Research Papers by A.G. Fane

This paper discusses fouling in reverse osmosis in terms of the critical flux of foulants and the fouling mechanisms based on hydraulic resistance and loss of driving force due to cake-enhanced osmotic pressure (CEOP). In many cases CEOP is the dominant effect and this is exacerbated by the use of c

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of operating modes, membrane materials and pore size on natural organic matter (NOM) fouling. A range of flat sheet microfiltration (MF) and ultrafiltration (UF) membranes were tested under conditions of various constant pressure and constant f

Using alginate as a model extracellular polymeric substance, a two-stage TMP profile, with a slow rise followed by a rapid rise, similar to that typically observed with membrane bioreactor effluents was observed during long term filtration. The alginate transmission profile supported the concept of

Membrane fouling by flocculated particulate mixtures formed by silica (SiO2) and alumina (Al2O3) was studied. The properties of the particulate mixtures formed depended on the properties of the solutions. The effect of floc properties and temperature on the apparent critical flux was studied by flux

Extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) are viewed as major fouling components during filtration of biological feeds in industry. However, very few studies investigated the fouling mechanisms of polysaccharides, one major group of macromolecules in EPS. In this work, dead end unstirred filtration o

Direct contact membrane distillation (MD) by means of composite membranes with a PVA/PEG hydrophilic layer on a hydrophobic PVDF substrate has been developed for desalination. The effects of brine temperature, salt concentration, running time and the addition of ethanol on the flux of composite memb