Optimising Membrane Performance - Practical Experiences

Dudley, L.Y.; Pisano, Fernando del Vigo; Fazel, M.

doi:10.1039/9781847551351-00150

Cited by 1 publication

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“…However, the costs that associate with fouling control and membrane cleaning represent a significant proportion in the total operating cost. Studies indicated that scale inhibition and cleaning chemicals account for about 5-20% of the total cost for a typical seawater RO system (11,12) and the pretreatment cost in RO systems in Middle East to range between 10 and 25% of the total cost (13). If membrane fouling is not effectively controlled and the extent of fouling is so severe that membrane cleaning fails to reverse the decline in water production, as in the case of Yuma Desalting Plant in Arizona (14), plant has to be shut down and membrane replacement has to be carried out.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Advanced Membrane Fouling Characterization in Full-Scale Reverse Osmosis Processes

Song

Tay

2010

Membrane and Desalination Technologies

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Fouling alleviation and control in full-scale reverse osmosis (RO) processes can be seriously hindered by ineffective fouling characterization. Fouling characterization is currently done primarily by measuring the silt density index (SDI) of feed water and monitoring the average permeate flux of full-scale RO processes. However, the SDI or related fouling indices have been known not capable to catch all possible foulants to RO membranes, and the average permeate flux may fail to correctly reflect membrane fouling in full-scale RO processes under certain circumstances.In this chapter, an advanced characterization method is introduced for membrane fouling in full-scale RO processes. An inclusive fouling potential indicator is proposed for a better characterization of the fouling strength of feed water, which is defined in a way that it can be easily determined with a small lab-scale RO membrane device and that it is readily usable to predict fouling development in the full-scale RO processes. A model based on basic membrane filtration and mass conservation principles is presented to calculate the average permeate flux in a full-scale RO process as fouling is progressing. The main intention of the advanced characterization method is to provide a reliable assessment of membrane fouling in the full-scale RO processes, so that the need for pilot tests can be significantly reduced.

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