Desalination 167 (2004) 191200

Reverse osmosis on open intake seawater: pre-treatment strategy

Vronique Bonnelye*, Miguel Angel Sanz, Jean-Pierre Durand, Ludovic Plasse, Frdric Gueguen, Pierre Mazounie
Degremont 183, Avenue du 18 juin 1940, 92500 Rueil Malmaison, France Tel.+33 (1) 46 25 38 19; Fax +33 (1) 39 76 35 41; email: veronique.bonnelye@degremont.com

Received 4 December 2003; accepted 15 January 2004

Abstract Pre-treatment of seawater feeding reverse osmosis (RO) membranes is a key step in designing desalination plants. The pre-treatment process must be adapted to the seawater quality to be treated (wells, open intake, etc.), especially when treating surface seawater with highly variable quality. After a general presentation of different pretreatment options in relation to the seawater quality, this paper is focussing on two case studies, two open intake seawater pre-treatment upstream reverse osmosis desalination. The first site is located in the Gulf of Oman (Indian Ocean), the second in the Persian Gulf. The pre-treatment uses different technology strategies, conventional pretreatment (coagulation and direct filtration on dual media filters) and innovative technologies (high rate dissolved air flotation, ultrafiltration and microfiltration) according to the water quality. The parameters taken into account for the water quality characterisation are the suspended solids, turbidity, fouling tendency, organic matters and algae content. This paper presents the pre-treated water quality achieved by the two types of pre-treatment and discusses potential impacts on RO hydraulic performances. Keywords: Seawater reverse osmosis; Open intake; Pre-treatment

1. Pretreatment strategy Reverse osmosis membranes are very sensitive to foulants such as colloids, inorganic scale and
*Corresponding author.

biofilm development (biofouling). The silt density index (SDI according to ASTM) is a useful tool for particle evaluation and by extension, membrane fouling. Many SWRO systems are fed using beach wells with low suspended solids water. In

Presented at the EuroMed 2004 conference on Desalination Strategies in South Mediterranean Countries: Cooperation between Mediterranean Countries of Europe and the Southern Rim of the Mediterranean. Sponsored by the European Desalination Society and Office National de lEau Potable, Marrakech, Morocco, 30 May2 June, 2004. 0011-9164/04/$ See front matter 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

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such cases, it is possible to achieve SDI15 (15 min. SDI) below 3 [1] using sand filtration without coagulant, or even simple 5 m cartridge filters. Due to increasing plant size and the limited permeability of local soils implying a need for numerous wells, onshore beach wells are used with less and less frequency and SWRO plants are operated with direct feed from open seawater intakes [2]. On open seawater intake, reverse osmosis membranes are sensitive to different types of pollution: particles, precipitated metals, organic matters, hydrocarbons, etc. An efficient pretreatment must control the flux of each pollutant. The pre-treatment must be designed to face the worst water quality, providing a constant and good RO feed water quality. Direct filtration, using mono or dual media, is the most common technology used for the filtration of seawater upstream RO desalination plant. This technique must be optimised and improved on variable quality surface seawater: the coagulation can be improved by a better understanding of the phenomenon, the use of different chemicals. Selected media and filters characteristics can also improve the performances of this clarification treatment. Direct filtration treatment is evaluated in terms of filtered water quality, cycle duration, maturation and risk of breakthrough. This treatment technology can be improved using a double step filtration. On open intake surface water treatment, welloptimised direct filtration can be replaced by membrane clarification, such as ultrafiltration or microfiltration [6]. Furthermore, the impact of a lower cutoff pre-treatment could lead to an increase of the RO reliability. The design permeate flux rate could be higher than the generally recommended design average flux rate in seawater RO systems operating on surface seawater, which is within the 78 gfd range (11.913.6 L/h.m)[3], and recovery (4045%)[2,3]. Finally, facing high turbid water, risk of algae bloom and/or hydrocarbon pollution, the main

clarification step (direct clarification or ultrafiltration/microfiltration membranes) can be protected by complementary pre-treatment, such as sand removal, settling and/or flotation. The limits of each treatment must be evaluated in terms of design, water quality and adaptation to a pollution event. This paper presents the results of two pilot studies performed on open seawater intakes. The objectives were to assess the limit of each technology and to explore the potential of technology associations to increase the reliability of the whole open intake seawater pre-treatment upstream reverse osmosis desalination. 2. Material and method Both pilot tests were conducted on an open seawater intake. Sand removal was evaluated as a pre-treatment step, mainly on the Persian Gulf. For high suspended solids content, a dissolved air flotation unit was tested for turbidity, oil and grease removal on the same site. The high rate flotation unit includes a pressurized water generator and a 1 m separation cell. The direct filtration was then studied in one or two stages, depending on the feed water quality, using pilot units with 4 filtering columns operated in parallel or in series. Transparent plastic columns were used to optimise the backwash sequences. The filtering media tested were from several origins, anthracite, pumice, sand and garnet, allowing an evaluation in term of effective size, shape and density. Two fully automated ultrafiltration units were used. These pilot units included the filtration system and automatic backwashes controlled by a PLC. The reagents tested were usually chemicals used in water clarification: sulphuric acid for pH correction, Fe or Al salt as coagulants (FeCl3, WAC HB, Kemira PIX 123), organic coagulants as filter aid (Kemazur 4527, Nalco 8103 and 8105, RO Floc) and flocculent aids (AQnionic polymer

