title: Quantification of interfacial interactions between a rough sludge floc and membrane surface in a membrane bioreactor.
abstract: Interfacial interactions between foulants and membrane directly determine foulant adhesion and membrane fouling. In this study, surface of sludge foulant particles (flocs) was found to be rough, and could be modeled by a sinusoidal sphere function. A novel method, which combined surface element integration (SEI) method, differential geometry and composite Simpson's rule, was developed to quantify the interfacial interactions between the modeled rough floc surface and membrane surface. Application of the novel method in a membrane bioreactor (MBR) provides broad profiles of quantitative interactions with rough floc surface with separation distance. It is also found that increase in the scaled amplitude of floc surface significantly reduced the interaction strength. Derjaguin's approximation (DA) can be regarded as a special case of the novel method, indicating the extensive application prospect of the novel method. The novel method for interaction calculation was verified to be correct and feasible. Finally, roles of the novel method in membrane fouling research were discussed.
authors.affiliation: College of Geography and Environmental Sciences, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua 321004, PR China.
authors.forename: Xiang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Cai
authors.affiliation: College of Geography and Environmental Sciences, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua 321004, PR China.
authors.forename: Meijia
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: College of Geography and Environmental Sciences, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua 321004, PR China.
authors.forename: Lining
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: College of Geography and Environmental Sciences, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua 321004, PR China. Electronic address: hjlin@zjnu.cn.
authors.forename: Hongjun
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: College of Geography and Environmental Sciences, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua 321004, PR China.
authors.forename: Xilin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials Physics, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua 321004, PR China.
authors.forename: Yiming
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: He
authors.affiliation: College of Geography and Environmental Sciences, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua 321004, PR China. Electronic address: lgshen@zjnu.cn.
authors.forename: Liguo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Shen
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D057219:Biofouling; D019149:Bioreactors / Q000382:microbiology*; D003198:Computer Simulation; D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D008954:Models, Biological; D012722:Sewage / Q000382:microbiology*; D013499:Surface Properties; D014865:Waste Disposal, Fluid / Q000295:instrumentation*
chemical_list: D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D012722:Sewage
keywords: Interfacial interaction; Membrane bioreactor; Membrane fouling; Rough surface; Sludge floc