Virus removal in membrane bioreactors is of concern since membrane pore size can be larger than the size of certain viruses. In this study, we evaluated removal of human adenovirus 40 (HAdV 40) by hollow fiber ultrafiltration (UF, = 0.04 μm) and microfiltration (MF1, = 0.22 μm; MF2, = 0.45 μm) membranes operated in the constant flux regime and in the presence of aeration. Individual and combined impacts of suspended (SiO2 microspheres) and dissolved (Aldrich humic acid) foulants on permeate flux and virus removal were determined and compared. Average removal of HAdV 40 from DI water by UF, MF1 and MF2 membranes was 2.3 log, 0.7 log and 0.7 log, respectively. The observed decrease in HAdV 40 removal due to SiO2 fouling (δLRV of -1.2 and -0.2 for UF and MF1 respectively) was attributed to the cake-enhanced accumulation of viruses at the membrane surface. In contrast, fouling by humic acid led to higher virus removals (δLRV of 0.8 and 1.2 for UF and MF1, respectively), which was attributed to pore blockage by humic acid. In experiments with MF2 membrane, neither humic acid nor SiO2 had statistically significant effects on HAdV 40 removal. Combined fouling by humic acid and SiO2 led to HAdV 40 removal that appeared to a superposition of individual contributions of these constituents. The results indicate that the extent of fouling is not a reliable predictor of virus removal. Instead, feed water composition and membrane pore size together govern virus removal with fouling mechanisms playing a key mediating role: pore blockage improves virus removal while cake formation can either increase or decrease virus removal depending on cake properties.

Human adenovirus removal by hollow fiber membranes: Effect of membrane fouling by suspended and dissolved matter

250th National Meeting (2015)

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