Ultrasonic Fouling Mitigation for Renewable Energy Powered Reverse Osmosis Desalination Systems

Abstract

This thesis examines the use of ultrasound to mitigate the performance degradation of reverse osmosis membrane filtration systems due to the accumulation of contaminants on membrane surfaces known as fouling. Numerical models of the phenomena responsible for the fouling mitigation effects of ultrasound were produced. An approach by which ultrasound could be applied to fouling mitigation within commercially available reverse osmosis modules was developed. Relationships between the application of ultrasound and temperature distributions within the fluid contained in filtration modules were investigated for instrumentation and performance assessment purposes. A novel ultrasonic horn was developed and theoretically verified for enhancing the effectiveness of ultrasonic fouling mitigation within commercially available reverse osmosis modules. An experiment was also designed to assess the effectiveness of the approach developed, for which an experimental setup was developed and constructed. Preliminary experiments have been conducted. Future research will focus on detailed experimental analysis.