Analyzing external and internal membrane fouling by oil emulsions via 3D optical coherence tomography

Membrane-based filtration is an emerging technique for processing oily wastewater. Improving the efficiency of oil-water separation via membranes entails novel techniques for studying the complex interactions between the oil droplets and membrane underlying fouling. This paper presents the first stu...

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Main Authors: Trinh, Thien An, Li, Weiyi, Han, Qi, Liu, Xin, Fane, Anthony G., Chew, Jia Wei
Other Authors: School of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: 2020
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Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10356/141036
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Institution: Nanyang Technological University
Language: English
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spelling sg-ntu-dr.10356-1410362020-06-03T08:16:34Z Analyzing external and internal membrane fouling by oil emulsions via 3D optical coherence tomography Trinh, Thien An Li, Weiyi Han, Qi Liu, Xin Fane, Anthony G. Chew, Jia Wei School of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering Interdisciplinary Graduate School (IGS) Nanyang Environment and Water Research Institute Singapore Membrane Technology Centre Engineering::Chemical engineering Internal Membrane Fouling External Membrane Fouling Membrane-based filtration is an emerging technique for processing oily wastewater. Improving the efficiency of oil-water separation via membranes entails novel techniques for studying the complex interactions between the oil droplets and membrane underlying fouling. This paper presents the first study that applies optical coherence tomography (OCT) to the characterization of membrane fouling by oil emulsions. A series of dead-end filtration experiments was performed to characterize the rejection of oil droplets (~ 10 µm; hexadecane) by the membrane structure (0.45 µm PVDF) via three-dimensional (3D) OCT scanning in real time. The experimental results were compared with the control experiments with ~ 10 µm glass beads to identify the optical artifacts. Both the external and internal fouling by the oil droplets were successfully revealed by analyzing the variation in OCT intensity at various layers that were mathematically defined in terms of the coordinate surfaces parallel to, and above and below, the feed-membrane interface. The evolution of membrane fouling was quantified by evaluating the fraction of fouling voxels as a function of time at varied depths. This study demonstrates that the OCT-based characterization has the potential to shed light on the complex interactions occurring in oil-water separations via membrane filtration, particularly by providing real-time non-invasive monitoring of internal fouling, the understanding of which is valuable for both fundamental research and practical applications. MOE (Min. of Education, S’pore) EDB (Economic Devt. Board, S’pore) 2020-06-03T08:16:33Z 2020-06-03T08:16:33Z 2017 Journal Article Trinh, T. A., Li, W., Han, Q., Liu, X., Fane, A. G., & Chew, J. W. (2018). Analyzing external and internal membrane fouling by oil emulsions via 3D optical coherence tomography. Journal of Membrane Science, 548, 632-640. doi:10.1016/j.memsci.2017.10.043 0376-7388 https://hdl.handle.net/10356/141036 10.1016/j.memsci.2017.10.043 2-s2.0-85032182017 548 632 640 en Journal of Membrane Science © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
institution Nanyang Technological University
building NTU Library
country Singapore
collection DR-NTU
language English
topic Engineering::Chemical engineering
Internal Membrane Fouling
External Membrane Fouling
spellingShingle Engineering::Chemical engineering
Internal Membrane Fouling
External Membrane Fouling
Trinh, Thien An
Li, Weiyi
Han, Qi
Liu, Xin
Fane, Anthony G.
Chew, Jia Wei
Analyzing external and internal membrane fouling by oil emulsions via 3D optical coherence tomography
description Membrane-based filtration is an emerging technique for processing oily wastewater. Improving the efficiency of oil-water separation via membranes entails novel techniques for studying the complex interactions between the oil droplets and membrane underlying fouling. This paper presents the first study that applies optical coherence tomography (OCT) to the characterization of membrane fouling by oil emulsions. A series of dead-end filtration experiments was performed to characterize the rejection of oil droplets (~ 10 µm; hexadecane) by the membrane structure (0.45 µm PVDF) via three-dimensional (3D) OCT scanning in real time. The experimental results were compared with the control experiments with ~ 10 µm glass beads to identify the optical artifacts. Both the external and internal fouling by the oil droplets were successfully revealed by analyzing the variation in OCT intensity at various layers that were mathematically defined in terms of the coordinate surfaces parallel to, and above and below, the feed-membrane interface. The evolution of membrane fouling was quantified by evaluating the fraction of fouling voxels as a function of time at varied depths. This study demonstrates that the OCT-based characterization has the potential to shed light on the complex interactions occurring in oil-water separations via membrane filtration, particularly by providing real-time non-invasive monitoring of internal fouling, the understanding of which is valuable for both fundamental research and practical applications.
author2 School of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering
author_facet School of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering
Trinh, Thien An
Li, Weiyi
Han, Qi
Liu, Xin
Fane, Anthony G.
Chew, Jia Wei
format Article
author Trinh, Thien An
Li, Weiyi
Han, Qi
Liu, Xin
Fane, Anthony G.
Chew, Jia Wei
author_sort Trinh, Thien An
title Analyzing external and internal membrane fouling by oil emulsions via 3D optical coherence tomography
title_short Analyzing external and internal membrane fouling by oil emulsions via 3D optical coherence tomography
title_full Analyzing external and internal membrane fouling by oil emulsions via 3D optical coherence tomography
title_fullStr Analyzing external and internal membrane fouling by oil emulsions via 3D optical coherence tomography
title_full_unstemmed Analyzing external and internal membrane fouling by oil emulsions via 3D optical coherence tomography
title_sort analyzing external and internal membrane fouling by oil emulsions via 3d optical coherence tomography
publishDate 2020
url https://hdl.handle.net/10356/141036
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