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 pilot study for reclamation of a combined rinse from a nickel-plating operation using a dual-membrane UF/RO process

A pilot study for reclamation of a combined rinse from a nickel-plating operation was conducted using a dual-membrane UF/RO process. The pilot plant has a product capacity of 1.5 m³/h. The OF unit, as a pre-treatment, was operated at 90% water recovery. The RO unit was operated with a 2:1 configuration in a feed-and-bleed mode with recirculation. Trial runs on various operating pressures and water recoveries were conducted and effect of feed pH on RO permeate quality was studied. Finding a critical pH value was explored to design the feed pH for RO process to treat this particular wastewater. A long-term run for the RO unit with an optimized 75% water recovery was later carried out to study the stability of the product and the fouling tendency of membranes. The cleaning-in-place methods were investigated for both OF and RO units. The pilot plant had successfully operated for 6 months at the time of reporting, consistently producing a high-quality product water (<95 μS/cm) at an overall water recovery of 67.5%. The quality of reclaimed water was better than town water used at the factory. The product water from the pilot plant was used as a substitute for town water for in-process rinsing at the factory with no detrimental effects for 3 months. The study has successfully developed a process for recycling a combined rinse water with conductivity up to 1700 μS/cm. The design data for a full-scale plant were obtained. An economic evaluation shows that a payback within 32 months is feasible at a treatment capacity of 20 m³/h.     

Boron removal from seawater using high rejection SWRO membranes — impact of pH, feed concentration, pressure, and cross-flow velocity

The main objective of this work was to investigate boron removal from seawater using two commercial high rejection SWRO membranes. The impact of solution pH, feed concentration, pressure, and cross-flow velocity on boron rejection and permeate flux was determined. The membranes used were the Toray™ UTC-80-AB and Filmtec™ SW30HR. A lab-scale cross-flow flat-sheet configuration test unit was used for all RO experiments. Seawater sample was collected from the Mediterranean Sea, Alanya-Kızılot shores, south Turkey. For all experiments, mass balances were between 91% and 107%, suggesting relatively low loss of boron on membrane surfaces during 14 h of operation. Operation modes did not have any impact on boron rejection, indicating that boron rejection were independent of feedwater boron concentrations up to 6.6 mg/L. For both membranes, much higher boron rejection were obtained at pH of 10.5 (>98%) than those at original seawater pH of 8.2 (about 85–90%). Permeate boron concentrations less than 0.1 mg/L were easily achieved at pH 10.5 by both membranes. The dissociated boron species are dominant at this pH, thus both electrostatic repulsion and size exclusion mechanisms are responsible for the higher boron rejection. The rejection of salts in seawater did not correlate with boron rejection at constant conditions. For each membrane type, permeate fluxes at constant pressure were generally lower at pH of 10.5, which may be partially explained by membrane fouling and enhanced scale formation by Mg and Ca compounds from concentration polarization effect at higher pH values. While somewhat higher boron rejection was found for one membrane type as the pressure was increased from 600 to 800 psi, increasing pressure did not affect boron rejection for the other membrane. Feed flowrate thus the cross-flow velocity (0.5–1.0 m/s) did not exert any significant impact on boron rejection at constant conditions.     

Boron removal from saline water: A comprehensive review

Boron is an essential micronutrient for plants and animals as well as a useful component for numerous industries. It is necessary to produce low boron containing water from RO desalination plants for both human consumption and for agriculture. For plants, a small amount of boron is necessary for their growth and development, but boron becomes toxic if the amount is slightly greater than required. Desalinated seawater from RO plants often contains high boron content and, when used for irrigation, has been proven to be damaging to crops including blackberry, lemon, and grapefruit. Apart from the toxic effects of boron on plants, boron should be removed from RO desalination plants to comply with the current guideline value, 0.5 mg/L, for potable water issued by the World Health Organisation (WHO). Currently there is no simple method to remove boron from saline water. The use of multi-pass reverse osmosis membrane (RO) with pH modification and the use of ion exchange using boron selective resins (BSRs) have both been considered as effective methods for the removal of boron. A hybrid process, Adsorption Membrane Filtration (AMF), has received attention as an emerging technology for boron removal with a high efficiency and low operating costs. The purpose of this review is to give an overview on boron in general and to discuss its toxicity. The problems of boron in the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region are discussed as well as technologies, current and future, for the removal of boron from seawater. The focus is placed on current RO and ion exchange methodologies using BSRs as well as the future for the AMF method. The fundamentals of each process, the effects of experimental parameters, and findings are discussed.     

