Design, Construction and Evaluation of an Experimental Ceramic Membrane Facility With Investigation into Fouling Control

During the past decade, the growth in membrane research and technology advanced and multiplied in usage for many industries including water and wastewater. A major limitation of the application is due to membrane fouling. In this work, the construction, start-up calibration and testing of a membrane unit as well as an examination into the fouling and cleaning aspect of the ceramic membranes are investigated. An aqueous solution containing precipitate is fed to the unit in order to observe fouling behaviour. Effluent wastewater from a bioreactor, CUBEN, is also tested with the unit and membrane cleaning is performed using various chemical agents. For both chemically enhanced backwash (CEB) and membrane soaking, hydrochloric acid cleaning agent (