Enhanced pre-coat engineering (EPCE®) for micro- and ultrafiltration: steps to full-scale application

Abstract

Ultrafiltration of surface water without pre-treatment frequently suffers from high fouling rates and irreversible fouling. Enhanced pre-coat engineering (EPCE) has been developed with the aim to enable ultrafiltration plants to treat surface water directly at high and stable flux rates. In this study in-line coagulation with ferric chloride and polyaluminium chloride and EPCE are compared on pilot scale using capillary membranes with IJssel Lake water as feed water. The in-line coagulation experiments resulted in relatively low flux rates and irreversible fouling, whereas EPCE enabled us to achieve a flux rate of 100 l/(h.m2) and a dosage of less than 25 g/m3. However, a couple of technical questions need to be answered before fullscale application can be implemented with all types of ultrafiltration systems.