Inorganic Fouling; Organic Fouling - ProMinent DULCOMETER PH-501 Assembly And Operating Instructions Manual

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7.5.1.3 Inorganic Fouling

Inorganic fouling or precipitative fouling is caused by the accumulation of inorganic precipitates
such as metal hydroxides, and "scales" on membrane surface or within pore structure.
Precipitates are formed when the concentration of chemical species exceeding their saturation
concentrations. Scale can be caused by high pH and extremely hard feed water. For the
ultrafiltration (UF) membranes in our MBR system, inorganic fouling can exist most likely due to
interactions between ions and other fouling materials (i.e., organic polymers) via chemical
bonding.

7.5.1.4 Organic Fouling

Organic fouling is the attachment of materials such as oil or grease to the membrane surface. It
is common in MBR systems used for treating industrial effluent. Organic fouling often leads to
surface and internal pore fouling. More importantly, organic fouling progressively leads to
biological fouling (i.e., biofilm growth/build up on membrane surface). Sometimes the adsorption
process is irreversible when the organic substances are hydrophobic or positively charged
polymers with high molecular weight. Such organic substances including organics present as an
emulsion must be removed in the pretreatment.
The following pictures are examples of clean membranes
The following pictures are examples of fouled membranes
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