Effect of magnesium/calcium ratio in solutions subjected to electrodialysis: characterization of cation-exchange membrane fouling.

Electrodialysis is based on the migration of charged species through perm-selective membranes under an electric field. Fouling, which is the accumulation of undesired solid materials at the interfaces of these membranes, is one of the major problems of this process. The aim of the present work was to investigate the nature and the morphology of fouling observed at different Mg/Ca ratios (R=0, 1/20, 1/10, 1/5, 2/5) on cation-exchange membranes (CEM) during conventional electrodialysis treatments. It appeared that for R=0, the fouling observed on the surface in contact with the basified concentrate was formed of only Ca(OH)2. As soon as magnesium was introduced into the solution treated, CaCO3 was observed. Furthermore, the X-ray diffraction results also identified the CaCO3 observed as calcite. To our knowledge, this is the first time that the presence of magnesium has been demonstrated to induce a CaCO3 fouling on CEM during electrodialysis.