We investigate the effect of biofouling in a microfluidic filtration system. The microfluidic platform consists of cylindrical microposts with a pore-spacing of 2 μm, which act as the filtration section of the device. One of our key findings is that there exists a critical pressure difference above which pronounced streamer formation is observed, which eventually leads to rapid clogging of the device with an accompanying exponential decrease in permeate flow. Moreover, when streamers do form, de-clogging of pores also occurs intermittently, which leads to small time scale fluctuations [O(101 s)] superimposed upon the large time scale [O(102 min)] clogging of the system. These de-clogging phenomena lead to a sharp increase in water permeation through the microfluidic filtration device but rates the water quality as biomass debris is transported in the permeate. Streamer-based clogging shares similarities with various fouling mechanisms typically associated with membranes. Finally, we also show that the pH of the feed strongly affects biofouling of the microfluidic filtration system.
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July 2018
Research Article|
August 20 2018
Impact of bacterial streamers on biofouling of microfluidic filtration systems
Ishita Biswas;
Ishita Biswas
1
Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Alberta
, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2G8, Canada
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Mohtada Sadrzadeh;
Mohtada Sadrzadeh
1
Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Alberta
, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2G8, Canada
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Aloke Kumar
Aloke Kumar
a)
2
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Science
, Bangalore 560012, India
a)Author to whom correspondence should be addressed: [email protected]
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a)Author to whom correspondence should be addressed: [email protected]
Biomicrofluidics 12, 044116 (2018)
Article history
Received:
February 09 2018
Accepted:
August 06 2018
Citation
Ishita Biswas, Mohtada Sadrzadeh, Aloke Kumar; Impact of bacterial streamers on biofouling of microfluidic filtration systems. Biomicrofluidics 1 July 2018; 12 (4): 044116. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5025359
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