A comprehensive evaluation of the temporal and spatial fouling characteristics of RO membranes in a full-scale seawater desalination plant
File(s)Manuscript-WR.pdf (7.96 MB) SI-WR.pdf (8.6 MB)
Accepted version
Supporting information
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
The fouling of seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) membranes remains a persistent challenge in desalination. Previous research has focused mainly on fouling separately; however, organic, inorganic, and biofouling can coexist and influence each other. Hence, in-depth study of the spatiotemporal changes in actual combined fouling in full-scale seawater desalination will provide more effective information for fouling investigation and control. In this study, we monitored (i) the operational performance of a full-scale desalination plant for 7 years and (ii) the development and characterization of membrane and spacer fouling at different locations of spiral-wound membrane modules sampled after 2.5-, 3.5-, and 7-year operation. The findings showed that (i) operational performance indicators declined with time (normalized flux 40 % reduction, salt rejection 2 % in 7 years), with a limited effect of the 20-day cleaning frequency, (ii) fouling accumulation in the membrane module mainly occurred at the feed side of the lead module and the microbial community in these area exhibited the highest diversity, (iii) the dominant microbial OTUs belonged mainly to Proteobacteria (43-70 %), followed by Bacteroidetes (10-11 %), (iv) Phylogenetic molecular ecological networks and Spearman correlation analysis revealed that Chloroflexi (Anaerolineae) and Planctomycetes were keystone species in maintaining the community structure and biofilm maturation and significantly impacted the foulant content on the SWRO membrane, even with low abundance, and that (v) fouling accumulation was composed of polysaccharides, soluble microbial products, marine humic acid-like substances, and inorganic Ca/Fe/Mg/Si dominate the fouling layer of both the membrane and spacer. Overall, variation partitioning analysis quantitatively describes the increasing contribution of biofouling over time. Ultimately, the organic‒inorganic-biofouling interaction (70 %) significantly contributed to the overall fouling of the membrane after 7 years of operation. These results can be used to develop more targeted fouling control strategies to optimize SWRO desalination plant design and operation.
Date Issued
2024-02-01
Date Acceptance
2023-11-22
Citation
Water Resources, 2024, 249
ISSN
0097-8078
Publisher
Springer
Start Page
120914
Journal / Book Title
Water Resources
Volume
249
Copyright Statement
© 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
Identifier
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/38007899
PII: S0043-1354(23)01354-4
Subjects
Biofouling
Membrane fouling
Reverse osmosis
Seawater desalination
Publication Status
Published
Coverage Spatial
England
Article Number
ARTN 120914
Date Publish Online
2023-11-22