One of the greatest problems associated with membrane processes is the loss of productivity due to biofouling.Currently, biofouling is detected by monitoring progressive flux losses, which is an after-the-fact practice withrespect to this phenomenon. One of the greatest challenges for water treatment membrane operations is thedevelopment of non-invasive methods that allow for early biofilm detection - prior to irreversible macroscale fluxlosses, which could extend membranes life and may help reduce operation and maintenance costs. We report here anovel, non-invasive technique using ultrasonic frequency-domain reflectometry (UFDR), to detect biofilms onpolyamide membrane coupons and polycarbonate slides. This is a variation of a technique previously reported todetect mineral scaling on RO membranes, which holds promise for real-time biofilm detection in full-scalemembranes.
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