Sodium docusate as a cleaning agent for forward osmosis membranes fouled by landfill leachate wastewater

Membrane cleaning is critical for economic and scientific reasons in wastewater treatment systems. Sodium docusate is a laxative agent and removes cerumen (ear wax). Docusate penetrates the hard ear wax, making it softer and easier to remove. The same concept could be applied to soften and remove fouling layers on the membrane surface. Once softened, the foulants can be easily flushed with water. This innovative approach can address the challenge of developing superior methods to mitigate membrane fouling and material degradation. In this study, we evaluated the efficiency of sodium docusate for cleaning fouled forward osmosis membranes with real landfill leachate wastewater. Experiments were conducted to examine the impact of dose rate, contact time, flow or static conditions, and process configuration (forward osmosis (FO) or pressure retarded osmosis (PRO) upon fouling created by landfill leachate dewatering. A remarkable (99%) flux recovery was achieved using docusate at a small concentration of only 0.1% for 30 min. Furthermore, docusate can also effectively restore flux with static cleaning without using pumps to circulate the cleaning solution. Furthermore, cleaning efficiency can be achieved at neutral pH compatible with most membrane materials. From an economic and energy-saving perspective, static cleaning can almost achieve the same cleaning efficiency as kinetic cleaning for fouled forward osmosis membranes without the expense of additional pumping energy compared to kinetic cleaning. Since pumping energy is a major contributor to the overall energy of the forward osmosis system, it can be minimized to a certain degree by using a static cleaning approach and can bring good energy savings when using larger membrane areas. Studies of the contact angle on the membrane surface indicated that the contact angle was decreased compared to the fouled membrane after cleaning (e.g. 70.3° to 63.2° or FO mode and static cleaning). Scanning Electron Microscopy revealed that the cleaning strategy was successful. Infrared Spectroscopy showed that a small amount of sodium docusate remained on the membrane surface. Docusate is more environmentally friendly than acid or alkaline solutions from an environmental perspective. Furthermore, the cleaning solution can be reused for several cycles without discarding it due to the surfactant properties of docusate.