摘要：The work describes the existing views on colloidal, suspended and organic fouling in ultrafiltration (UF) membrane modules using for natural water treatment. The paper presents the results of the experimental research allowing for a quantitative determination of sorption and plugging rates, and for evaluation of their effect on membrane performance loss over time. Small colloidal particles pose a risk to UF unit due pore plugging; especially when membranes treat water with a very low content of suspended solids. This effect often cannot be detected during short-time pilot tests, but it can have a decisive influence on the operation of a membrane unit. Study of the filterability characteristic of water contaminants enables us to forecast the filtration type on UF membranes and to evaluate their performance losses. The paper also describes the effect of a feed channel structure – in particular, a presence of a feed spacer in spiral wound membrane modules – on channel hydraulic resistance growth. The technique of channel resistance estimation, depending on suspended particles concentration in the source water, is presented.
