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Investigations on the Particle Fouling and Backwash Efficiency During Microplastic Microfiltration–Particle Size Aspects

Membranes 2025 2 citations ? Citation count from OpenAlex, updated daily. May differ slightly from the publisher's own count. Score: 48 ? 0–100 AI score estimating relevance to the microplastics field. Papers below 30 are filtered from public browse.
Saeedeh Saremi, Leonie Marie Scheer, G. Braun, Marcus Koch, Markus Gallei, Matthias Faust

Summary

Researchers characterised polystyrene microplastic microfiltration through cellulose acetate membranes, testing particle and pore sizes in comparable ranges to challenge dead-end filtration. Particle size relative to pore size strongly influenced fouling behaviour, and backwashing efficiency varied with particle characteristics, informing filtration system design for MP removal.

Polymers

The characteristics of polystyrene (PS) microplastic (MP) microfiltration by a cellulose acetate (CA) membrane were investigated within this study. Particle sizes and pore sizes were selected in a comparable range in order to challenge the dead-end microfiltration. Backwashing experiments round up the investigations. Microfiltration characteristics and particle size measurements, as well as a particle fouling analysis by different methods, were applied in the study in order to provide a comprehensive picture of particle deposition and particle fouling structuring. The particle removal efficiency was particle-size-dependent, and especially small particles were further reduced during the proceeding filtration, while the larger particles were already removed within the first minutes of filtration. This observation was attributed to the pore blocking (internal and/or complete) and build-up of the filter cake. The difference in the particle-fouling structure at low and elevated filtration pressure significantly influences the backwashing efficiency. The particle fouling resulting from low-pressure filtration was completely removed due to the backwashing procedure applied, while an increased filtration pressure resulted in a different particle-fouling structure, which negatively influenced the backwashing efficiency. This knowledge of the formation and structure of the MP particle fouling and its removal by backwashing is a prerequisite for further process development.

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