Membrane flux dynamics in the submerged ultrafiltration hybrid treatment process during particle and natural organic matter removal

Particles and natural organic matter (NOM) are two major concerns in surface water, which greatly influence the membrane filtration process. The objective of this article is to investigate the effect of particles, NOM and their interaction on the submerged ultrafiltration (UF) membrane flux under conditions of solo UF and coagulation and PAC adsorption as the pretreatment of UF. Particles, NOM and their mixture were spiked in tap water to simulate raw water. Exponential relationship, (J(P)/J(P0) = a x exp{-kt-(n-1)T]}), was developed to quantify the normalized membrane flux dynamics during the filtration period and fitted the results well. In this equation, coefficient a was determined by the value of J(P)/J(P0) at the beginning of a filtration cycle, reflecting the flux recovery after backwashing, that is, the irreversible fouling. The coefficient k reflected the trend of flux dynamics. Integrated total permeability (SigmaJ(P)) in one filtration period could be used as a quantified indicator for comparison of different hybrid membrane processes or under different scenarios. According to the results, there was an additive effect on membrane flux by NOM and particles during solo UF process. This additive fouling could be alleviated by coagulation pretreatment since particles helped the formation of flocs with coagulant, which further delayed the decrease of membrane flux and benefited flux recovery by backwashing. The addition of PAC also increased membrane flux by adsorbing NOM and improved flux recovery through backwashing.