Control of organic fouling at two seawater reverse osmosis plants

Organic fouling of seawater Reverse Osmosis (RC) membranes is a phenomenon not well understood; it can result in a loss of membrane productivity and salt rejection properties. Two seawater RO plants using DuPont B-10 hollow fiber permeators had experienced organic fouling and were studied.The two plants used different sources of feedwater; one RO plant at Culebra, Puerto Rico, used open seawater; while the other RO plant at Grand Cayman Island, British West Indies, used a sea well. Both feed water sources possessed high concentrations of soluble organics (40–80mg/1) which were mainly humic acids. In an attempt to remove these organics with in-line cationic polyelectrolyte coagulation, the plants experienced organic fouling which caused excessive loss of productivity and salt rejection; both plants initially failed their acceptance tests.It was discovered that the fouling was actually caused by interactions between the humic acids and in-line cationic, polyelectrolyte coagulants which were not removed by in-dedth and cartridge filtration. Rather than remove the humic acid material, acid addition was initiated and in-line cationic coagulants use discontinued to keep the humic acids soluble. It should be noted that with the open seawater intake ferrous sulfate was still used to remove colloidal material and reduce the SDI. Both plants subsequently have passed their 720-hour acceptance test.Culebra and Grand Cayman plants have now exceeded design specification for both productivity and salt rejection. The aramid hollow fiber permeators on acidified feed have shown 100% rejection of these organics at both 25% and 50% conversion and organic fouling has not been evident.     

A comparative study for boron removal from seawater by two types of polyamide thin film composite SWRO membranes

In this paper, field performance of a small-scale seawater reverse osmosis unit installed in Urla Bay-Izmir, Turkey was analyzed and presented. The design of SWRO system in Urla consists of two types of FilmTec polyamide thin film composite spiral wound seawater reverse osmosis membranes (high rejection FILMTEC XUS SW30XHR-2540 RO membrane and FILMTEC SW30-2540 RO membrane) which could be operated in parallel. To make a comparative study between two types of membranes regarding their desalination performances and boron rejections, each membrane was operated individually for each set of experiments. This comparison was made via investigation of the effects of feed seawater temperature (10–16 °C), operating pressure (55, 60 and 62 bar), and pH adjustment on the feed side (pH 7.0–7.5).     

A comparison of silver‐ and copper‐charged polypropylene feed spacers for biofouling control

Implementation of nanofiltration (NF) and reverse osmosis (RO) processes in treating traditional water sources can provide a steady‐state level of removal that eliminates the need for regeneration of ion exchange resins or granular activated carbon. Moreover, RO can help meet future potable water demands through desalination of seawater and brackish waters. The productivity of membrane filtration is severely lowered by fouling, which is caused by the accumulation of foreign substances on the surface and/or within pores of membranes. Microbial fouling, or biofouling, is the growth of microorganisms on the membrane surface and on the feed spacer as present between the envelopes. The fouling of membranes has demanded and continues to demand considerable attention from industry and research communities. Many of these applications use membranes in a spiral wound configuration that contains a feed spacer. The goal of this project was to develop low‐biofouling polypropylene (PP) spacers through the functionalization of PP by a spacer arm with metal chelating ligands charged with biocidal metal ions, investigate the use of this metal‐charged polypropylene (PP) feed spacers that target biofouling control, and to use some traditional and one novel techniques to autopsy the membranes after filtration to gain a better understanding of the biofouling mechanism and how the modified spacers are affecting it. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci., 2013     

Pre-treatment strategies for seawater desalination by reverse osmosis system

A good quality pre-treatment process is instrumental to the successful operation of a seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) plant. The compounds that are susceptible to foul the reverse osmosis (RO) membranes are inorganic suspended solids, sand, oil, clays, bacteria, and dissolved organic matters. In order to prevent the fouling, a pre-treatment of the raw water needs to be conducted. The pre-treatment technologies to prevent membrane fouling and to extend the lifetime of the RO membrane are commonly grouped into two categories, conventional and non-conventional. Both of these treatments are currently applied in SWRO plants in the world. The pre-treatment system applied is highly site specific and depending on the type of the feed water. This paper reviews the recent representative researches that are related to SWRO antifouling strategies and answers the most crucial questions about design and operating parameters of SWRO and its pre-treatment process. Also the economic evaluation of the SWRO system in regards to antifouling strategies' experience is discussed.     

