title: Characterization of membrane foulants in a pilot-scale tunnel construction wastewater treatment process.
abstract: A pilot-scale combination of a microfiltration (MF) and a reverse osmosis (RO) membrane system was applied on-site to treat tunnel construction wastewater. The MF membrane system initially removed contaminants (turbidity of less than 0.3 NTU) in the form of particulate materials in the feed water, thereby allowing the combined MF-RO system to efficiently remove more than 99% of known organic and inorganic contaminants and qualify the reclaimed water for reuse. The MF membrane autopsy analysis using X-ray fluorescence (XRF) and inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) revealed that the dominant foulants were inorganic deposits involving Si, Al and Fe, comprising the main components of cement materials, as well as deposits involving heavy metals such as Mn, Cu and Zn in the form of particles. Thus, thick cake contaminants shown by field emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM) images might be induced via suspended solids consisting of cement and clay materials and metals.
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil Engineering, Dong-A University, Busan 604-714, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Jae-Hyun
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Hanyang University, Seoul 133-791, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Jong-Oh
authors.initials: JO
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil Engineering, Dong-A University, Busan 604-714, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Se-Uk
authors.initials: SU
authors.lastname: Jeong
authors.affiliation: School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Pohang University of Science and Technology, Pohang, Kyungbuk 790-784, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Hyun Uk
authors.initials: HU
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.affiliation: School of Urban and Environmental Engineering, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology, Ulsan 689-798, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Kyung Hwa
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil Engineering, Dong-A University, Busan 604-714, Republic of Korea. Electronic address: youngmo@dau.ac.kr.
authors.forename: Young Mo
authors.initials: YM
authors.lastname: Kim
mesh_terms: D000535:Aluminum / Q000032:analysis; D060389:Construction Industry; D005374:Filtration; D007501:Iron / Q000032:analysis; D013058:Mass Spectrometry; D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D009995:Osmosis; D010865:Pilot Projects; D012825:Silicon / Q000032:analysis; D013052:Spectrometry, X-Ray Emission; D062065:Wastewater / Q000737:chemistry*; D018508:Water Purification / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods
chemical_list: D000535:Aluminum; D007501:Iron; D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D012825:Silicon; D062065:Wastewater
keywords: Membrane fouling; Microfiltration; Reverse osmosis; Tunnel construction wastewater; Wastewater reclamation