MANUFACTURED AND ANTHROPOGENIC NANOPARTICLE FOULING OF MICROFILTRATION MEMBRANES

摘要

Over the past several years it has become evident that fresh water supplies around the world are dwindling because of continued population growth coupled with ongoing droughts. The growing scarcity of freshwater supplies necessitates that other sources of water must be explored for supplementing existing supplies. One of the more promising options for increasing available water supplies is the treatment and reuse of municipal wastewater (i.e., water reuse) (Miller, G.W., 2006). Water reuse requires advanced treatment technologies to reach desired effluent standards, which vary depending on the intended use of the reclaimed water. In this regard, low- and high-pressure membrane processes are key elements in water reuse treatment systems (C?té, P., Masini, M. & Mourato, D., 2004). Low-pressure membranes, such as microfiltration (MF) and ultrafiltration (UF), are primarily used to remove suspended solids and large organic macromolecules. In most systems, MF and/or UF membranes are used as pretreatment processes to downstream nanofiltration (NF) or reverse osmosis (RO) units. As such, optimizing the performance of MF/UF processes is key to achieving the desired performance and efficiency of a water reuse system.