Documenti di Didattica
Documenti di Professioni
Documenti di Cultura
Desalination
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/desal
Membrane Technology Laboratory, Chemistry Department, National Institute of Technology, Karnataka, Surathkal, Mangalore 575 025, India
Advanced Membrane Technology Research Center (AMTEC), Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310 Skudai, Johor Bahru, Malaysia
H I G H L I G H T S
RO based desalination is one of the most important technologies for the production of fresh water.
This review highlights about important milestones in RO technology.
The material property, mainly dominates the RO process.
Few of the problems associated with RO technology is also discussed.
a r t i c l e
i n f o
Article history:
Received 1 September 2014
Received in revised form 27 December 2014
Accepted 29 December 2014
Available online xxxx
Keywords:
RO membrane
Flux
Nano-technology
Desalination
a b s t r a c t
Reverse osmosis (RO) based desalination is one of the most important and widely recognized technologies for
production of fresh water from saline water. Since its conception and initiation, a signicant development has
been witnessed in this technology w.r.t. materials, synthesis techniques, modication and modules over the
last few decades. The working of a RO plant inclusive of the pretreatment and post-treatment procedures has
been briey discussed in the article. The main objective of this review is to highlight the historical milestones
achieved in RO technology in terms of membrane performance, the developments seen over the last few years
and the challenges perceived.
The material properties of the membrane dominate the performance of a RO process. The emergence of nanotechnology and biomimetic RO membranes as the futuristic tools is capable of revolutionizing the entire RO process. Hence the development of nano-structured membranes involving thin lm nano-composite membranes,
carbon-nanotube membranes and aquaporin-based membranes has been focussed in detail. The problems associated with a RO process such as scaling, brine disposal and boron removal are briefed and the measures adopted
to address the same have been discussed.
2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Contents
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Brief history . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
RO plant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Reverse osmosis membranes . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
4.1.
Polymeric membranes . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
4.1.1.
Cellulosic membranes . . . . . . . . . .
4.1.2.
Thin lm composite polyamide membranes
4.2.
Inorganic/ceramic membranes . . . . . . . . . .
4.3.
Mixed matrix membranes (MMM) . . . . . . . .
4.4.
Biomimetic membranes . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Reverse osmosis modules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5.1.
Hollow ber module . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5.2.
Spiral wound module . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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Corresponding authors.
E-mail address: isloor@yahoo.com (A.M. Isloor).
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.desal.2014.12.042
0011-9164/ 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Please cite this article as: S.S. Shenvi, et al., A review on RO membrane technology: Developments and challenges, Desalination (2015), http://
dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.desal.2014.12.042
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1. Introduction
There has been an increasing demand for fresh water supply owing
to population boom, global warming and the geography of our planet
[1]. The world population has increased fourfold while the fresh water
consumption has increased ninefold in the 20th century. By the year
2025, several countries are expected to face severe water crisis; the
problem being manifold critical where water shortage already exists
(Fig. 1) [2]. The water shortage problems are due to both, man-made
and natural causes.
Seawater desalination is one of the leading technologies to cater to
this problem. It refers to the removal of salts and other minerals from
sea water or brackish water in order to obtain pure water for human
consumption and for domestic/industrial utilization. Over the past few
decades, a number of technologies have been developed in this regard
which include multi-stage ash (MSF) distillation, multi-effect distillation (MED), mechanical vapor pressure compression (MVC) distillation
and membrane based reverse osmosis (RO), electrodialysis (ED) and
nanoltration (NF) process. More than 50% of the installed desalination
plants worldwide use RO technology because of its simplicity and relatively low energy cost in comparison with distillation based thermal
processes. The market for RO based desalination has seen a steady increase due to advancement in RO technology in terms of membrane material and energy consumption which has enabled a reduction in cost of
pure water production. According to Global Water Intelligence and
International Desalination Association, nearly 19.8 billion gallons
per day fresh water is produced from the installed desalination
plants worldwide. The membrane industry is a large segment worth billions (Fig. 2). The leading membrane manufacturing companies are
Hydranautics (Nitto-Denko), DOW-Filmtec, Toray, CSM, Koch Membrane Systems and GE Osmonics. Millions and millions are spent by
these companies to cater to the growing water demands. The factors
Fig. 1. People living in areas of water stress, by level of stress, Source: OECD Environmental
Outlook to 2030.
