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After laboratory tests on the filtering capacity of the polyurethane foam material are concluded, the following areas of research will be explored:
Head Loss Calculation
The amount of headloss that occurs with the build up of particles in the foam will determine how often the filter will require cleaning, and the additional height required for the walls of the filtration unit to accomodate this additional head loss. It is therefore important to measure the change in headloss over the running time of the filter.
Aluminum Hydroxide Wash
Research has shown that the foam material has a fairly long ripening time. In order to reduce this ripening time, it may be useful to prime the filter with an aluminum hydroxide rinse after cleaning. This may reduce the time delay in the filter becoming coated with enough alum to achieve the desired filtration performance. In this test, we will need to determine whether the aluminum hydroxide will result in excess aluminum being washed into the effluent water from the filter. It will then be necessary to determine a washing and foam reinstallation method to reduce this effect.
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