Environment and Ecology Research Vol. 14(2), pp. 167 - 172
DOI: 10.13189/eer.2026.140207
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Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate Surfactant on High Flux Osmotic Membrane: Behavior in Flux Decline

Kaiwit Ruengruehan ^1,*, Seoktae Kang ², Sutha Khaodhiar ^1
1 Department of Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Chulalongkorn University, Phayathai Rd., Thailand
² Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Republic of Korea

ABSTRACT

Surfactants, often used in cleaning agents, can cause pollution issues in the ecological system if released into the environment. The membrane process is one of the most widely applied technologies for removing pollutants in water or wastewater. Nowadays, forward osmosis (FO), which has gained increasing interest in membrane technology, has been used as an effective process to separate contaminants from domestic wastewater. There are many advantages of the osmotic process, such as its high performance of pollutant separation, lower energy compared with pressure-driven membranes, and its widespread use in clean water applications. However, the performance decline caused by surfactant molecules has been less investigated. In this study, we focused on the performance and behavior of water flux decline during the FO process under different operating flow conditions. Three operating conditions were applied for the FO experiment conducted in the presence of surfactants in the feed solution: the cross-flow velocity, pH of the feed solution, and the different sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) concentrations in the feed solutions. The results indicated that the diffusion of water molecules increased when higher cross-flow velocities and adjusted pH levels were used in the feed solutions. Moreover, the reduction in performance was not significant when the SDS concentration in the feed solution was increased. The results suggest that the increased hydrodynamics and elevated pH in the feed solution play a dominant role in the FO process.

KEYWORDS
Forward Osmosis, Anionic Surfactant, Surfactant Fouling

Cite This Paper in IEEE or APA Citation Styles
(a). IEEE Format:
[1] Kaiwit Ruengruehan , Seoktae Kang , Sutha Khaodhiar , "Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate Surfactant on High Flux Osmotic Membrane: Behavior in Flux Decline," Environment and Ecology Research, Vol. 14, No. 2, pp. 167 - 172, 2026. DOI: 10.13189/eer.2026.140207.

(b). APA Format:
Kaiwit Ruengruehan , Seoktae Kang , Sutha Khaodhiar (2026). Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate Surfactant on High Flux Osmotic Membrane: Behavior in Flux Decline. Environment and Ecology Research, 14(2), 167 - 172. DOI: 10.13189/eer.2026.140207.