Pretreatment of well water with high level of iron before RO plant

Two methods of pretreatment of well water for reverse osmosis plant operating at the one of the Ukrainian breweries are considered. A new technology of pretreatment of well water with high level of iron has been suggested instead of traditional one based on oxidation of iron followed by filtration through quartz sand and active carbon. The new technology is based on keeping iron in the bivalent state followed by adsorption on carboxylic cationite.The well water pretreatment plant based on suggested technology with capacity of 160 m³/h has been operated since November 2006. It is shown that application of the new technology causes both simplifying of technology and lowering of operational expenses by 35% and capital expenses by 40% in comparison with traditional one. Such results were achieved due to higher flow rates of filtration and improvement of pretreated water quality which causes cutback of consumption of chemicals for RO elements cleaning.     

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.     

A new methodology for removal of boron from water by coal and fly ash

High levels of boron concentrations in water present a serious problem for domestic and agriculture utilizations.The recent EU drinking water directive defines an upper limit of 1 mgB/l. In addition, most crops are sensitive to boron levels >0.75 mg/1 in irrigation water. The boron problem is magnified by the partial (∼60%) removal of boron in reverse osmosis (RO) desalination due to the poor ionization of boric acid and the accumulation of boron in domestic sewage effluents. Moreover, high levels of boron are found in regional groundwater in some Mediterranean countries, which requires special treatment in order to meet the EU drinking water regulations. Previous attempts to remove boron employed boron-specific ion-exchange resin and several cycles of RO desalination under high pH conditions. Here, we present an alternative methodology for boron removal by using coal and fly ash as adsorbents. We conducted various column and batch experiments that explored the efficiency of boron removal from seawater and desalinated seawater using several types of coal and fly ash materials under controlled conditions (pH, liquid/solid ratio, time of reaction, pre-treatment, regeneration). We examined the effect of these factors on the boron removal capacity and the overall chemical composition of the residual seawater. The results show that the selected coal and fly ash materials are very effective in removing boron such that the rejection ratio of boron can reach 95% of the initial boron content under certain optimal conditions (e.g., pH = 9, L/S = , reaction time > 6 h). Our experiments demonstrated that use of glycerin enables regeneration of boron uptake into coal, but the boron uptake capacity of fly ash reduces after several cycles of treatment-reaction. The boron removal is associated with Mg depletion and Ca enrichment in the residual seawater and conversely with relative Mg enrichment and Ca depletion in the residual fly ash We propose that the reaction of Ca-rich fly ash with Mg-rich seawater causes co-precipitation of magnesium hydroxide in which boron is co-precipitated. The new methodology might provide an alternative technique for boron removal in areas where coal and fly ash are abundant.     

The feasibility of boron removal from water by capacitive deionization

We report on the possibility of removing boron (in the form of boric acid) from water by electrochemical means. We explore capacitive de-ionization (CDI) processes in which local changes in pH near the surface of high-surface-area activated carbon fiber (ACF) electrodes during charging are utilized, in order to dissociate boric acid into borate ions which can be electro-adsorbed onto the positive electrode in the CDI cells. For this purpose, a special flow-through CDI cell was constructed in which the feed solution flows through the electrodes. Local pH changes near the carbon electrode surface were investigated using a MgCl₂ solution probe in three- (with reference) and two-electrode cells, and described qualitatively. We show that, to a certain extent, boron can indeed be removed from water by CDI.     

