posted on 2024-02-28, 12:39authored byAnde F. Rafryanto, Zakia D. P. Ramadina, Syarifa Nur’aini, Bagas H. Arrosyid, Akmal Zulfi, Nurul T. Rochman, Alfian Noviyanto, Arramel
The persistent issue of ceramic membrane fouling poses
significant
challenges to its widespread implementation. To address this concern,
ozone nanobubbles (ozone-NBs) have garnered attention due to their
remarkable mass transfer efficiency. In this investigation, we present
a novel ozone-NB generator system to effectively clean a fouled ceramic
membrane that is typically employed in the dye industry. The surface
characteristics of the ceramic membrane underwent significant alterations,
manifesting incremental changes in surface roughness and foulant accumulation
reduction, as evidenced in atomic force microscopy, scanning electron
microscopy, X-ray fluorescence, and energy-dispersive spectroscopy.
Remarkably, the sequential 4 h cleaning process demonstrates an effective
outcome leading to an almost 2-fold enhancement in the membrane flux.
The initial fouled state of 608 L/h/m2 increased to 1050
L/h/m2 in the 4 h state with a recovery of 50%. We propose
such membrane performance improvement governed by the ozone-NBs with
a size distribution of 213.2 nm and a zeta potential value of −20.26
± 0.13 mV, respectively. This effort showcases a substantial
innovative and sustainable technology approach toward proficient foulant
removal in water treatment applications.