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affecting the desalination market may vary, but the underlying reasons
are due to three P's: Pollution, population and progress. Pollution of the
existing water bodies in addition to climate change, ever increasing
population and industrial development has stressed upon the need to
increase fresh water supply.
The heart of RO based separation is the semi permeable membrane
known as RO membrane which preferentially allows water molecules
to pass through it, by obstructing the passage of salts under the inuence of externally applied pressure (Fig. 3). The salt and water permeate
through an RO membrane by solution-diffusion transport mechanism
[35]. When the applied pressure is higher than the osmotic pressure
(p N ), water starts owing from concentrated salt solution to dilute
solution through the membrane.
J Ap
where is the osmotic pressure difference between the feed and the
permeate, p is the pressure difference across the membrane and A is
a constant which describe the physical characteristics of the membrane
itself. RO membranes are characterized by the average pore size of less
than 1 nm and require very high pressures up to 80 bar. Such high pressures are required to overcome the osmotic pressure of sea water,
which is about 25 bar. The performance of these membranes is usually
governed by water ux and salt rejection. An ideal RO membrane has
a salt rejection of more than 99%. NF membranes are also used for desalination application, but the salt removal capacity is not as high as that of
RO membrane. Depending upon the requirement or application of pure
water, either NF or RO membrane can be used.
Considering the importance of this technology, abundant work is
carried out very regularly on RO membranes, which necessitate a timely
review to keep the academic and industrial world updated. This article
is dedicated to give a comprehensive review of RO process, the materials
used to prepare these membranes, their development over the period of
Please cite this article as: S.S. Shenvi, et al., A review on RO membrane technology: Developments and challenges, Desalination (2015), http://
dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.desal.2014.12.042
Fig. 4. Schematic illustration of A) Thin lm composite PA membrane B) Integrally skinned asymmetric membrane.
Please cite this article as: S.S. Shenvi, et al., A review on RO membrane technology: Developments and challenges, Desalination (2015), http://
dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.desal.2014.12.042
Please cite this article as: S.S. Shenvi, et al., A review on RO membrane technology: Developments and challenges, Desalination (2015), http://
dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.desal.2014.12.042
Fig. 5. SEM image of the surface and a cross section of a TFC membrane [49].
of the support is very important as it co-denes the interface where interfacial polymerization occurs [50]. Fine tuning of the substrate properties is essential to form a defect free PA lm. To achieve this, the surface
of the substrate should be as smooth as possible.
Modication is possible either by addition of additives or by plasma
treatment. From water soluble hydrophilic additives such as PVP and
PEG, the focus is shifting to inorganic llers as better additives [51,52].
A smoother and thicker surface has been reported by this modication.
Also, there is improvement in permeability and antifouling behavior of
the membrane. Membranes with water soluble hydrophilic additives
give relatively thinner and less permeable PA layers. Modication also
involves addition of solvent in the coagulation bath during phase inversion, which increases the porosity of the membranes [53]. Permanent
hydrophilicity can be imparted to the membrane surface by plasma
treatment [5456]. Water permeability and chlorine resistance of the
membranes is enhanced by this modication. Polysulfone (PSf) is widely used support material because of its ease of availability, low cost,
thermal, mechanical and chemical stability. The other polymers which
can be used as a substitute for PSf include poly(ether ether ketone), polyimide, Polyvinyl diuoride, poly (phthalazinone ether ketone) and
polypropylene [50,55,57,58]. Recently, the use of hydrolyzed CA/CTA
has been explored as a hydrophilic support membrane [59]. The membrane displayed NaCl rejection up to 97%. Covalent bond formation between the active layer & support layer resulted in a stabilized composite
system. Use of electrospun nanobers as supports are capable of giving
superior performance compared to asymmetric at sheet membrane
due to their large surface-to-volume ratio. But the use of these membranes has so far been carried out for nanoltration, forward osmosis
and pressure retarded osmosis [6064].
4.1.2.2. Modication of thin PA layer. Modication of thin barrier layer is
necessary for two separate but closely related reasons. One is to improve the permeability and salt rejection, and second to improve the
fouling resistance of the membrane.
Fouling refers to decline in ux and hence the life-span of a membrane due to colloidal fouling, biofouling, and organic fouling [6567].