New chlorine‐resistant polyamide reverse osmosis membrane with hollow fiber configuration

New asymmetric hollow fiber reverse osmosis (RO) membrane was developed from a new chlorine‐resistant copolyamide [4T‐PIP(30)] with a piperazine moiety by a conventional phase‐separation method. The new 4T‐PIP(30) hollow fiber membrane has the same low‐pressure RO performance as cellulose triacetate hollow fiber membrane (FR = 205 L/m² day, Rj = 99.6%) and superior chlorine resistance as well as pH resistance to conventional aramid RO membranes. Structural analysis and viscoelastic study revealed that the new hollow fiber consisted of a top skin, dense layer, and microporous layer, and that it began to decrease its elasticity at 80°C in water, which is possibly related to its good and stable RO performance around room temperature. Several kinds of RO modules were made from the new hollow fiber membranes, for which RO performances were stable for 2 years in chlorinated feed water desalination (the free residual chlorine ranged from 0.l to 1.1 mg/L). © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 79: 517–527, 2001     

Field testing and economic evaluation of RO seawater technology

An experimental RO seawater system has been in operation for two years at Eilat on the Red-Sea shore. Simplified seawater pretreatment, comprising only sand filtration and acid dosing was applied. Hollow fiber and spiral wound membranes were tested. Evaluation of pretreatment effectiveness and comparative membrane performances are reported. Investment and water cost analysis of a 4,000 m³/day RO seawater desalting system under various operating conditions is given. The analysis is based on the results of experimental site operation, current technology development and updated industrial quotations. The resulting water production cost from a one-stage system, adequate to produce desalted water acceptable for local drinking water standards, is approximately $ 1.1/m³.     

Osmotic power production from seawater brine by hollow fiber membrane modules: Net power output and optimum operating conditions

This study analyzes the net energy output and optimum operating conditions for osmotic power generation from seawater brine based on the currently available hollow fiber membranes in the module scale. Factors that are influential on membrane performances, such as external concentration polarization, internal concentration polarization, salt reverse diffusion, and dilution have been taken into account. Net power density is defined and applied to characterize the efficiency of the PRO system, in terms of power production minus pumping energy, pretreatment cost and energy consumption by pressure drop in the membranes. When using 1 M NaCl as the draw solution and 10 mM NaCl as the feed, it is found that up to 7 W m^?2 net power density can be harvested by the PRO system depending on the water sources. Coupling with the existing RO plant is highly beneficial in terms of readily available high pressure source, high salinity and less or negligible pretreatment costs for the draw solution. Sources with higher salt concentrations are preferred. The optimum hydraulic pressure, module length, flow rate to membrane area ratio and feed to draw flow rate ratio have also been analyzed to maximize the net power output. In addition, implications on hollow fiber development are discussed. Fibers with high water permeability, lower structural parameter, good mechanical stability, better fouling resistance, and outer‐selective configurations are recommended for further studies. © 2015 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 62: 1216–1225, 2016     

Surface characterization and performance evaluation of commercial fouling resistant low-pressure RO membranes

This paper describes the characterization and evaluation of various RO/NF membranes for the treatment of seasonally brackish surface water with high organic contents (TOC ≈21 mg/L). Twenty commercially available RO and NF membranes were initially evaluated by performing controlled bench-scale flat-sheet tests and surface characterization. Based on the results, four low pressure RO membranes were selected for use in the pilot study. The surface characterization revealed that each of four selected membranes had unique surface characteristics to minimize membrane fouling. Specifically, the LFC1 membrane featured a neutral or low negative surface to minimize electrostatic interactions with charged foulants. The X20 showed a highly negatively charged surface, and thus, was expected to perform well with feed waters containing negatively charged organics and colloids. The BW30FR1 exhibited a relatively neutral and hydrophilic surface, which could be beneficial for lessening organic and/or biofouling. The SG membrane had a smooth surface that made it quite resistant to fouling, particularly for colloidal deposition. In the large-scale pilot study using single element, all of the four membranes experienced a gradual increase in specific flux over time, indicating no fouling occurred during the pilot study. The deterioration of permeate water quality such as TDS was also observed over time, suggesting that the integrity of the membranes might be compromised by the monochloramine used for biofouling control.     

