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One of the greatest problems associated with membrane processes is the loss of productivity due to biofouling.Currently, biofouling is detected by monitoring progressive flux losses, which is an after-the-fact practice withrespect to this phenomenon. One of the greatest challenges for water treatment membrane operations is thedevelopment of non-invasive methods that allow for early biofilm detection prior to irreversible macroscale fluxlosses, which could extend membrane life and may help reduce operation and maintenance costs. This paper presents anovel, non-invasive technique using ultrasonic frequency-domain reflectometry (UFDR), to detect biofilms onpolyamide membrane coupons and polycarbonate slides. This is a variation of a technique previously reported todetect mineral scaling on RO membranes, which holds promise for real-time biofilm detection in full-scalemembranes. Includes 10 references, figures.

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Edition: Vol. - No. Published: 06/15/2003 Number of Pages: 7File Size: 1 file , 330 KB