The interaction between the foulants and membrane surface gives rise
to this phenomenon. The extent of the interaction mainly depends
upon the nature of the barrier layer. The approach to address this
issue is to alter the membrane surface, so as to reduce the interaction
between the foulant and the barrier layer. Hydrophilization of the membrane surface is generally opted in this scenario, which can be achieved
by addition of some hydrophilic additives or by grafting of functional
monomers on the membrane surface by some advanced techniques
such as plasma treatment, redox reaction or by radiation [68]. Numbers
of additives are used in the current era which include polyvinyl alcohol,
polyethylene glycol, nano llers, surface modifying macromolecules,
zwitterions, grafting of hydrophilic polymer brushes, dendrimers, etc.
[6980]. In-situ generated surface modifying macromolecules
(iLSMM) improved the hydrophilicity, stability, and ux of the membranes prepared thereof [81]. This was attributed to the presence of
Please cite this article as: S.S. Shenvi, et al., A review on RO membrane technology: Developments and challenges, Desalination (2015), http://
dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.desal.2014.12.042
Table 1
Newly reported monomers for synthesis of thin lm composite PA membranes.
Amine source
Ref.
[104]
[95]
[105]
[96]
[77]
[97]
[98]
[80]
[99]
[100]
[101]
[49]
[102]
[103]
Please cite this article as: S.S. Shenvi, et al., A review on RO membrane technology: Developments and challenges, Desalination (2015), http://
dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.desal.2014.12.042
Fig. 8. A) Zig-zag channel system in MFI [130] B) Intercrystal pore and zeolite pore in MFI
[121].
Please cite this article as: S.S. Shenvi, et al., A review on RO membrane technology: Developments and challenges, Desalination (2015), http://
dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.desal.2014.12.042
particles increased the surface properties. The morphology of the surface of TFN also changed due to defects in zeolite structure and reduced
extent of crosslinking [150]. Signicant improvement in pure water ux
without loss in rejection has been attributed to preferential ow channels provided by zeolite pores for water (2.7 ) [151]. These pores are
large enough to allow passage of water molecules but are too small for
solute transport (89 ). Fig. 10 represents the Schematic illustration
of immobilization of Ag-np onto the surface of polyamide TFC
membrane.
Use of hydrophilized ordered meso carbon (H-OMC) was
explored in another such work to prepare well dispersed TFN,
devoid of aggregates [153]. This membrane was capable of showing
improved membrane performance with respect to water permeability
and BSA adsorption. This highlighted the inuence of ordered structure
in generating active pores for water permeation through the PA
layer. Non-porous inorganic llers include silica [140,154]. Controlling, tuning and functionalization of these nano particles help in
synthesizing tailored TFN membranes. Wu et al. functionalized mesoporous silica nanoparticles (mMSN) with amine groups using 3aminopropyltriethoxysilane [155]. The ux of modied membranes increased by an order of 1.5 to that of TFC membrane. The increased interaction between the functional groups and polymer matrix improved the
water transport. Addition of mMSN also enhanced the antifouling ability
and long term stability of the membrane. At very low nanosilica loading
up to 0.1% w/v, hydrophilicity increased signicantly with decrease in
contact angle from 81 to 47. High permeability and salt rejection
above 96% was observed for such system [156]. The bactericidal property of silver and titania have been well utilized in the synthesis of membranes to improve the fouling resistance, in addition to thermal and
chemical stability [152,157162]. TiO2 can release strong oxidative
Fig. 10. Schematic illustration of immobilization of Ag-np onto the surface of polyamide TFC membrane [152].
Please cite this article as: S.S. Shenvi, et al., A review on RO membrane technology: Developments and challenges, Desalination (2015), http://
dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.desal.2014.12.042
Fig. 11. Schematic representation of passage of water molecules through aquaporin [144].
species (radicals) under UV irradiation which inhibits formation of biolm on membrane surface, thereby increasing the life of membrane
[163]. In a very recent work, commercial RO membrane was modied
with silver nanoparticles coated with polyethyleneimine (Ag-PEI) and
polyacrylic acid via polyelectrolyte layer by layer self-assembly [86].
Surface modication resulted in signicant reduction of irreversible
bacterial cell (Escherichia coli bacteria). Irreversible binding of silver
nanoparticles to the membrane surface was achieved by the reaction
of silver salt with a reducing agent at the membrane surface [164]. Except for slight reduction in water permeability (up to 17%), rest of the
membrane properties remained unchanged. Addition of the nanoparticles imparted a very strong antibacterial property to the membrane. Use
of silver nanoparticles for commercialization is still a matter of research
due to severe leaching problem. Use of nanoparticles should be carefully
considered due to their potential toxicity.