A case study of long-term RO plant operation without chemical pretreatment

Described herein is a case study of long-term reverse osmosis (RO) plant operation without applying chemical pretreatments to the feed water. This project was undertaken with the financial support from the Department of Bio-Technology, New Delhi, and the work was carried out by a research team from Central Salt and Marine Chemicals Research Institute (CSMCRI), Bhavnagar (Gujarat), India. A prototype plant with a 30,000 L/d capacity was designed, manufactured, installed and operated at the village of Mocha-Gorsar, located in the Porbandar district, to provide drinking water. The village was to be developed as a model Bio-Village where other projects related to village problems are also operated by other research institutes. Thin-film composite (TFC) membrane-based RO technology was indigenously developed by the institute for treatment of brackish water and waste water for the first time in India; it was used successfully in this plant, which gave a typical NaCl rejection of about 95%. This is a typical case study of RO plant installation where physical methods of pretreatment such as sand and micron cartridge filters were used; no chemical pretreatment of feed was employed for long-term brackish water desalination study. The idea was to avoid the usage of chemicals, which concentrate in the effluent water, might affect the environment and may not suit the village community. Plant performance during 24 months of continuous operation with respect to variable feed salinity, membrane cleaning and regenerations is discussed.     

反渗透膜脱硼技术研究进展

硼是生命体中必不可少的微量元素,但是摄入过量的硼会危害动植物的生长发育。在现有脱硼技术中,反渗透膜脱硼被认为最具应用前景,但受硼酸分子的分子直径小和不带电荷等影响,反渗透膜对硼的脱除仍不能满足实际要求,因此制备高脱硼反渗透膜具有重要意义。本文综述了近年来反渗透膜脱硼技术的研究进展,重点阐述了提高反渗透膜脱硼率的机制,主要思路包括优化反渗透膜结构和利用硼酸特殊性质;改善反渗透膜脱硼性能的有效途径包括开发新型膜材料,优化界面聚合工艺和物理化学法改性等;制备高脱硼反渗透膜的主要障碍是水硼传输的trade-off现象和缺少针对水和硼传输的模型。另外,硼酸分子具有独特的物理化学性质,可以借助硼酸分子研究聚酰胺反渗透膜的网络结构、水硼在膜内的传输机制和引起trade-off现象的因素。     

反渗透法去除煤矿矿井水氟化物的试验研究

为了确保煤矿矿井水出水氟化物质量浓度达到《GB 3838-2002地表水环境质量标准》Ⅲ类标准要求,采用RO反渗透法净化矿井水,研究了矿井水pH、盐质量浓度、系统压力及进水温度等主要因素对除氟性能的影响;结果表明:随着矿井水pH增大、矿井水盐质量浓度增大、系统压力增大、进水温度升高,除氟率均逐渐降低;为确保出水氟化物质量浓度小于1 mg/L,需将矿井水进水pH调至小于8,进水盐质量浓度调至小于5 g/L,反渗透系统压力控制在1.5 MPa以下,进水水温控制在60℃以下。     

水中硼的去除方法研究进展

硼广泛应用于现代工业的各个领域,随之而来的含硼废水也开始引起人们的关注。苦咸水和海水由于硼含量较高,作为饮用水或灌溉水之前必须进行除硼处理。水中硼的去除方法逐渐成为人们关注和研究的热点之一。概述了硼的相关环境标准及水中硼的去除方法,分析了各种方法的优缺点,探讨了除硼方法的发展趋势。     

Performances of RO and NF processes for wastewater reuse: Tertiary treatment after a conventional activated sludge or a membrane bioreactor

Wastewater reclamation requires processes and technologies having the ability to reduce the presence of micropollutants which are not wholly treated in conventional WWTP. Due to the complexity of membrane-solute interactions and the diversity of secondary treatment effluent (STE) matrices, deeper investigations are required to identify the major foulant species and more specifically their behaviour at high concentration in real waters. This study investigates the rejection and fouling potential of nanofiltration (NF) and low-pressure reverse osmosis (RO) membranes with two STEs sampled from i) a conventional activated sludge process coupled with ultrafiltration (CAS-UF) and from ii) a membrane bioreactor MBR (AquaRM^®, SAUR (France)). Whatever the origin of the effluent, RO seems to be the best solution to prevent pollution of tertiary effluents (expected result) but also to obtain low fouling levels. The different composition and molecular weight distribution of MBR and CAS-UF effluents can explain the different fouling behaviours that were observed.     

