Rinsing condition optimization of the membrane fouled by yeast suspension

In order to sufficiently study the effects of stirring speed and temperature on the membrane flux, the flux recovery rate (FRR) and model parameters (k₁, k₂, k₃ and R_i) of the PAN membrane (200kDa) fouled by yeast suspension, a series of rinsing experiments were carried out. Meanwhile, the instantaneous membrane flux was predicted by the rinsing model and corresponding regression equation of model parameters was obtained. The result indicated that the model shows a good agreement (R²>0.9700) and the temperature has a more significant effect on FRR and model parameters (k₁, k₂, k₃ and R_i). FRR increased from 58.40% to 99.41% when the temperature increase from 25°C to 55°C (the rate constant of dissolution increased from 0.00371 m^-1 to 0.00531 m^-1) while it only increased from 55.67% to 67.50% when the stirring speed increases from 200 rpm to 800 rpm (the rate constant of dissolution increased from 0.00366 m^-1 to 0.00456 m^-1). In addition, the rinsing condition can be optimized by the combination of the prediction model of flux (equation (1)) and the regression equation (equation (2)) to obtain the optimal cleaning condition.