Reverse Osmosis Biofilm Dispersal by Osmotic Back-Flushing: Cleaning via Substratum Perforation

Edo Bar-Zeev; Menachem Elimelech

doi:10.1021/ez400183d

Reverse Osmosis Biofilm Dispersal by Osmotic Back-Flushing: Cleaning via Substratum Perforation

Edo Bar-Zeev, Menachem Elimelech

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

41 Scopus citations

Abstract

We have demonstrated the application of osmotic back-flushing (OBF) for the removal of biofilms from reverse osmosis (RO) membranes and proposed a new biofilm dispersal mechanism. OBF was conducted in a laboratory-scale RO test cell by introducing a sequence of hypersaline solution (1.5 M NaCl) flushes into the feedwater, while still maintaining the applied hydraulic pressure (13.8 bar). OBF resulted in significant biofilm detachment, leaving a thin, perforated bacterial film (24 μm thickness) with vertical cavities ranging from 15 to 50 μm in diameter. Application of OBF led to significant reductionin the biovolume (70-79%) and substantial removal of total organic carbon and proteins (78 and 66%, respectively), resulting in 63% permeate water flux recovery. Our findings demonstrate the potential of this chemical-free RO membrane cleaning method while highlighting the possible challenges of the technique.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	162-166
Number of pages	5
Journal	Environmental Science and Technology Letters
Volume	1
Issue number	2
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1021/ez400183d
State	Published - 11 Feb 2014
Externally published	Yes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Environmental Chemistry
Ecology
Water Science and Technology
Waste Management and Disposal
Pollution
Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis

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abstract = "We have demonstrated the application of osmotic back-flushing (OBF) for the removal of biofilms from reverse osmosis (RO) membranes and proposed a new biofilm dispersal mechanism. OBF was conducted in a laboratory-scale RO test cell by introducing a sequence of hypersaline solution (1.5 M NaCl) flushes into the feedwater, while still maintaining the applied hydraulic pressure (13.8 bar). OBF resulted in significant biofilm detachment, leaving a thin, perforated bacterial film (24 μm thickness) with vertical cavities ranging from 15 to 50 μm in diameter. Application of OBF led to significant reductionin the biovolume (70-79%) and substantial removal of total organic carbon and proteins (78 and 66%, respectively), resulting in 63% permeate water flux recovery. Our findings demonstrate the potential of this chemical-free RO membrane cleaning method while highlighting the possible challenges of the technique.",

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Reverse Osmosis Biofilm Dispersal by Osmotic Back-Flushing: Cleaning via Substratum Perforation

Abstract

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