Characterisation of RO fouling in an integrated MBR/RO system for wastewater reuse

Moreno, Jordi; Monclús, Héctor; Stefani, Matteo; Cortada, Eduard; Aumatell, Jordi; Adroer, Núria; Lamo-Castellví, Sílvia de; Comas, Joaquím

doi:10.2166/wst.2012.619

Cited by 14 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…Typically, in wastewater reclamation processes, the recovery levels of RO are 75 to 85% using two or more stages of RO in series (Wetterau et al, 2011). Although promising technologies are available to achieve over 90% of recovery, such as semi-batch RO process or known as closed circuit desalination (CCD) (Septon and Efraty, 2016;Warsinger et al, 2016;Werber et al, 2017), energy-efficient reverse osmosis (EERO) Chong Loo Fane et al, 2015), the practical recovery level is limited by membrane fouling, including inorganic scaling such as calcium phosphate, calcium carbonate and silica, organic fouling and biofouling (Antony et al, 2011;Kent et al, 2011;Moreno et al, 2013;Ridgway et al, 1984;Zhao et al, 2010). Usually antiscalants or disinfecting agents are added to RO feed water to reduce RO fouling, however, some…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The feasibility of nanofiltration membrane bioreactor (NF-MBR)+reverse osmosis (RO) process for water reclamation: Comparison with ultrafiltration membrane bioreactor (UF-MBR)+RO process

et al. 2018

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The feasibility of nanofiltration membrane bioreactor (NF-MBR)+reverse osmosis (RO) process for water reclamation: Comparison with ultrafiltration membrane bioreactor (UF-MBR)+RO process

et al. 2018

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“…a). The results suggest that the constituents of the fouling layer included proteins and polysaccharides . After water rinsing, the bands associated with organic fouling seem to decrease and the partial elimination of fouling permitted the characteristic peaks of the new membrane to appear (1095–1280 cm −1 ).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 92%

Nanofiltration/Reverse Osmosis as Pretreatment Technique for Water Reuse: Ultrafiltration Versus Tertiary Membrane Reactor

Díaz

Cabrera

Vera

et al. 2017

CLEAN Soil Air Water

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The potential for nanofiltration (NF) and reverse osmosis (RO) in secondary effluent reclamation is noteworthy, but both processes require extensive pre‐treatment to prevent membrane fouling and promote system longevity. In this study, performance of direct ultrafiltration (UF) and tertiary membrane bioreactors (tMBRs) as feed pre‐treatments were assessed on a pilot scale. Both technologies achieved high organic matter removal (87 and 93% for UF and tMBR, respectively). Differences in efficiencies were related to suspended biomass in the tMBR, which enhanced degradation of the dissolved organic substances (<5 mg/L) and also stabilized process performance by minimizing residual fouling. Whichever pre‐treatment was applied, RO reached higher rejection coefficients and low fouling levels. Nevertheless, lower normalized flux (12%) was achieved when the UF effluent was fed due to high concentration of organic substances. Membrane autopsies by scanning electron microscopy with dispersive X‐ray and Fourier transform IR spectroscopy revealed that organic fouling appears to be predominant on both NF/RO membranes. The main organic foulants identified were polysaccharides and proteins. Inorganic foulants mainly consisted of calcium, phosphorus, and iron. Complete removal of pharmaceutical active compounds was observed for RO, while NF presented moderate retention coefficients (94, 85, 70, and 27% for atenolol, paraxanthine, caffeine and clofibric acid, respectively).

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“…Soluble microbial products (SMPs) present in MBR permeate are found to be important constituents leading to RO membrane fouling [6]. The presence of inorganic salts in MBR permeate also leads to a reduction in RO permeate flux in MBR-RO systems for real domestic wastewater reuse [7] [8]. Jacob et al (2010) found that MBR effluent containing less concentrated organic matters and conductivity exhibits a lower reduction in RO permeate flux than more concentrated MBR effluent.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reverse Osmosis Performance in MBR-RO Process with Recirculation of RO Concentrate to MBR for Water Reclamation

Deng¹,

Jacob²,

Montaner³

et al. 2020

JWARP

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An integrated membrane system, membrane bioreactor-reverse osmosis (MBR-RO), has become highly efficient in producing high-quality water for municipal wastewater reclamation. However, disposal of a highly concentrated waste stream (RO concentrate or RO retentate) generated in this combination is an important issue. This work investigated RO behaviour in an integrated pilot scale MBR-RO system for municipal wastewater reuse with the continuous recycling of RO retentate to the MBR influent. RO membrane retention and the fouling propensity were studied. RO concentrate, produced by the RO process at a fixed concentration factor (CF) of 3, was recycled continuously to the MBR, leading to water recovery of the entire process around 92%. Osmotic pressure model, saturation index method, high performance liquid chromatography equipped with size exclusion column (HPLC-SEC) and specific filtration test were used to analyse the fouling potential of the RO membrane. The results obtained showed that even though RO concentrate recycling changed remarkably, the compositions of both MBR permeate and RO concentrate, the quality of RO permeate remained almost constant in terms of organic matters, conductivity, and ionic salts. However, these high concentrations of organic or inorganic substances in RO concentrate were major factors leading to the RO membrane fouling. Before RO concentrate recycling, a decline of approximately 30% of the initial RO permeate flux was observed in the period when the CF was increasing to 3, mainly due to the osmotic pressure effect of retained ions and the deposits of organic matters at the RO membrane surface. After RO concentrate addition to the MBR, due to the continuous accumulation of ionic salts on the RO membrane surface, a gradual reduction in RO permeate flux (additional 19%) was also mainly attributed to the osmotic pressure effect of the retained ions. These observations showed that the continuous addition of RO concentrate to the MBR was successful in a combined MBR and RO process in terms of the excellent qual

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Characterisation of RO fouling in an integrated MBR/RO system for wastewater reuse

Cited by 14 publications

References 8 publications

The feasibility of nanofiltration membrane bioreactor (NF-MBR)+reverse osmosis (RO) process for water reclamation: Comparison with ultrafiltration membrane bioreactor (UF-MBR)+RO process

The feasibility of nanofiltration membrane bioreactor (NF-MBR)+reverse osmosis (RO) process for water reclamation: Comparison with ultrafiltration membrane bioreactor (UF-MBR)+RO process

Nanofiltration/Reverse Osmosis as Pretreatment Technique for Water Reuse: Ultrafiltration Versus Tertiary Membrane Reactor

Reverse Osmosis Performance in MBR-RO Process with Recirculation of RO Concentrate to MBR for Water Reclamation

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