24/08/2014

Introduction to Membrane Processes

Part 2 Water Treatment
CHEN 6071: Water & Wastewater Engineering
School of Chemical Engineering

Part 4 Non-traditional waters

The objective of these slides is to cover the following information:
1.

What are non-traditional waters and what are the treatment

objectives for membranes in these applications

2
2.

F
Features
off

Assessment: On-line quiz questions covering your understanding of:

1.

Salt and water transport across semi-permeable membranes

2.

Pre-treatment requirements and common forms of fouling in

reverse osmosis

Tutorial:
T
t i l U
Use off equations
ti
on reverse osmosis
i ffrom course ttextt
(Environmental Engineering: principles & practice)

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Non-traditional waters refer to sources of water contain levels of salts

and organics that are higher than surface waters or potable groundwater
Examples include;
S
Seawater
t (TDS > 30000 mg/L)
/L)
Municipal Waste (TDS 1000 mg/L)
Brackish Groundwater (2000-15000 mg/L)
Water requires treatment to remove salts

Illawarra Water Reclamation Plant

& Gold Coast Desalination

And organics prior to use

Reverse osmosis and Nanofiltration are
membrane processes that are used
to remove salts

Reverse osmosis is the process where pressure is applied

in excess of the osmotic gradient to reverse flow due to
osmosis

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What equations describe water & salt movement

across the membrane?
Water Transport Fw = A a Pnet
Salt Transport Fs = B (C)
Where;
a
A
Pnet
B
C

= water permeability coefficient (m3 /m2/Pa)

= membrane area
= net driving pressure
= salt permeability
= concentration gradient

Water flux can be written as:

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Where pa (Average imposed pressure gradient)

is calculated by:

Osmotic pressure gradient

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Salt passage (or flux of solute species)

Solute concentration gradient

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What Pressure is needed for RO?

Pnet = Pfeed - p where:

Pnet
Pfeed

P
Ppermeate

P
2

- P
Permeate

=
=
=
=

Net driving pressure

Feed pressure
Osmotic press
pressure
re differential across the membrane
Feed/Brine pressure differential

Permeate pressure

Typical Osmotic Pressures

Conc.
(mg/L)

Osmotic Press,
(kPa)

NaCl

1,000

100

LiCl

1,000

160

MgSO4

1,000

25

Sucrose

1,000

Seawater

35,000

2700

Species

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How does permeate quality change with

operating conditions?
Calculate permeate concentration (mg/L) at constant C across the
membrane with increasing water transport

Pnet
(kPa)
500
1000
1500
2000

Permeate
Water
(l/min)
1
2
3
4

Permeate
Salt
(mg/min)
1,000
?
?
?

Permeate
Concentration
(mg/l)
1,000
?
?
?

RO Process Control
Systems designed to operate at constant flow
FIT

VFD

Permeate

Feed
RO Feed Pump
With VFD

FIT

Concentrate
Concentrate Flow
Control Valve

Variable

Controlling Device

Permeate Flow Feed pump speed ( P aSpeed2)

Recovery

Concentrate valve

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Components of an RO System

Chemical Cond.
Acid
Scale Inhibitor
Screens
Beach Wells

Intake

Cl
Cleaning
i
Waste

In-line Coagulation
Direct Filtration
MF/UF

Pretreatment

Cartridge
Filtration

RO

Waste

Chlorination/
Stabilisation

Storage &
Distribution

Brine

Spiral Wound RO & NF Elements

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Making a Spiral Wound Membrane

Step 1

Step 2
Fold
Salty
Water

Salty
Water

Salty
Water

Fresh
Water

Permeate Spacer
Membrane
Fresh
Water

Making a Spiral Wound Membrane

Step 4

Step 3

Salty
S
lt
Water

Fresh
Water

Salty
Water

Permeate tube
with holes

Salty
S
lt
Water

Fresh
Water

Salty
Water

Salty
Water

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Making a Spiral Wound Membrane

