It is well known that reverse osmosis (RO) membranes exhibit a decline in water flux during operation at a high pressure because the membranes become compacted.
The RO membranes at RO desalination plants are usually operated at a high pressure. Therefore, the designer of these plants is required to predict precisely a flux decline, taking into account the effect of the compaction of the membranes during operation. For stable operation of the RO plants, it is also important to know the behavior of relaxation of the compacted membranes during shutdown.
In this study, the declining tendency of pure water permeability coefficient (
A-value) was experimentally examined using cellulose triacetate hollow fiber membranes. As a result, the dependency of the
A-value on the feed pressure was clarified. It was also found that the
A-value was restored when it was preserved at an atmospheric pressure and the restoration depended on such factors as a period of preservation, a degree of the compaction of membranes before preservation.
The experimental data were compared with the predicted values obtained by calculation using a newly presented viscoelastic model. The tendency of
A-value variations was successfully described by the viscoelastic model.
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