In this study, remediation of ceramic membrane fouling by an in‐line intermittent ultrasound system was investigated. A piezoelectric ultrasonic transducer was integrated into a membrane unit that provided ultrafiltration (UF) of a diluted skim milk solution containing 0.10 wt% of protein. The effects of ultrasound at varied frequencies (20, 28, and 40 kHz) and power intensities (1.44, 2.88, and 5.76 W/cm²) under continuous operation and intermittent mode at various intervals (0.50, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, 2.5, and 3.0 minutes) on membrane fouling were studied. The quality and flow rate of the permeate stream were monitored for the evaluation of the UF process performance. Optimal conditions of continuous ultrasound were found at 28 kHz and 2.88 W/cm². Moreover, at optimal ultrasonic conditions, the optimal intermittent time was found at 0.50 minute. At optimal ultrasonic conditions, the permeate amount increased by 79.8% and 94.2% for 0.50 minute intermittent ultrasound and continuous ultrasound, respectively, as compared with that of the UF process without ultrasound. Also, intermittent ultrasound induced better fouling control at a lower protein concentration of 0.05% by weight. The cleaning effect of ultrasound could be attributed to the cavitation bubbles generated by the rarefaction and pressure cycles of the applied ultrasound.

中文翻译：

---

超滤间歇性超声辅助陶瓷膜结垢控制

在这项研究中，研究了在线间歇超声系统对陶瓷膜结垢的修复。将压电超声换能器集成到膜单元中，该膜单元可对包含0.10 wt％蛋白质的稀释脱脂乳溶液进行超滤（UF）。在连续操作和间歇模式下以不同的间隔（0.50、1.0、1.5、2.0、2.5 ）在不同频率（20、28和40 kHz）和功率强度（1.44、2.88和5.76 W / cm ²）下超声的影响，并且3.0分钟）对膜结垢进行了研究。监测渗透物流的质量和流速，以评估超滤过程的性能。发现连续超声的最佳条件为28 kHz和2.88 W / cm ²。此外，在最佳超声条件下，发现最佳间歇时间为0.50分钟。在最佳超声条件下，与不使用超声的超滤过程相比，对于0.50分钟的间歇超声和连续超声，渗透量分别增加了79.8％和94.2％。同样，间歇超声在0.05％（重量）的较低蛋白质浓度下也能更好地控制结垢。超声波的清洁效果可归因于所施加超声波的稀疏性和压力循环所产生的空化气泡。