Adherent dirt on ion exchange membrane for salt-making was studied to conduct the measurement of the adhesion quantity and classification analysis of the composite, and the proposed procedure was applied to the survey of the adherent dirt of membrane at salt-making plants. The adherent dirt was collected by washing the membrane with a plastic sponge and small amount of filtrated seawater, and the most part of suspended water collected from the membrane was settled, filtered, and washed by distilled water, and dried and weighed for measuring the total weight of the adherent dirt. A part of the suspended water was measured to determine the volume after centrifugation, and the precipitate was dried and weighed for measuring the specific volume. Thickness of the adherent dirt on the membrane was estimated from the total weight, the specific volume, and the area of the membrane.
On the classification analysis, ignition loss in dried matter was determined at first, and its ignition residue was dissolved into hot and dilute sulfuric acid. After separation of filtrate and precipitate by filtration with membrane filter, the precipitate was weighed. Qualitative analysis of inorganic elements in the filtrate was carried out by ICP analyser, and main elements were deter-mined by the same instrument. The ignition loss was almost organic matter. Either weight of the precipitate after dissolution by acid or the sum of contents of silicate and aluminum from determination by ICP was almost earth and sand. Ferric matter was estimated by ferric hydroxide obtained from Fe content. The composition of the adherent dirt was classified as organic matter, ferric matter, earth and sand, and others.
The survery at four salt-making plants was carried out in the washing process of membrane. The results were as follows; Weight of adherent dirt: 0.1-1.5 g-dry matter/m
2 (av. 12g/m
2), estimated thickness of adherent dirt: 2-23 μm (ay. 8 μm), adhesion rate: 2-20 mg-dry matter/m
2 (ay. 12 mg/m
2 dry), 0.03-0.23 μm/day (ay. 0.08 μm/day), organic matter: 38-79% in dry matter (ay. 61%), ferric matter: 2-12% in dry matter (ay. 6%), earth and sand: 15-53% in dry matter (ay. 31%), others: 0-4% (ay. 3%).
The inorganic elements detected were as follows; +++: Mg, Al, Fe, ++: Si, Ti,: Mn, ±: Ba, B. And an average content in acid soluble matter was as follows; Fe: 3.3%, Mn: 0.09%, Al: 2.8%, Si: 1.2%, Ti: 0.05%, and Mg: 0.6% as content in dry matter respectively.
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