Effects of Inorganic on RO Membrane Initial Biofouling Formation

In this paper inorganics effects on RO membrane biofouling formation, especially the initial stages, was researched. Three independent experiments setups were respectively conducted to dispose of ground water and synthetic water. At last, the microstructure of fouled RO membrane surface was scanned by SEM, and the element of foulant were inspected by EDX and the organics were analyzed by GC/MC and FTIR. The result showed that the precipitated salts contribute more than microorganism to initial biofilm buildup, but bacterial counts were more favor of biofilm growth on the RO membrane surface. The primary ingredient of foulant comprised albumin, aromatic organics, fatty acid and little polysaccharides besides little inorganics such as Si, Ca. The biofilm buildup on the membrane surface was the synergistic function of inorganic salts with microorganism and organic macromolecules.