ABSTRACT
The permeability decline associated with foulant deposition on membrane surface is a major hurdle in membrane filtration. In traditional cross-flow filtration performed under positive pressure, high cross-flow velocity is an essential requirement to control the membrane fouling, but it causes excessive feed pressure that, in turn, causes excessive cake layer compaction and low energy efficiency. In addition, the frequent recirculation of the feed water through high-pressure pump imposes negative effects on particles due to the high shear stress caused by circulation pumps (Brockmann and Seyfried 1996; Tardieu et al. 1998). As a result, such traditional filtration methods are primarily used as part of manufacturing processes that created sufficient additional values to cover the costs or as wastewater treatment processes that did not have better alternatives.