Effect of Cross-flow Velocity on the Critical Flux of Ceramic Membrane Filtration as a Pre-treatment for Seawater Desalination

Pre-treatment, which supplies a stable, high-quality feed for reverse osmosis (RO) membranes, is a critical step for successful operation in a seawater reverse osmosis plant. In this study, ceramic membrane systems were employed as pre-treatment for seawater desalination. A laboratory experiment was performed to investigate the effect of the cross-flow velocity on the critical flux and consequently to optimize the permeate flux. Then a pilot test was performed to investigate the long-term performance. The result shows that there is no significant effect of the cross-flow velocity on the critical flux when the cross-flow velocity varies in laminar flow region only or in turbulent flow region only, but the effect is distinct when the cross-flow velocity varies in the transition region. The membrane fouling is slight at the permeate flux of 150 L穖^-2穐^-1 and the system is stable, producing a high-quality feed (the turbidity and silt density index are less than 0.1 NTU and 3.0, respectively) for RO to run for 2922.4 h without chemical cleaning. Thus the ceramic membranes are suitable to filtrate seawater as the pre-treatment for RO.     

Nanofiltration and reverse osmosis thin film composite membrane module for the removal of dye and salts from the simulated mixtures

Nanofiltration (NF) and reverse osmosis (RO) thin film composite polyamide membrane modules were used to remove the color from the contaminated solution mixture. The feasibility of membrane processes for treating simulated mixture by varying the feed pressures (100-400 psi) and feed concentrations was studied to assess the separation performance of both NF and RO membranes. It was found that the efficiency of NF and RO membranes used in the treatment of colored water effluents was greatly affected by the presence of salts and dyes in the mixture. Color removal by NF with a high rejection of 99.80% and total dissolved solids (TDS) of 99.99% was achieved from RO by retaining significant flux rate compared to pure water flux, which suggested that membranes were not affected by fouling during the simulated wastewater process operation. The effect of varying concentrations of Na₂SO₄ salt and methyl orange (MO) dye on the performance of spiral wound membranes was determined. Increasing the dye concentration from 500 to 1000 mg/L resulted in a decrease of salt rejection at all operating pressures and for both concentrations of 5000 and 10,000 mg/L as the feed TDS. Increasing the salt concentration from 5000 to 10,000 mg/L resulted in a slight decrease in dye removal.     

Using SDI,SDI+ and MFI to evaluate fouling in a UF/RO desalination pilot plant

This paper assesses the performance of a UF/RO demonstration plant located in the Oosterschelde estuary in the south-western part of the Netherlands. Spring blooms in the seawater pose a challenge to the plant because of the resulting increased fouling potential of the water. Determinations of the fouling indices SDI, SDI⁺ and MFI0.45 were carried out at the plant with different operational conditions, such as of coagulant addition and pH correction. Eight different membranes were used in the tests. In general, the UF performance was found to be good as the SDI values were around 1, provided standard membranes were used, and the MFI0.45 values lower than 1 s/L². The MFI0.45 showed the same tendency as the SDI in most cases. As expected, whereas the SDI showed marked sensitivity to used membrane type and operational conditions, the SDI⁺ did not display this dependency and hence appear to be a more reliable fouling index than the SDI. Storing the RO feed overnight in the feed tank increased the fouling potential of the RO feed, likely caused by continued coagulation.     

