Quantitative study of the effect of electromagnetic field on scale deposition on nanofiltration membranes via UTDR

Ultrasonic time-domain reflectometry (UTDR) as an in situ, non-invasive real-time technique has been successfully utilized to quantify membrane fouling and cleaning. This study describes an existing ultrasonic technique for quantitative study of the effect of magnetic fields on CaCO3 scale deposition on the membrane surface during crossflow nanofiltration (NF). The fouling experiments were conducted with CaCO3 solution containing Ca2+ of 1.8 and 3 mmol/L. The experimental electromagnetic field (EMF) was 0.02 T. A commercial NF membrane and a highly sensitive ultrasonic sensor were used in all the experiments. Results show a good relationship between the ultrasonic measurements and the development of CaCO3 scale on the NF membrane surface. An increase in the amplitude of differential signal with operation time results from the deposition of the CaCO3 scale layer. In addition, the movement of the differential signal in the time domain observed is associated with an increase in the thickness of the fouling layer. The UTDR technique is capable of measuring the rate of fouling layer formation under different treatment conditions, i.e. with non-magnetic field (NMF) and EMF. Scale layer of deposited CaCO3 obtained in the experiment with NMF is denser and thicker than that with EMF. The scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analyses imply that the magnetic treatment suppresses the formation of calcite crystals and prefers vaterite and aragonite. Furthermore, the ultrasonic technique is sensitive to the different fouling rate between experiments carried out with 1.8 and 3 mmol/L CaCO3 solutions. The thickness of the fouling layer measured by weight measurement is consistent with that obtained by UTDR in real time. The thinner and less dense scale layer is the main reason for the slower flux decline. Overall, independent measurements such as the flux-decline data, SEM analysis and weight measurement corroborate the ultrasonic measurements.