An operating model for dead-end membrane filtration is proposed based on the well-known blocking laws. The resulting model contains three parameters representing, the operating strategy, the fouling mechanism and the fouling potential of the feed. The optimal control strategy is determined by minimizing the energy consumption for a fixed final time and produced volume. It was found that constant power filtration leads to minimal energy consumption. Constant flux and constant pressure filtration have equal energy costs. However, compared to strategies with a non-decreasing pressure and non-increasing flux, the relative savings are small. Only if the fouling mechanism resembles standard blocking and the fouling resistance is large compared to the membrane resistance, it may be attractive to implement the optimal trajectory. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.