玄武岩纤维在高技术纤维中的定位与研发方向

简述了玄武岩纤维(BF)的发展历程,并与主要高性能纤维和玻璃纤维的综合性能对比,明确了BF的基本特性和定位,同时通过对比这些纤维的性能/价格比,进一步明确了BF的市场定位及未来的研发方向.此外,介绍了乌克兰和捷克两大学共同研发的超细玄武岩纤维(SFBF)的制备技术、工艺流程及其复合材料应用领域等.最后,提出我国今后研发...     

海水淡化中空纤维反渗透膜需求量倍增

简述了海水淡化中空纤维反渗透(RO)膜的发展历程,并重点介绍国内外以三醋酸纤维素为代表的中空纤维膜发展情况、膜元件的结构特点和技术水平,以及它与卷式RO膜的竞争和市场增长情况.同时简要介绍海水淡化前处理用的中空纤维超滤(UF)和微滤(MF)膜的发展概况.     

An experimental assessment of centrifugal membrane separation using spiral wound RO membrane elements

The influence of the rotating environment created in a centrifugal membrane separation (CMS) system on the performance of commercial spiral wound RO membrane elements has been examined. In CMS the membrane elements are located at the periphery of a centrifuge rotor. The spinning action develops the process pressure and alters the fluid flow pattern within the element due to Coriolis and centripetal acceleration. CMS has been shown to improve performance of a small-scale plate and frame element by reducing concentration polarization and fouling. The current study probes the benefits of spinning commercial spiral wound RO membrane elements in a radial orientation. Mechanical element stability at over 3000 `g' has been demonstrated as well as concentration polarization reduction and fouling alleviation. Results also indicate that rotation induced secondary flows are more effective in reducing concentration polarization than increasing cross-flow velocities for the non-rotating condition.     

Grey water treatment and simultaneous surfactant recovery using UF and RO process

The membrane-based grey water treatment for grey water reuse and surfactant recovery is presented in this research paper. Grey water from washing machine discharges having turbidity and used surfactant was processed through the polymeric ultrafiltration (UF) membrane to remove the turbidity. The UF treated grey water is further purified by reverse osmosis (RO) membrane for surfactant recovery and water reuse. The surfactant trapped inside the RO spiral wound membrane module is recovered through various membrane physical regeneration techniques such as backwashing, simultaneous backwash–back-flush and ozone back-flush. Among this, backwash–back-flush is found to be effective process for surfactant recovery. The methodology for optimising surfactant recovery is captured by studying effect of various operating parameters such as feed detergent concentration, backwash pressure, backwash temperature and back-flush flow rate. By implementing optimal process conditions, the integrated UF and RO membrane process is able to produce 300 L of reusable pure water and 80 L of concentrated detergent solution and 20 L of turbid water while treating 400 L of grey water discharges. Maximum surfactant recovery of 82% is obtained while treating grey water which consists of 720 ppm of total dissolved solids (detergent) and 45 ppm of surfactant. The extent of UF and RO membrane fouling is determined by measuring the pure water flux before and after the grey water treatment. The membrane performance is found to be stable when membrane is regenerated by backwash–back-flush technique for RO and gravity backwash for UF membrane.     

Elimination of biological fouling in seawater reverse osmosis desalination plants

The main trouble in the RO method of seawater desalination is biological fouling (bio-fouling) from microorganism growth. In this work, the growth rate of microorganisms in the Red Sea and sterilization by chlorine injection were measured and quantified. Furthermore, actual demonstration of RO pilot tests using cellulose tri-acetate (CTA) RO membranes with chlorine resistance was performed in RO plants where bio-fouling actually occurred. By carrying out direct chlorine sterilization of the RO membrane with an intermittent chlorine injection method, bio-fouling was eliminated. The combination of the CTA membrane and chlorine injection successfully prevented increases of differential pressure and stabilized product water quantity and quality.     

