Pressure And Spacer Effect On The Performance Of Immersed Microfiltration Membrane

The water treatment applied in PDAM Surabaya City to treat Kali Surabaya still uses a conventional process where the treatment process will get even harder with decreasing quality of raw water. Immersed microfiltration membrane is a reliable technology in water treatment compared to conventional technology. Nevertheless, the performance of the membrane decreases due to deposits that occur on the membrane surface and lead to fouling. This study aims to examine the effect of pressure and spacers on the performance of microfiltration ceramic membrane measured based on quality and quantity parameters. The research parameters used were turbidity, TSS, organic matter, total coliform, E. Coli and the number of microplastic while the quantity parameters included flux, amount of water production and the duration of membrane operation before fouling. This study tested immersed flat-sheet microfiltration ceramic membranes in sedimentation unit of PDAM Ngagel III Surabaya City. Membrane operation used cross-flow with variable pressure (0.6 bar, 0.7 bar, 0.9 bar) and spacer slopes (75°, 90°, 105° and without spacers). Based on the results of the study, it was found that the effect of optimal pressure occurred at 0.7 bar with the efficiency of eliminating turbidity, TSS, organic matter, microplastic, total coliform, and E. Coli parameters respectively, 94.66%, 96.88%, 24.29%, 62.27%, 100% and 100%. The average flux value at pressure 0.7 bar is 64,33 L/m2.hour with operating duration of 55 hours and permeate production volume 530.70 L. The optimal spacer effect was achieved at slope of 90° with the efficiency of eliminating turbidity, TSS, organic matter, microplastic, total coliform and E. Coli parameters respectively 95.12%, 64.58%, 28.75%, 84.74%, 99.99% and 100%. The average flux value was 66,78 L/m2.hour with an operating duration of 90 hours and permeate production volume 901.55 L.