The effect of transmembrane pressure on the membrane fouling is shown in Fig. 3(c). The highest S/N ratio was determined
at 12 bar and S/N ratio decreased with increasing transmembrane pressure. So,higher flux decline was occurred at 36 bar. Generally, the increase in applied transmembrane pressure leads to an
increase in both the initial and final flux values based on Darcy’slaw.
However, an increase in applied transmembrane pressure could
also attribute to membrane fouling that results from concentration polarization. As the transmembrane pressure increases,more
pollutants accumulateon the membrane surface. The pollutants
can be formed at the gel layer at higher transmembrane pressures.
This layer results in an increase in the osmotic pressure,causing
increasing flux decline by the reduction of driving force