Optimization of evaporators with respect to fouling will lead to an increase in runtime and production capacity. Unfortunately optimization processes are often trial-and-error based because the exact mechanism and rate of fouling are not known. This makes the optimization process inefficient and results are often sub-optimal. In order to improve the optimization process a predictive model was d...

Water and wastewater processing (cooling tower, heat exchanger, treatment, etc.) generate desirable or undesirable biofouling (mineral, organic, biological) which may affect equipment process performances. Fouling magnitude nature stand as critical parameters to be evaluated in-situ on-line control optimize the operation (production, cleaning). A fouling sensor based on a Micro-Electro-Mechanic...

Algal extracellular organic matter (EOM) will cause grievous membrane fouling during the filtration of algae-laden water; hence, boron-doped diamond (BDD) anodizing was selected as pretreatment process before ultrafiltration, and EOM mitigation mechanism purification efficiency were systematically investigated. The results showed that BDD oxidation could significantly alleviate decline flux red...

A filtration devise was developed to assess compressibility of fouling layers in membrane bioreactors. The system consists of a flat sheet membrane with air scouring operated at constant transmembrane pressure to assess the influence of pressure on resistance of fouling layers. By fitting a mathematical model, three model parameters were obtained; a back transport parameter describing the kinet...

Crude refinery preheat trains (PHTs) are a major part of a refining process as these units reduce the amount of thermal energy required to heat the crude oil to its distillation temperature. Fouling is a longstanding problem in the operation of PHTs; the ability of a refinery to process different crude blends or to increase its production capacity depends on the thermal and hydraulic performanc...

Vessel traffic is the primary pathway for non-indigenous marine species introductions to New Zealand, with hull fouling recognised as being an important mechanism. This article describes hull fouling on seven slow-moving commercial vessels sampled over a 1 year period. Sampling involved the collection of images and fouling specimens from different hull locations using a standardised protocol de...

Membrane fouling is the bottleneck that restricts the sustainability of membrane technology for environmental applications. Therefore, the development of novel analytical tools for characterizing membrane fouling processes is essential. In this work, we demonstrate a capability of probing the chemical structure of foulants and detecting their 3-dimentional spatial distribution on membranes base...

Biofouling of ship’s internal seawater systems can have serious implications for performance, continuing operational capability and crew habitability. Internal seawater piping systems and intakes are prone to heavy fouling pressure due to the relative inaccessibility and complexity of these systems. Fouling control in internal systems is optimally maintained by the installation and operation of...

A laboratory-scale submerged anaerobic membrane bioreactor (SAnMBR) treating sewage was used to investigate the membrane fouling mechanism. Characterization of cake layer formed on membrane surface showed that cake layer was hydrated, rich of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) and negative charged with the charge density of 0.21-0.46 meq/kg MLSS. Detailed analysis revealed a new membrane ...

Since fouling-release coating systems do not prevent settlement, various methods to quantify the tenacity of adhesion of fouling organisms on these systems have been offered. One such method is the turbulent channel flow apparatus. The question remains how the results from laboratory scale tests relate to the self-cleaning of a ship coated with a fouling-release surface. This paper relates the ...