Exploring the impact of fouling on permeate flux and quality in ceramic ultrafiltration after treating poultry wastewater, and strategies for effective modelling and mitigation

Ultrafiltration was used to treat the poultry processing industry's wastewater to enhance the water quality, making it suitable for recycling within the process. With the application of a constant transmembrane pressure for the ultrafiltration process, the permeate flux decreased over time, while the permeate quality improved. Mathematical modelling of the flux data and permeate analysis revealed that cake layer formation was responsible for fouling but with some initial pore blocking. The study indicated that higher transmembrane pressure contributed to the formation and compression of the cake layer, resulting in improved permeate quality. Cleaning with water failed to eliminate fouling, but chemical cleaning with acid and base helped to restore the initial permeate flux. The process effectively removed almost all particles (>99 % reduction of turbidity), over 90 % of the chemical oxygen demand, and 40–80 % of total phosphorus. The efficiency of the phosphorus removal was lower for pre-treated wastewater as part of the phosphorus was already removed. Increasing the pressure from 1 to 3 bar significantly improved the removal of chemical oxygen demand, total phosphorus, and lipids by 10 % without negatively impacting the membrane-cleaning process.