich in humic and fulvic acids under different scenarios: (i) direct UF, (ii) with in-line pre-coagulation, (iii) with pre-ozonation, and (iv) with both pre-treatments combined. The membranes were polyvinylidene fluoride with 0.03μm effective pore size. Permeate flow rate was fixed, 1.0m3/h, equivalent to 48 LMH flux. Membrane performance was compared for the aforementioned cases with the following results: feed water pretreatment was required since the effluent quality achieved with direct ultrafiltration was poor and fouling increased. Between pre-ozonation and pre-coagulation, the former was disregarded given the negligible improvement achieved with respect to single ultrafiltration. By contrast, coagulation-flocculation results were remarkably better for both organic matter removal and fouling control. The application of the two pretreatments in series resulted in effluent qualities comparable to those achieved with coagulation-flocculation but fouling rates were much lower and transmembrane pressure growth was minimal, this constituting a promising option for fouling control.

Pre-treatment of surface waters for ceramic microfiltration

Abstract The influence of pre-treatment on the suppression of irreversible (IR) fouling of ceramic membranes challenged with three UK surface waters has been studied at pilot scale. An initial scoping study compared the efficacy of suspended ion exchange (SIX) and clarification (coagulation followed by sludge blanket clarification) individually and in combination. Direct membrane filtration following in-line coagulation (ILCA) was also investigated with and without SIX. The impact on the various organic fractions, specifically high molecular weight (HMW) biopolymers (BPs) and humic substances (HSs), and lower molecular weight (LMW) building blocks (BBs) and neutrals, was studied using liquid chromatography-organic carbon detection (LC-OCD). Results revealed SIX and coagulation to preferentially remove the LMW and HMW organic fractions respectively. Residual HMW organic matter (primarily BPs) following SIX pre-treatment were retained by the membrane which led to rapid irreversible fouling. Coagulation pre-treatment provided stable membrane operation and the residual LMW organics were not significantly retained by the membrane. Combining clarification and SIX resulted in significantly increased removal of organics and lower membrane fouling rates. Tests performed using SIX and ILCA revealed high dissolved organic carbon (DOC) removal compared to SIX with clarification. However, unlike the case for clarification with SIX, the addition of SIX to optimised ILCA dosing offered no additional suppression of membrane fouling compared to ILCA alone. Optimised ILCA pretreatment led to very low IR fouling rates of

Performance comparison of granular media filter beds

Particle capture, head loss development, and efficiency of in-line coagulation in contact filtration were studied using two types of laboratory filters with varying coagulants. One filter consisted of sand and anthracite, whereas the other filter contained crushed glass and anthracite. Effects of in-line coagulation on filter performance were evaluated using a charge measuring device. Performance of filters was monitored in terms of effluent quality as a function of time and development of head loss by anthracite layer and by the entire filter bed. Filterability index was used to provide a measure of effectiveness of filter media and/or operational variables such as coagulant type and dosage. This study found that the crushed glass–anthracite filter was as effective at removal of particles and metals (Fe and Al) as sand–anthracite filters.

Conventional drinking water treatment and direct biofiltration for the removal of pharmaceuticals and artificial sweeteners: A pilot-scale approach

The presence of endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs), pharmaceutically active compounds (PhACs) and artificial sweeteners are of concern to water providers because they may be incompletely removed by wastewater treatment processes and they pose an unknown risk to consumers due to long-term consumption of low concentrations of these compounds. This study utilized pilot-scale conventional and biological drinking water treatment processes to assess the removal of nine PhACs and EDCs, and two artificial sweeteners. Conventional treatment (coagulation, flocculation, settling, non-biological dual-media filtration) was compared to biofilters with or without the addition of in-line coagulant (0.2–0.8mgAl3+/L; alum or PACl). A combination of biofiltration, with or without in-line alum, and conventional filtration was able to reduce 7 of the 9 PhACs and EDCs by more than 50% from river water while artificial sweeteners were inconsistently removed by conventional treatment or biofiltration. Increasing doses of PACl from 0 to 0.8mg/L resulted in average removals of PhACs, EDCs increasing from 39 to 70% and artificial sweeteners removal increasing from ~15% to ~35% in lake water. These results suggest that a combination of biological, chemical and physical treatment can be applied to effectively reduce the concentration of EDCs, PhACs, and artificial sweeteners.

