Over the last 15 years, there have been significant developments in new devices for energy recovery, new membrane materials and new sizes and orientations of reverse osmosis (RO) plants, all designed to reduce costs and improve efficiency. The fundamental issue of keeping membrane surfaces clean to ensure efficient RO plant operation has seen relatively few recent developments. This is surprising as
As an alternative for the conventional clean-in-place (CIP) process for micro-filtration membranes, a novel cleaning technology based on micro bubbles has been recently available. Micro-bubbles are known for their ability to generate pressure waves through shrinking and subsequent self-collapsing phenomenon which causes foulant removal. In addition, they have hydrophobic surfaces which have the potential to attract organic substances like oil.