Background: Membrane fouling is one of the major concerns associated with membrane processes. Methods: A novel dome-shaped composite membrane using 3D printing technology and a flat membrane were fabricated. In addition to investigating the characteristics of the membranes, their fouling behavior was evaluated using the wastewater of automotive hoses washing and also sodium alginate (SA) in three different concentrations of 300, 500, and 700 ppm. Also, the membranes’ chemical cleaning was investigated using sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and sodium hypochlorite (NaClO). Significant findings: Fouling results at 700 ppm concentration of SA solution, which was the highest concentration in this study, revealed that the total fouling ratio (Rt) in the 1st cycle was obtained 26 % for the 3D composite membrane, while that for the flat membrane was calculated 53 %. The cleaning efficiencies for SDS and NaClO in the case of the flat membrane were nearly 89 %, while these values for the 3D composite membrane were almost equal to 100 %.

Keywords