Membrane ageing in drinking water treatment : assessing the impact of natural organic matter foulants and hypochlorite interactions
department or school: Applied Science, Faculty of
department or school: Civil Engineering, Department of
data provider: DSpace
degree campus: UBCV
creator: Jia, Baohui
issued: 2025-08-18T18:52:42Z
issued: 2025
related degree: Doctor of Philosophy - PhD
degree grantor: University of British Columbia
description: The research investigates the impact of interactions between natural organic matter (NOM), present on membranes as foulants, and hypochlorite, used for chemical cleaning, on the ageing of polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) ultrafiltration (UF) membranes. Ageing, defined as the progressive deterioration of physical and chemical characteristics and hydraulic performance of membranes, represents a critical challenge to the sustainable operation of UF membrane facilities. The role of NOM foulant-hypochlorite interactions was poorly understood. Using laboratory accelerated soak and cyclic ageing approaches, and common model NOM components (bovine serum albumin (BSA), sodium alginate (SA), and humic acid (HA)), the research demonstrates that radical oxidants are generated from NOM foulant – hypochlorite interactions under conditions relevant to chemical cleaning, and that these radical oxidants contribute to accelerating membrane ageing. BSA, a model protein type NOM, was identified as the primary contributor to radical oxidant generation when interacting with hypochlorite; other model NOM considered did not interact with hypochlorite. The impact of ageing was quantified based on changes in physical and chemical characteristics (characterized using differential Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, contact angle and scanning electron microscopy (SEM)), and hydraulic performance (characterized using clean water resistance). The research demonstrated that full-scale facilities with feed waters containing higher protein type NOM concentrations are likely to generate more radical oxidants during chemical cleaning, and that these radical oxidants are likely to increase the rate at which changes in physical and chemical characteristics and hydraulic performance occur during membrane ageing. Results for laboratory accelerated cyclic ageing were similar to those for ageing at full-scale when considered with respect to the loading of protein type NOM from feed waters. Additi…
aggregated CHO: https://circle.library.ubc.ca/rest/handle/2429/91947
note: Membrane Ageing in Drinking Water Treatment: Assessing the Impact of Natural Organic Matter Foulants and Hypochlorite Interactions by Baohui Jia M.Sc., Harbin Institute of Technology, 2017 B.Sc., Tongji University, 2015 A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF Doctor of Philosophy in THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE AND POSTDOCTORAL STUDIES (Civil Engineering) THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (Vancouver) August 2025 © Baohui Jia, 2025 ii The following individuals certify that they have read, and recommend to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies for acceptance, the dissertation entitled: Membrane Ageing in Drinking Water Treatment: Assessing the Impact of Natural Organic Matter Foulants and Hypochlorite Interactions submitted by Baohui Jia in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Civil Engineering Examining Committee: Pierre Bérubé, Department of Civil Engineering Supervisor Robert Andrews, Department of Civil and Mineral Engineering, University of Toronto Co-supervisor Eric Hall, Department of Civil Engineering University Examiner Scott Dunbar, Department of Mining Engineering University Examiner Additional Supervisory Committee Members: Madjid Mohseni, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering Supervisory Committee Member Jongho Lee, Department of Civil Engineering Supervisory Committee Member iii Abstract The research investigates the impact of interactions between natural organic matter (NOM), present on membranes as foulants, and hypochlorite, used for chemical cleaning, on the ageing of polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) ultrafiltration (UF) membranes. Ageing, defined as the progressive deterioration of physical and chemical characteristics and hydraulic performance of membranes, represents a critical challenge to the sustainable operation of UF membrane facilities. The role of NOM foulant-hypochlorite interactions was poorly understood. Using laboratory accelerated…
has type: Thesis/Dissertation
date issued: 2025-11
is shown at: 10.14288/1.0449761
language: eng
degree discipline: Civil Engineering
provider: Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
publisher: University of British Columbia
rights: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International
rights URI: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/
scholar level: Graduate
contributor: Bérubé, Pierre R.
contributor: Andrews, Robert C. (Robert Carl), 1954-
type: Text
identifier URI: http://hdl.handle.net/2429/91947