Application of Vibratory System to Improve the Critical Flux in Submerged Hollow Fiber MF Process

Submerged hollow fiber membrane system is widely used in water and wastewater treatment plants. One of the major problems of the microfiltration/ultrafiltration (MF/UF) process is membrane fouling. Few techniques have been developed to reduce membrane fouling and increase critical flux of the filtration process. In this study, membrane vibration was applied to improve the critical flux in a submerged hollow fiber MF system. A bench scale unit was especially built for this purpose and different vibrating speed was tested. The effect of the feed concentration and vibrating speed on the critical flux measurement were investigated. The critical flux was measured at different vibrating speeds varied from 0–500 oscillation per minute (opm) (5.83 Hz). The lowest critical flux was 15 L·m^?2·h^?1 when no membrane vibration was used and then increased gradually from 27 to 56 L·m^?2·h^?1 when the vibrating speed increased from 100 to 500 opm (8.35 Hz). A sharp drop in the critical flux was noticed when the concentration of feed suspension doubled from 5 g/L to 10 g/L. However, the increase in the critical flux was insignificant at higher feed concentration even when a high membrane vibrating speed was applied. This signifies that there is a limit for flux improvement in a vibratory system which is strongly dependent on the feed concentration.     

Flow Parameter Profiles in the Crossflow of a Two-Component Fluid through Semipermeable Membranes

Abstract

The analytical solution for spiral-wound module performance is a useful tool for developing explicit equations for the local values of variables like effective pressure, water flux, salt wall concentration, and velocities for seawater feed solutions. Depending on the operating conditions, knowledge of the local values of these variables could be useful to predict possible areas on the membrane surface where scale formation or fouling is likely to occur. Reasonable values for all variables have been found by using the developed equations at any point in the permeate and the feed side of the membrane. Although the method has been applied for spiral wound reverse osmosis membranes, it is believed that the same method could be used in similar hydrodynamic situations where flow through porous media is taking place.     

Processing of composite industrial effluent by reverse osmosis

Reverse osmosis (RO) is a well‐established process for water desalination and effluent treatment and it is anticipated that its application could be extended to complex mixtures of industrial effluents. Pilot‐scale experiments using a spiral‐wound thin‐film composite (TFC) polyamide membrane were carried out to investigate the potential of RO for processing a composite effluent, which was a mixture of various wastewaters from bulk drug and pharmaceutical factories. Separation performance was evaluated at various feed pressures (0–70 bar) and feed concentrations (2–30 gdm^?3), and was found to improve with increasing pressure. High rejection of dissolved solids (～98%), COD, BOD and almost complete removal of color were achieved with reasonable flux rates and water recovery. The effect of concentration polarization and fouling on flux and rejection rates as functions of time was evaluated. An approximate cost estimate for an aerobic process vis‐à‐vis a RO membrane process for treatment of the composite effluent is presented. Copyright © 2003 Society of Chemical Industry     

Study of reverse osmosis membranes fouling by inorganic salts and colloidal particles during seawater desalination

Fouling phenomenon is considered among the major reasons that cause significant increase of operating cost of desalination plants equipped with reverse osmosis (RO) membranes. This phenomenon is studied in the present work in the case of RO polyamide aromatic membranes using model seawater containing inorganic salts and colloidal compounds. Different solubility conditions of CaCO₃ and CaSO₄ were applied to study RO performances with and without colloid presence. During experiments, the membrane permeate fluxes were continuously monitored. Moreover, studies of chemical composition, structure, and morphology of the materials deposited on the membrane surface were conducted using energy dispersive microanalysis (EDS) X-ray diffraction and scanning electronic microscopy (SEM). Results show that in conditions of calcium carbonate oversaturation there is a reduction in the permeate flow of 11.2% due to fouling of the membrane by the precipitation of this compound. While in the same conditions of calcium sulphate oversaturation the reduction of the flow is 5%, so we can conclude that in conditions of oversaturation of both salts, calcium carbonate produces a greater fouling of the membrane that in its view causes greater decrease in the flow of permeate. All this based on the results of the test with both salts in oversaturated conditions. Resulting in the formation of calcite and gypsum crystals onto the membranes as XRD analyses stated. Additional presence of colloidal silica in those conditions intensifies strongly the fouling, leading until to 24.1% of permeate flux decrease.