Ceramic microfiltration – influence of pretreatment on operational performance

A sustainable membrane operation often requires pretreatment of the feed liquor to improve its technical and economic feasibility. This paper reports the impact of pretreatment on the performance of ceramic microfiltration for several pilot studies at different locations. Four different pretreatment processes were investigated: (1) in-line coagulation (to remove high molecular weight, HMW, dissolved organic carbon, DOC); (2) ion exchange (to remove low molecular weight, LMW, DOC); (3) ozone (for disinfection, taste and odor control, and modifying the character of DOC) (4) ion exchange followed by in-line coagulation (for almost complete removal of DOC). Pretreatment in all cases was needed to control membrane fouling, to establish a technically and economically feasible process. These studies seem to show that the DOC's HMW (which includes biopolymers) and LMW fractions (the latter includes humics/acids), are primarily responsible for the TMP increase after filtration followed by backwashing (irreversible fouling). Removing one of these organic fractions often results in more stable operation. Ozonation in all cases led to better operation, but is not always economically feasible. The feasibility of ozone as pre-treatment depends largely on the initial ozone demand, and whether or not there are secondary treatment targets (e.g., higher virus removal, taste, and/or odor).

Autopsy of ultrafiltration membranes for drinking-water production with in-line coagulation and ozonation pre-treatments

Membrane autopsies were performed after a pilot-scale study with ultrafiltration (UF) membranes for drinking-water production from humic-rich influents where FeCl3 coagulation–flocculation (CF) and ozonation (OZ) were used as pre-treatments. Membrane fragments and extracted residues were analysed to identify the foulants and evaluate the condition of the respective modules used. The amount of deposits on the membrane surface proved higher for CF-UF system, although microbial activity was more remarkable in OZ-UF, as significantly more SMP was detected. Bacterial growth was confirmed by the spongy and fully developed biofilm found for both systems with scanning electron microscopy (SEM). XRF showed Fe content to be predominant for the CF-UF membrane, while elements such as Al, Si or Ca were also found, though these were not as abundant as in the OZ-UF system. Cross-section analyses with SEM/energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS) revealed the presence of Fe combined with P inside the membrane pores for CF-UF fragments. By contrast, OZ-UF fragments revealed the presence of aluminosilicates with no visible effect on membrane pores. Finally, ATR-FTIR profiles showed that neither the chlorine used in the chemical cleaning nor the pre-treatments had damaged the chemical structure of the membranes. However, the main absorption bands were masked for OZ-UF in comparison to CF-UF system, indicating that fouling was more severe after the application of ozone.

Removal of disinfection by-product precursors by coagulation and an innovative suspended ion exchange process

This investigation aimed to compare the disinfection by-product formation potentials (DBPFPs) of three UK surface waters (1 upland reservoir and 2 lowland rivers) with differing characteristics treated by (a) a full scale conventional process and (b) pilot scale processes using a novel suspended ion exchange (SIX) process and inline coagulation (ILCA) followed by ceramic membrane filtration (CMF). Liquid chromatography-organic carbon detection analysis highlighted clear differences between the organic fractions removed by coagulation and suspended ion exchange. Pretreatments which combined SIX and coagulation resulted in significant reductions in dissolved organic carbon (DOC), UV absorbance (UVA), trihalomethane and haloacetic acid formation potential (THMFP, HAAFP), in comparison with the SIX or coagulation process alone. Further experiments showed that in addition to greater overall DOC removal, the processes also reduced the concentration of brominated DBPs and selectively removed organic compounds with high DBPFP. The SIX/ILCA/CMF process resulted in additional removals of DOC, UVA, THMFP, HAAFP and brominated DBPs of 50, 62, 62, 62% and 47% respectively compared with conventional treatment.

Integrated in-line coagulation-aerated ultrafiltration for drinking-water production: A case study from laboratory to pilot plant

A pilot-scale study was made for drinking-water production from low-quality influents with in-line coagulation as pre-treatment of aerated ultrafiltration. Optimum flocculation parameters were previously determined in the laboratory, searching for large and strong flocs that could resist aeration without increasing the membrane fouling. Nevertheless, the comparison of the jar tests and the pilot-scale results showed that the former could help pre-dimensioning the flocculation facilities but could not precisely reproduce the behavior of the flocs in the membrane tank. The optimum coagulant dosage enabled the highest dissolved organic carbon (DOC) removal without affecting membrane fouling. Additionally, as opposed to the jar-test results, long retention times led to the lowest fouling rates while the velocity gradient affected neither the effluent quality nor the membrane fouling. These findings suggested that the influence of the flocculation parameters was masked by aeration inside the membrane tank but, even so, 43% and 82% DOC and UVA254 removals, respectively, were reached. Furthermore, the growth of the total membrane resistance with time was logarithmic instead of linear, confirming the suitability of the pre-treatment for low-quality influents.