Membrane fouling in electrodialysis: a model and experiments

Membrane fouling is a common cause for poor performance in electrodialysis systems, usually because it reduces the limiting current. Fouling may be caused by deposits of either neutral matter or colloidal matter with ion exchange properties. In the present paper a model for membrane fouling is developed and expressions are derived for the reduction in limiting current caused by both neutral fouling films and films having ion exchange properties. The effect of fouling is shown to depend not only on the properties of the fouling film, but also on the hydrodynamic conditions in the channels and in the case of ion exchange fouling films on the salt concentration in the dialysate channel. Ion exchange fouling films are shown to be much more effective in reducing the limiting current than neutral films. Some experimental data are presented which confirm the trend of the theory for fouling with ion exchange films.