The use of RO to remove emerging micropollutants following CAS/UF or MBR treatment of municipal wastewater

The removal of various organic micropollutants (OMPs), including six antibiotics (ERY, ROX, CLA, SMX, SMZ, and TMP), three pharmaceuticals (ibuprofen, salicylic acid, and diclofenac), one industrial product (BPA), and one hormone (cholesterol), was investigated in two pilot plants treating the same raw sewage of the Tel-Aviv WWTP. The effluent production by CAS-UF was 45 m³/h while that of MBR was 40 L/h. Each system's effluent constituted the feed for its RO, which comprised three RO steps after the CAS/UF and a semi-batch RO system after the MBR. Despite significant molecular differences between the selected OMPs, high removal rates were achieved after the RO stage (> 99% for macrolides, pharmaceuticals, cholesterol, and BPA, 95% for diclofenac, and > 93% removal of sulfonamides). However, low antibiotics concentrations and 28–223 ng/L residuals of ibuprofen, diclofenac, salicylic acid, cholesterol, and BPA in the MBR/RO and CAS-UF/RO permeates showed that although RO is an efficient removal solution, it cannot serve as an absolute barrier to OMPs. Therefore, additional treatment techniques should be considered to be incorporated aside the RO to ensure complete removal of such substances.     

An empirical model for kinetics of boron removal from boroncontaining wastewaters by the electrocoagulation method in a batch reactor

Boron removal from boron containing wastewaters prepared synthetically via the electrocoagulation method was studied. The experiments in which aluminum plate electrode was used were carried out in a batch reactor. The solution pH, initial boron concentration, current density, type of supporting electrolyte, temperature of solution and stirring speed were selected as experimental parameters. The obtained experimental results showed that efficiency of boron removal increased with increasing current density and decreased with increasing boron concentration in the solution. Supporting electrolyte had not significant effects on the percent of total boron removal. pH was very important parameter effecting boron removal and optimum pH was determined to be 8.0. This pH value reached an agreement with activity-pH diagrams for Al⁺³ species in equilibrium with Al(OH)₃ and boron species in aqueous media. As a result of increasing interaction between boron ions and dissolved aluminum ions in solution, the increasing solution temperature increased boron removal efficiency. Increasing stirring speed decreased boron removal efficiency where the increasing stirring speed decreased the capability of floc formation of aluminum ions. As a result, it was seen that about 99% of boron in the wastewater could be removed at optimum conditions. In addition, the process kinetics was predicted by using heterogeneous fluid–solid reaction models. It was seen statistically that the kinetics of this process agreed with the pseudo-second-order model as follows: X_B/(l−X_B) = 18,241[OH][C]^−3.45[CD]^7.79[t]^1.41[S]^−3.65exp[−30,668/RT].     

Enhanced boron removal from metallurgical grade silicon by the slag refining method with the addition of tin

An effective boron removal method was developed through a process of combining Si–Sn alloy with slag treatment. Boron content in refined silicon and boron removal fraction by slag containing 5 wt% CaO, 25 wt% SiO₂ and 70 wt% Na₂SiO₃ and was investigated under varied Si–Sn alloy composition, slag/Si–Sn alloy mass ratio and refining time. Boron was effectively removed by adding tin to metallurgical grade silicon. In particular, the boron content in metallurgical grade silicon decreased from 12.92 ppmw to 0.79 ppmw by adding 50 at% tin under a mass ratio of 2:1 (slag:alloy) at 1723 K. The amount of boron removed increased with increasing amount of tin added, mass ratio and refining time.     

Removal of organics from aqueous solutions by commercial RO and NF membranes of characterized porosities

Removal of organic pollutants of petrochemical and agrochemical origin by some commercial reverse osmosis (RO) and nanofiltration (NF) membranes of characterized porosity was investigated. The rejection of organics was shown to depend on both the membrane properties like pore size, membrane material, membrane charge and solute characteristics such as molecule size, charge and polarity. The rejection of the small nonionized organic molecules by the tight pore membranes is influenced by both the sieving parameters (solute and pore size) and by the physicochemical interactions. The rejection of the same pollutants by the wider pore membranes is dominantly influenced by the physicochemical interactions. The rejection of pesticides is prevalently governed by the sieving mechanism based on the size of the solute molecule and the membrane pore size. However, the physicochemical effects cannot be totally neglected, and they can contribute to the rejection of some pesticides by certain membranes.     

