Fouling of Reverse Osmosis and Ultrafiltration Membranes: A Critical Review

Desalination by using reverse osmosis (RO) membranes has become very popular for producing freshwater from brackish water and seawater. Membrane lifetime and permeate flux, however, are primarily affected by the phenomena of concentration polarization and fouling at the membrane surface. The scope of the current paper was to critically review the literature on the fouling phenomena in RO and ultrafiltration (UF) membrane systems, the analytical techniques used to quantify fouling, preventive methods, and membrane cleaning strategies. The paper also makes specific recommendations on how scientists, engineers, and technical staff can assist in improving the performance of these systems through fundamental and applied research. Keywords: FoulingDesalinationReverse osmosisUltrafiltration membranes Acknowledgments We gratefully acknowledge the financial assistance of the Middle East Desalination Research Center (MEDRC), and Sultan Qaboos University through grant number IG/AGR/BIOR/02/04 to M. F. A. Goosen.