title: Pre-coagulation for microfiltration of an upland surface water.
abstract: The effect of different coagulants on cake formation and hydraulic resistance in membrane filtration of strongly coloured (SUVA> or =4.8) upland surface water has been studied at bench-scale under constant pressure conditions. Coagulants used were aluminium sulphate, polyaluminium chloride, ferric chloride and ferric sulphate. Optimisation of coagulation parameters was carried by conventional jar testing. The R'c (specific cake resistance in m(-2)) values were determined for all coagulants over a range of coagulant doses and slow mixing flocculation periods. Experiments indicated slight differences in cake formation trends between ferric- and aluminium-based coagulants and chloride and sulphate counterions, but that the range of measured R'c values was small (0.9 and 2.6 x 10(18) m(-2)) over the range of doses studied. Greater than 99% UV(254) removal was achieved with every coagulant, whereas dissolved organic carbon (DOC) removal ranged from 78% to 88%. Optimisation of the pre-coagulation-membrane filtration process suggests ferric chloride to be slightly superior for the feedwater matrix studied on the basis of DOC removal, whereas ferric sulphate gave slightly lower filter cake specific resistance values.
authors.affiliation: School of Water Sciences, Cranfield University, Cranfield, Bedfordshire MK43 0AL, UK.
authors.forename: A T
authors.initials: AT
authors.lastname: Pikkarainen
authors.forename: S J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Judd
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Jokela
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gillberg
mesh_terms: D005374:Filtration; D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D011312:Pressure; D014865:Waste Disposal, Fluid / Q000379:methods*; D014872:Water Movements; D018508:Water Purification
chemical_list: D008567:Membranes, Artificial