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ASP25, trach). Powdered activated carbon was also evaluated for organic matter removal improvement, and chlorine for disinfection shocks or continuous preoxidation, and membrane backwash. Several on-line equipments were used for the process control: flowmeter (ABB) and flow controllers (Burkert), pressure sensors for the headloss follow-up (Jumo). The suspended solids were evaluated in terms of turbidity and particles count. Turbidity was analysed both on grab samples (Hach 2100P) and in-line, using both Seres turbilight and Hach 1720C turbidimeters on raw and filtered water. UV absorbance (at 254 nm) and TOC were analysed to characterise the organic matters. These analyses were completed by pyrolysis GCMS analysis to evaluate the organic matters composition. Phytoplankton was followed during the whole study. SDI was measured using manual apparatus and an automatic Chemetek FPA-3300 Filter plugging analyzer. For filtered water and permeates the SDI15 was determined according to ASTM D 4189-95 (15 min filtration in the 75% fouling range). For raw water, the SDI yielding 75% membrane fouling was recorded (SDI5 or SDI3). Particle count analysis was performed with a Met
20 18 16 14
SDI %/min

One WGS267 portable particle counter and inline Met One PCT.

3. Results 3.1.The Gulf of Oman The first site evaluated was good surface seawater, using only one pre-treatment stage before RO. An 18-month pilot study was performed on the pre-treatment to study and optimise the direct coagulation in term of chemicals and filter media characteristics. Two periods were studied in 2002 and 2003 to take into account the water seasonal variability. This paper presents the pilot study and the fisrt results of an industrial plant constructed based on the pilot results. The water quality main characteristics are presented in Table 1: water was taken 4 m below the sea surface. During the test period, the following parameters remained almost constant: pH, turbidity, conductivity, Fe, mineralisation, algae, UV, and hydrocarbons. The water quality was generally very good with turbidity around 0.2 NTU and 70% of the SDI5 below 6 (Fig. 1): no relation seems to exist between those two parameters. 75% of the particles were in 12 m range. The temperature was high, but normal for this part of the world.
1.0

Turbidity NTU SDI

0.9 0.8 0.7 0.6 0.5 0.4 0.3 0.2 0.1

Turbidity NTU

12 10 8 6 4 2 Date (mm/yyyy) 0 01/2002 02/2002 03/2002 04/2002 05/2002 06/2002

0.0 07/2002

Fig. 1. Evolution of the turbidity and SDI values.

194 Table 1 Main seawater characteristics

Parameters Temperature, C pH Conductivity, mS/cm SDI, %/min Turbidity, NTU Fe, mg/L UV254, DO/m TOC, mg/L C Particles > 1m, part/mL Hydrocarbons, g/L

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Average 26.7 8.13 55.3 6.2 0.22 <0.01 0.86 <5 2469 2.05

Min. 21.6 7.86 54.2 3.6 0.12 0.6 <2 1633 0.46

Max. 33.2 8.54 56.5 20 0.56 1.46 3296 4.36

few cmWC/m to more than 1 mWC/m of media. This is a direct limitation of the lower media depth. a better retention capacity in the larger size media, on top of the filter. All the chemicals: WAC HB, Kemira PIX 123, Kemazur 4527, Nalco 8105, RO Floc, ASP25, starch polymer and continuous chlorination did not improve or deteriorate the treatment efficiency. FeCl3, coagulant generally used for this application, gave surprisingly very bad results in terms of clogging rate of the filtering bed: a head loss profile clearly showed the clogging of the top layer of the first dual media filter tested. After the choice of the best media configuration (larger effective size on top), the results improved leading to an optimum-dosing rate of 3 g/m3 as FeCl3. The pH of coagulation impacts also the clogging velocity, allowing a cycle length optimisation. When the raw water SDI was higher than 10, a flocculant aid was necessary to lower the clogging velocity and to improve the filtered water SDI.

According to the UV absorbance (<1 m1 most of the time), TOC results (<2 mg/l), and hydrocarbons (<5 g/l), the raw water organic matters concentration is very low. The algae counts were always low. Macroalgae development has been reported on some equipment of the pilot plant, but this problem is normal with open or transparent equipment without chlorination. The media tested on the single stage direct coagulation are listed in Table 2 (Fig. 2). More than 150 filtration cycles were performed during this study. The main conclusions of the tests were: a direct relation between the effective size of the filter bed bottom layer, last in contact with the filtered water: the lower the ES, the better the SDI value, an impact of the media high on the initial head loss of the filter bed: the values vary from a
Table 2 Filter medias tested (effective size ES in mm)

Top media Anthracite (1.5) Anthracite (0.9) Anthracite (0.9) Sand (0.5) Pumice (1.6) Pumice (1.6)

Bottom media Garnet (0.3) Sand (0.5) Sand (0.3) Sand (0.5) Sand (0.3)

Fig. 2. Direct filtration using ferric chloride as coagulant, and two types of media in parallel, dual media pumice/ sand and mono-layer sand filter.

