High‐Pressure Reverse Osmosis for Industrial Water Recycling: Permeate‐Sided Pressure Drop as Performance‐Limiting Factor

Abstract

In the chemical industry large amounts of saline wastewater occur. Its disposal into rivers is a considerable burden to the ecosystem. To strive for a circular economy and enable a viable raw material recycling, energy-efficient concentration processes are requisite. High-pressure reverse osmosis meets this criterion, but its industrial application demands suitable membrane elements that withstand the exceptional operation conditions and provide sufficient performance. Hence, new requirements regarding the design of spiral-wound elements arise. To identify those, specific performance-limiting effects need a better understanding.

Process simulation and analysis of high‐pressure reverse osmosis (HPRO) in the treatment and utilization of desalination brine (saline wastewater)

“…Kleffner et al 35 investigated the impact of membrane intrusion on permeate-sided pressure drop in the HPRO. In another study, Kleffner et al 36 investigated a 10.16-cm HPRO element at its highest feed pressure of 120 bar for 800 h at 30 C. To date, however, no HPRO process simulation and analysis has been developed in which the feed solution is hyper-saline (brine) (>70 g/L TDS). To this aim, this research article presents for the first time a process simulation and analysis for HPRO in the treatment and utilization of desalination brine.…”