Fouling control of a membrane coupled photocatalytic process treating greywater

摘要

Fouling in membrane coupled photocatalytic reactors was investigated in the caseof greywater treatment by establishing the link between product type, dose,irradiation time and fouling rates in a cross flow membrane cell fitted with a0.4 μm pore sized polyethylene membrane. Rapid fouling occurred only with showergels and conditioners and was linked to changes in the organo-TiO2 aggregatesize postulated to be caused by polymers within the products. Fouling wasreduced to a negligible level when sufficient irradiation was applieddemonstrating that the membrane component of the process is not the issue andthat scale up and implementation of the process relates to effective design ofthe UV reactor