Abstract:

Reverse osmosis (RO) technology boasts high separation efficiency, absence of phase change during the process and ease of automation control, making it widely applied in the advanced treatment and recycling of industrial wastewater. Silicon fouling is a major factor leading to the decline in flux and reaching the end-of-life of RO membranes during advanced industrial wastewater treatment. Understanding the mechanism, influencing factors and control strategies of silicon fouling is crucial for the efficient and stable operation of RO membranes. This paper explored the mechanisms of silicon fouling, including individual silicon fouling as well as metal-silicon and organic-silicon composite fouling. It summarized the effects of influent composition, operating conditions and membrane surface properties on silicon fouling of RO membranes. Furthermore, it reviewed silicon fouling control methods, including pretreatment, operation optimization and membrane surface modification. The paper identified unresolved issues in current research on silicon fouling of membranes, such as the unclear mechanisms of silicon composite fouling, the lack of stable and effective membrane modification strategies to resist silicon fouling, and the customization of complex membrane system silicon fouling control strategies. It proposed potential research directions for future membrane silicon fouling control, including real-time monitoring of fouling, molecular dynamics simulations and the development of non-polyamide reverse osmosis membranes, etc.

Key words: industrial wastewater, silica, reverse osmosis membranes, silicon contamination mechanism, fouling, control, membranes

摘要：

反渗透（RO）膜分离技术具有分离效率高、过程无相变、易于自动化控制等优点，在工业废水深度处理与循环利用领域应用广泛。硅污染是造成工业废水深度处理RO膜通量下降、到达寿命终点的重要致因之一，阐释硅污染机理、影响因素与控制策略对于RO膜高效稳定运行具有重要意义。本文从单独硅污染机理以及金属-硅、有机-硅复合污染机理出发，总结了进水组分、操作条件、膜面性质对RO膜硅污染的影响，综述了进水预处理、操作优化、膜表面改性等硅污染控制方法，探讨了目前膜硅污染研究中尚待解决的问题，包括硅复合污染机理仍不清晰、缺乏稳定有效的抗硅污染膜改性策略和复杂膜系统硅污染控制策略等，提出了污染实时监测、分子动力学模拟、非聚酰胺RO膜开发等未来膜硅污染控制的潜在研究方向。

关键词: 工业废水, 二氧化硅, 反渗透膜, 硅污染机理, 结垢, 控制, 膜