Treatment of produced water (PW) is a challenge largely due to its form as stable oil/water emulsion. Membrane technology has shown promise in treating PW by efficiency removing micron-size oil droplets, but still suffers from major obstacle of membrane fouling. Many approaches have been introduced to mitigate membrane fouling including employing air bubbles (aeration) which improve hydrodynamics for scouring off the foulants. Despite offering some advantages, it still constricted by poor contact and distribution toward membrane surface. Thus, those limitations became highly concerned, and will be handled in this study by applying new finned spacer. The spacer encourages air bubbles flow path homogenously covering whole membrane surface. The filtration tests were performed using lab-made Polysulfone (Psf) flat-sheet membrane assembled into a flat-sheet panel. The results show excellent effect of aeration using finned panel spacer by performing higher flux and rejection. The bubbles are well distributed and homogeneously projected on the membrane surface by the finned spacer. Thus, the objective to mitigate fouling can be obviously achieved.
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