4.4. Biomimetic membranes
RO membrane systems can be compared to active biological channels that transfer 107 ions per pore per second that correspond to energy requirement of 2.556.4 kWh/m3 of water produced from sea water
having salinity equal to 3.5 wt.% [165].
Aquaporins are water channel proteins bound to phospholipid cellular membranes, through which water can ow rapidly inside the cell
than by diffusing through the phospholipid bilayer (Fig. 11). The solutes
during the transport are retained by the proteins. In 2003, Nobel Prize in
chemistry was awarded to Peter Agre for discovery of aquaporins.
Kumar et al. pioneered the work on aquaporins in synthetic membranes
by studying the permeability and transport properties of amphiphilic
triblock-polymer vesicles containing Aquaporin Z from E. coli bacterial
cells [166]. Biomimetic membranes containing aquaporin proteins produced by multiple different procedures was investigated by Holme in
his patent titled Biomimetic Water Membrane Comprising Aquaporins
Used in the Production of Salinity Power [167]. Aquaporins are generally embedded into an ultrathin amphiphilic lipid lm or proteoliposomes
(protein-containing vesicles) so as to mimic their natural environment
[168]. Different techniques have been suggested for the development
of aquaporin-based biomimetic membrane (ABM) in literature including membrane supported lipid bilayer via vesicle fusion, vesicles
suspended over membrane pores, polymer tethered bio-layers, and polymerized proteoliposomes [169]. Few membranes embedded with
aquaporins are available in literature [170172].
Zhao et al. reported preparation of TFC RO membrane by soaking PSf
substrate with m-phenylenediamine (MPD) containing aquaporin-
Please cite this article as: S.S. Shenvi, et al., A review on RO membrane technology: Developments and challenges, Desalination (2015), http://
dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.desal.2014.12.042
10
Fig. 13. Schematic representation of embedding of PDA coated proteoliposomes in PEI-PAI crosslinked membrane [168].
Please cite this article as: S.S. Shenvi, et al., A review on RO membrane technology: Developments and challenges, Desalination (2015), http://
dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.desal.2014.12.042
11
Fig. 14. Schematic illustration of transport of water molecule through VACNT [184].
a commercial scale has restricted their use to only cellulosic membranes. However, there are some reports suggesting the synthesis of
TFC PA hollow ber membranes on a laboratory scale in recent past
[203,204].
Please cite this article as: S.S. Shenvi, et al., A review on RO membrane technology: Developments and challenges, Desalination (2015), http://
dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.desal.2014.12.042
12
Table 2
Projection of the number of RO elements and pressure vessels required for plants of different capacities using 16 inch. and 8 inch RO system [207].
Plant size
(m3/d)
2000
5000
10,000
100,000
Membrane area
required (m2)
No. of
elements
No. of pressure
vessel
Membrane area
required (m2)
No. of
elements
No. of pressure
vessel
1995.25
4988.13
9976.25
99,762.54
24
48
96
852
6
12
24
213
5144.99
12,862.47
25,724.93
257,249.3
147
357
693
6930
21
51
99
990
Savings in no. of
elements
Savings in no. of
pressure vessels
123
309
597
6078
15
39
75
777
Fig. 17. Flow diagram of brine conversion two stage RO seawater desalination system [228].
Please cite this article as: S.S. Shenvi, et al., A review on RO membrane technology: Developments and challenges, Desalination (2015), http://
dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.desal.2014.12.042
recovery rate [24]. A two-stage brine conversion seawater RO desalination system (BCS) is capable of recovery potable water with TDS less
than 200 ppm (Fig. 17) [228]. The system reduced the production cost
by 1520%. In yet another study, brine from an RO plant was used as
feed for electrodialysis cell which resulted in reduced concentration of
salts in the feed and was nally mixed with the RO permeate [229].
13
performance and cost reduction. Coupling of renewable energy to desalination projects may lead to green desalination.
Acknowledgments
AMI thank Prof. Swapan Bhattacharya, Director, National Institute of
Technology Karnataka, Surathkal, India for providing the research facilities and encouragement.
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Please cite this article as: S.S. Shenvi, et al., A review on RO membrane technology: Developments and challenges, Desalination (2015), http://
dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.desal.2014.12.042