Kim, K.-J. and Jang, A., 2017. The fouling characteristics of NOMs on the microfiltration ceramic membrane. In: Lee, J.L.; Griffiths, T.; Lotan, A.; Suh, K.-S., and Lee, J. (eds.), The 2nd International Water Safety Symposium. Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 79, pp. 60–64. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208.

The filtration performance and fouling characteristics of mixed natural organic matters (NOMs) on monolith ceramic microfiltration (MF) membrane was investigated in a dead-end mode under constant transmembrane pressure (TMP) with periodic backwash. Humic acid (HA), bovine serum albumin (BSA), and sodium alginate (SA) were used for the investigation of the fouling potential. In a pilot-scale filtration test, the fouling characteristics of NOMs were evaluated by the various operation conditions, including solution pH, foulant mixture, and rate of flux recovery. The NOMs and mixed NOMs caused severe permeability reduction, and the fouling potential varied significantly with diverse pH conditions (5.0, and 7.0). Acidic condition improved the membrane performance but generally resulted in more severe physically irreversible fouling than the neutral condition. The fouling characteristics of NOMs such as fouling rate and cake growth rate were offset after filtration in the MF ceramic membrane. The membrane fouling and cake growth rate of NOMs decreased in the order of BSA>SA>HA at pH 5.0 and SA>BSA>HA at pH 7.0. The results indicated that pH and mixed organic compounds had the greater impact on the degree of relative fouling characteristics such as reversible fouling (RF) and irreversible fouling (IF) as well as on the fouling rate in MF ceramic membrane.