Analysis of energy costs for catalytic ozone membrane filtration

- Fouling was evaluated in Mn-oxide coated and uncoated membrane systems.
- With ozone addition fouling was well controlled with Mn-oxide coated membranes.
- The most energy-efficient operational mode was 10 μg/s ozone dosage using a Mn-oxide coated membrane in dead-end mode.

Membrane fouling can be reduced through shear stress generated by cross-flow at the membrane surface. Previous work has shown that presence of ozone can reduce membrane fouling. In this work, the effect of ozonation and cross-flow on both membrane fouling on ceramic membranes and the energy cost for the process was studied. The effect of ozone dosage on membrane fouling was studied in both cross-flow and dead-end configurations. The performance of a manganese oxide coated membrane was compared with that of uncoated titanium oxide membrane. Membrane fouling decreased with increasing ozone dosages in the manganese oxide coated catalytic membrane, although increasing the dosage beyond 10-15 μg/s yielded limited improvement. The most energy-efficient mode of operation was found to be dead-end filtration using a manganese oxide coated membrane and a 10 μg/s ozone injection rate.

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