Assessment of hydraulic performance and fouling control caused by pulse flow in hollow fiber membrane module

Abstract

To shed light on the effect of pulse flow on shear force and membrane fouling, the pulse frequency and flow velocity based on fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensing technology were studied. The results show that there is a threshold for this synergy between the pulse frequency and flow velocity, which forms more easily at a high pulse frequency and low flow velocity. Moreover, the transition from pulse flow to continuous flow affects the shear force distribution with the membrane module height. Besides, at the same volumetric flow, Re gradually reaches a plateau as the pulse frequency increases from 1 to 5 Hz, and the membrane fouling control has a better flux recovery, which can reach a maximum of 28.89%. Finally, the results also show that the combined effect of high pulse frequency and low flow velocity would be higher than that of low pulse frequency and high flow velocity.