An empirical model for kinetics of boron removal from boron-containing wastewaters by ion exchange in a batch reactor

In this study, it was investigated boron removal from boron containing wastewaters prepared synthetically. The experiments in which Amberlite IRA 743, boron specific resin was used was carried out in a batch reactor. The ratio of resin/boron solution, boron concentration, stirring speed and temperature were selected as experimental parameters. The obtained experimental results showed that percent of boron removal increased with increasing ratio of resin/boron solution and with decreasing boron concentration in the solution. Stirring speed and temperature had not significant effects on the percent of total boron removal, but they increased the starting boron removal rate. As a result, it was seen that about 99 % of boron in the wastewater could be removed at optimum conditions. On the other hand, the process kinetics were predicted by using heterogeneous fluid-solid reaction models. It was seen statistically that the kinetics of this process agreed the pseudo- second order model, as follows: X_Bl(1−X_B) = 11,241.5[OH][C]^−1.76[S/L]^2.17exp(−19,57l.2/RT)t^1.24     

Nitrate removal with reverse osmosis in a rural area in South Africa

The nitrate-nitrogen concentration (>6 mg/l) and the salinity (>1000 mg/l TDS) of many borehole waters in rural areas in South Africa are too high for human consumption. Therefore, an urgent need for water denitrification and water desalination exists in these areas. Reverse osmosis (RO), electrodialysis (ED), ion-exchange (IX) and certain biological technologies can be very effectively applied for water denitrification. Each of these technologies, however, has its own advantages and disadvantages. Reverse osmosis technology, however, has been selected for this study because the technology is well known in South Africa and because it can be very effectively applied for water desalination. The objectives of this study were: (a) to transfer RO technology through process demonstration performance for water denitrification and water desalination to people living in rural areas; (b) to build capacity regarding the operation and maintenance of an RO application in a rural area; (c) to produce a preliminary operational and maintenance manual for the operation of an RO unit in a rural environment; (d) to train local operators to operate and maintain an RO plant in a rural environment; (e) to evaluate stock watering as brine disposal option; and (f) to determine the preliminary economics ofthe process. The following conclusions were drawn. It was demonstratedthatthe RO process could be very effectively applied for water denitrification and water desalination in a rural area. Nitrate-nitrogen was reduced from 42.5 mg/l in the RO feed to only 0.9 mg/l in the RO product water. The TDS of the RO feed was reduced from 1292 mg/l to 24 mg/l in the RO permeate. Therefore, an excellent quality water could be produced for potable purposes. The RO brine at approximately 50% water recovery should be suitable for stock watering if the conditions for stock watering are met in terms of nitrate-nitrogen concentration, TDS and other constituent concentrations. The capital cost for an approximately 50 m³/d output RO plant is approximately US $29,900. Preliminary cost estimates have shown that the operational cost for water denitrification is approximately US $0.50/m³. This cost, however, should be significantly reduced by optimisation of the chemical dosing and by blending borehole water with RO product water.     

Viability study of different reverse osmosis membranes for application in the tertiary treatment of wastes from the tanning industry

The tanning industry uses large quantities of water and produces a correspondingly large amount of wastewater with high levels of salts and organic materials. Before these wastewaters can be eliminated, they must be submitted to a suitable depuration treatment. However, conventional treatments such as those used for urban wastewater are not able to reduce the salt content sufficiently and new methods need to be studied in the light of new technologies. In this aspect, membrane technology is increasingly used as a separation technique in chemical and environmental engineering, including desalination, selective separation and wastewater treatment. In this paper, we describe a comparative study of six different reverse osmosis membranes, which were tested for their ability to reduce the salt content in the tertiary treatment after the elimination of chromium salts and organic matter of an effluent from a pilot plant for treating industrial wastewater from the tanning industry to reach the legal levels established for their safe disposal. The membranes were checked using a 3×10⁻³ m² flat cell, where the concentrated streams were recirculated to the feed reservoir.