Experimental analysis of foulant deposition in submerged hollow fiber membrane modules

Hollow fiber ultrafiltration (UF) membranes have been widely employed for water treatment and pretreatment for seawater desalination. Nevertheless, there are challenges in design and optimization of hollow fiber modules because their efficiency depends on their geometric factors and filtration conditions. In this work, we focused on the analysis of submerged UF membranes for better understanding the correlation between hydrodynamic conditions and fouling phenomena. The local flux profiles were calculated based on the Hagen-Poiseuille equation. The results were compared with the experimental results of local fouling patterns, which were obtained based on an image analysis technique using a blue indigo solution. The experimental and theoretical results agreed qualitatively. The results in this study suggest that the methods demonstrated in this study can provide in-depth information such as local flux and pressure profiles, local foulant deposition, and the effect of fiber geometry and operation conditions.