Fouling and cleaning characteristics of ultrafiltration of hydrophobic dissolved organic matter by a polyvinyl chloride hollow fiber membrane.

Ultrafiltration membrane fouling is a significant problem in drinking water treatment. Many researchers believe that hydrophobic natural organic matter is the main foulant. In this research, fulvic acid, tannin, and aniline were used to represent hydrophobic acid, neutral, and base, respectively, to investigate modified polyvinyl chloride ultrafiltration membrane fouling characteristics. Four kinds of cleaning methods were used in this study: flushing, backwashing, flushing and backwashing, and chemical cleaning with 0.5% sodium hydroxide. Each was performed on the three hydrophobic dissolved organic matters (acid, neutral, and base) to identify the fouling mechanisms of polyvinyl chloride ultrafiltration membrane. Results showed that hydrophobic base fouled membranes the most and hydrophobic acid the least based on cleaning difficulty.