| Abstract: | Continuous ultrafiltration of synthetic waste water containing peptone was carried out by using positively and negatively charged polyacrylonitrile membranes. The filtration experiments were operated in cross-flow mode under 10 kPa of applied pressure. The filtration properties of the charged membranes were compared with those of uncharged polyacrylonitrile ultrafiltration membranes having similar molecular sieve characteristics and membrane structure to the charged ultrafiltration membranes. During the continuous filtration, the filtration rate decreased and the operation pressure increased because of the formation of a peptone gel layer on the membrane surface. It was found that, for the positively charged membrane, the decrease in the filtration rate of the charged membranes was smaller than that of the uncharged membrane. In addition, the positively charged membrane maintained the initial operation pressure during the filtration. The reduction of fouling in the positively charged membrane was discussed by analyzing the gel components on the membrane surface. |
