Pilot-scale evaluation of ceramic ultrafiltration membranes for real surface water purification: Effects of membrane configuration on treatment performance

Drainage exhibited clear positive correlations with the extent of fouling accumulation. For the tubular ceramic UF membrane, the higher degree of integration resulted in increased filtration resistance, leading to TMP values consistently over 50% higher than those of the submerged membrane. Moreover, the absence of drainage as an additional fouling control strategy limited its physical cleaning options. During continuous operation, the tubular ceramic UF membrane exhibited a lower fouling accumulation rate than the submerged membrane. However, alkaline CEB showed a superior recovery performance compared with acidic CEB, suggesting that some fouling components may be more effectively removed under alkaline cleaning conditions. Both ceramic UF membrane configurations demonstrated effective water quality improvement. Cost analysis indicated that the operating costs of the submerged and tubular ceramic UF membranes were 0.164 and 0.155 CNY/m 3 , respectively, with permeate recovery rates of approximately 95% for both systems. Overall, the submerged ceramic UF membrane exhibited advantages in fouling recovery and cleaning adaptability, whereas the tubular ceramic UF membrane showed advantages in lower fouling accumulation and improved economic performance. This study provides insights for the engineering application and configuration selection of ceramic UF membrane systems.