Abstract:
As world supplies of clean, fresh water come under increasing pressure
and the need for water reuse rises, membrane technology is becoming
increasingly important as a possible solution. However, membrane
fouling is a major obstacle to the successful operation of the membrane
process in wastewater treatment.
In this study, a submerged hollow-fiber membrane with powdered
activated carbon (PAC) adsorption was investigated for the removal of
organics from secondary sewage effluent from a sewage treatment plant.
The use of PAC in the membrane system was found to be very effective, not only in removing refractory organics, but also in reducing membrane
clogging. A simple mathematical model was developed to predict the
effluent quality [in terms of total organic carbon (TOC)] of the submerged
membrane-adsorption hybrid system.
