Enhanced pre-coat engineering (EPCE~(~R)) for micro- and ultrafiltration: steps to full-scale application

摘要

Ultrafiltration of surface water without pre-treatment frequently suffers from high fouling rates and irreversible fouling. Enhanced pre-coat engineering (EPCE) has been developed with the aim to enable ultrafiltration plants to treat surface water directly at high and stable flux rates. In this study in-line coagulation with ferric chloride and polyaluminium chloride and EPCE are compared on pilot scale using capillary membranes with IJssel Lake water as feed water. The in-line coagulation experiments resulted in relatively low flux rates and irreversible fouling, whereas EPCE enabled us to achieve a flux rate of 1 00 l/(h.m~2) and a dosage of less than 25 g/m~3. However, a couple of technical questions need to be answered before full-scale application can be implemented with all types of ultrafiltration systems.