Electrokinetics methods to control membrane fouling

The efficiency of a separation process using membranes is often hindered by membrane fouling and concentration polarization. As a consequence, membrane cleaning costs increase, membrane life is shortened, and/or more capital is spent on purchasing more membrane area. The current practices to minimize the effect of these factors on membrane performance are classified into four general groups based on their mechanisms and are briefly reviewed in this paper. One of the approaches, the external fields approach, utilizes de electric field and its electrokinetics as one of the means to control membrane fouling. The electric field approach is the major focus of this paper. During the electric field application, the phenomena of electrophoresis and electroosmosis occur as a result of electrokinetics. Besides these phenomena, electrolysis, Joule's heating, ion migration, etc., also occur. One or more of these mechanisms simultaneously act on the applied membrane system and improve its performance. The electric field's application, its mechanism, and examples are discussed in this paper.