Salty
Water

Step 5

Step 6

Brine Spacer
Salty
Water

Salty
Water

Fibreglass
casing

Fresh
Water

Salty
Water
Salty
Water

Brine Spacer

Fresh
Water

Finished RO Membranes (2, 4, 8 & 16 diameter)

10

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RO Element are assembled into Pressurized

Vessels

Seal
Feed

Concentrate

Permeate

Permeate
collection tube

Permeate tube coupling

Pressure vessel

Spiral Wound RO Element

Pressure Vessel Assembly
Feed
O-rings

Interconnector

Brine Seal

Permeate

Head Seal
Pressure Vessel
Thrust Cone
Head
End Adapter
R.O. Element
Concentrate
Retaining Ring

11

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RO Skid consist of multiple pressure vessels

arranged as 1, 2 or 3 staged arrays.

Kwinana Water Reclamation Plant

e WA
Perth

Orange County Water District, CA, USA

System recovery increases with number of stages.

Recovery limited by a variety of factors including the solubility of salts in the
feed, the osmotic pressure and the maximum pressure of the vessels

3 x 2 x 1 concentrate-staged array

12

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A two-pass, two-staged system

RO Designs are Generic

RO racks have similar design
Rack size varies based on
plant capacity
Increase no. of pressure
vessels to increase rack
capacity
Standard element size of 8 x
40 (20 cm by 100 cm)

13

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RO System Space Requirements

Key RO Train Dimensions

Vertical spacing
450 mm

Horizontal spacing
300 mm
Submersible
Pump
Skid

Access for membrane replacement

Lets return to the components of a RO System

Chemical
Conditioning

Intake

Screens
Beach wells

Pretreatment

Acid
Scale Inhibitor

RO

In-Line Coagulation
Direct Filtration
MF/UF
Cartridge Filtration

Chlorination
Stabilization

Storage &
Distribution

Brine
Cleaning

Waste
Waste

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Assessing pretreatment for RO

RO Feed tank lining failed. Tank lining between MF and RO.

Cartridge filters would have reduced risk.

Pre-trearment matches the fouling tendency of the

water based on the Silt Density Index (SDI)
SDI is calculated number based on filtration of a sample through
a 0.45 micron filter pad.
SDI is calculated by following formula:
100 (1 T1/T2)
SDI15 =
15
Where T1 is time in seconds to filter initial 500 ml of sample and
T2 is time in seconds to filter final 500 ml of sample
A d 15 minutes
And
i t is
i allowed
ll
d to
t pass between
b t
ti d sample
timed
l intervals.
i t
l

Source
Water at >
30 psii

Ball Valve

Pressure
Regulator

Pressure
Gauge

Vent
(optional)

To
p
Millipore Filter Holde
Ba
se
500
ml

15

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Pre-treatment requirements
Cartridge filters (5-40 micron)
Typically used on ground water

SDI feed water 3-5

SDI product
d t<3

Media filters (conventional or direct)

Some surface waters
Some groundwaters (where Iron & aluminium removal required
Seawater desalination

SDI Feedwater > 6

Total coliform < 103 cfu/100 ml

Membrane Filtration

Wastewater recycling

SDI Feedwater > 6

Total coliform > 103 cfu/100 ml

Comparison of RO Pretreatment on Seawater

Slide Courtesy of Rob Huehmer, CH2M Hill

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Chemical Addition Systems

Inorganic scale formation in RO

3 general scale types
Alkaline or carbonate
eg: CaCO3

Non Alkaline or sparingly

soluble salts
eg: Al(OH)3, CaF2, CaSO4,
Mg3(PO4)2
Silica (polymerised and
silicates)

Scale Risk Assessment

LSI/SDSI>0 is scale forming
Note:
LSI: TDS <10,000 mg/L
SDSI: TDS > 10,000 mg/L

Ion Product in > F x Solubility

concentrate
Product
(IPc)
(Ksp)
F = 0.8 (w/o antiscalant)
Polymerisation @ 150 200 mg/L
Silicates @ pH > 9 in presence of
trivalent metals

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