This paper discusses two methods for predicting filtration characteristics of a given feedwater
with a given membrane in the application of dead-end ultrafiltration. The first method aims to
determine the critical flux for irreversibility; the flux below which fouling built up during
filtration is completely removed by backwashing. The critical flux and filtration behavior in
general, were strongly influenced by the presence of an electrolyte in the solution. The second
method is flow field-flow fractionation (flow FFF) coupled with multi-angle light scattering. The study demonstrates
that flow FFF can be used to determine particle-membrane interactions and particle size
and molar mass distributions of a complex, model solution. The results of flow FFF were used
to explain the filtration results obtained with the critical flux method for the sodium alginate
in the presence and absence of salt. Includes 8 references, figures.