Chlorine disinfection has been reported to be ineffective in controlling RO membrane biofouling in some projects. Feed water temperature is a crucial factor in the formation of RO membrane biofouling. It has a positive impact on the wide application of the RO process to ascertain whether chlorine disinfection can alleviate the membrane biofouling at low temperatures. In this study, the effects of chlorination on the RO membrane biofouling at low feed water temperature (10 °C) were investigated by a lab-scale RO apparatus. The final normalized flux was 0.33 and 0.29 with and without chlorination, respectively. According to the normalized flux decline curve, chlorination could not alleviate the RO membrane fouling at low temperature. Based on the intermediate blocking model, chlorination increased the membrane fouling potential of the feed water. At low temperature, the biofilm on the membrane with chlorination was thinner and denser than that without chlorination. In addition, the membrane with chlorination contained more foulants and dissolved organic matter than that without chlorination. Chlorination failed to continuously prevent bacteria accumulation on RO membrane at low temperature, but screened out bacteria that were potentially more suitable for the low-temperature membrane environment.

据报道，在某些项目中，氯消毒在控制 RO 膜生物污垢方面无效。进水温度是反渗透膜生物污垢形成的关键因素。确定氯消毒能否在低温下缓解膜生物污染，对RO工艺的广泛应用具有积极影响。在本研究中，通过实验室规模的 RO 装置研究了在低进水温度 (10 °C) 下氯化对 RO 膜生物污垢的影响。在氯化和未氯化的情况下，最终归一化通量分别为 0.33 和 0.29。根据归一化通量下降曲线，氯化在低温下不能缓解反渗透膜污染。基于中间阻塞模型，氯化增加了进水的膜污染可能性。在低温下，氯化处理后膜上的生物膜比未氯化处理的生物膜更薄、更致密。此外，经过氯化处理的膜比未经氯化处理的膜含有更多的污垢和溶解的有机物。氯化在低温下未能持续阻止细菌在反渗透膜上的积累，而是筛选出可能更适合低温膜环境的细菌。