2. Material and methods
2.1. Membrane module
The custom-made MF module used in this study is shown in Fig. 1. The single tube polypropylene membrane with an effective surface area of 0.012 m2 and pore size of 0.7 μm is wrapped around the support, as seen in the top view of the module (Fig. 1(b)). During filtration, the pressure pushes the membrane toward the support. As filtration progresses, a cake layer builds up (Fig. 1(d)). After filtration, the cake on the membrane surface is removed by backwashing with air and water with a constant pressure of 2.5 kg/cm2, to complete one filtration cycle.