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Chlorine was used from time to time only to stop the biological development in the pipes and equipment. It does not improve the coagulation efficiency on removing SDI in the filtered water. The filter backwash has to be optimised in accordance with the media chosen, in terms of air and water velocities, the latest necessary to reach the best media expansion/classification. After every backwash, the filtered water quality has to be evaluated to determine the maturation time needed (production duration with a filtered water quality unacceptable for the reverse osmosis feed leading to filtered water rejection, filtration to waste). During the pilot test, this duration could be reduced down to 15 min. With the media configuration chosen and after the chemicals optimisation described, the filtration cycles were between 17 to 24 h with a filtration velocity of 10 m/h. With the optimised treatment, the filtered water quality was steady and in a good range for all the parameter checked: SDI, the most important parameter for the characterisation of RO feed water (Table 3), was efficiently removed using the lowest effective size media (garnet or sand). Turbidity was always below 0.1 NTU in the filtered water (average 0.07 NTU), with a maturation time to get this value below 15 min. While the filter was clogging, the turbidity remained below 0.1 NTU, demonstrating no risk of breakthrough (breakthrough time much higher than clogging time). Particles were removed at 98%, with less than 10 particles/ mL larger than 2 m. Iron concentration was below 0.01 mg/L and remained at this low value in the filtered water: all the ferric chloride used for coagulation effectively precipitate in the filtering bed. In terms of mineralisation, chloride and sulphate increased according to the treatment rate of sulphuric acid and ferric chloride, with a corresponding reduction of the alkalinity. Organic matter removal was mainly evaluated

Table 3 SDI in the raw and filtered water

SDI, % 95 90 50 Raw water <15 <9 <5 Filtered water <3.3 <3 <2.6

using UV absorbtion at 254 nm: a 25% removal efficiency on this parameter was observed, with an average filtered water value around 0.6/m. Hydrocarbons concentration remained at very low levels (<3 g/L) including when hydrocarbons pellets could be seen floating in a rather large amount (note that this intake is located only 34 miles from the rail going out of the Arabian Gulf with tankers permanently queuing out from the Ormuz strait). The phytoplankton was very low, with algae concentration always below 10 cell/mL. From the pilot plant trial, it was concluded that a single step gravity dual media filtration was sufficient to obtain adequate pre-treated water quality subject to the following conditions: pH adjustment between 6.5 and 7.2 depending on raw seawater SDI, Coagulant dosage ranging from 2 to 5 mg/L pure FeCl3, Under worst seawater quality conditions, the dosage of a polymer to reduce the SDI and to improve significantly the filterability of the flocs formed thus increasing the filtering run time. The first results obtained during the full industrial plant commissioning were similar to the ones obtained during the 9-month pilot test: The filtered water was very steady, and SDI was below the expected value (Fig. 3). 3.2. The Persian Gulf The second site evaluated using pilot testing was the Persian Gulf. The characteristics of the seawater in term of SDI value, concentrations of

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Fig. 3. Full scale pre-treatment plant results in terms of SDI.

organic matters and suspended solids determined the choice of pre-treatment before reverse osmosis, and the number of stage of the pretreatment. A four-month pilot study was conducted on a variable seawater quality. The objective of this study was to assess and compare conventional

Intake pump + pipe

pre-treatment and ultrafiltration (UF) pretreatment efficiencies prior to RO for desalting seawater with high-fouling tendency. A four-stage conventional pre-treatment process and two UF processes were operated in parallel on open intake seawater (Fig. 4). The main characteristics of the raw seawater, pumped 10 m below the sea surface (in a 15 m water deep area) are presented in Table 4. With an average turbidity around 0.7 NTU and algae

Sand/grit removal tank

Flotation AquaDAF

ULTRAFILTRATION

Dual-media Filtration

Ultrafiltration 1

Dual-media Filtration

Ultrafiltration 2

Fig. 4. Pilot pre-treatment line.

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counts below 100 cell/mL, this surface seawater does not seem very difficult to treat, except regarding the SDI values, which are both permanently very high, and with wide fluctuations (Fig. 5). The preliminary treatment, a dissolved air flotation, allows a good removal of turbidity and
Table 4 Raw water analysis

Parameters Temperature, C pH Conductivity, mS/cm Turbidity, NTU SDI, %/min Total alkalinity, mg/L CaCO3 Total hardness, mg/L CaCO3 TDS, g/L (from conductivity) UV absorbance, /m Algae, cell/ml

Average 32 8.18 62.7 0.74 21.7 123 8027 44.3 1.3 50

Min. 32 8.08 62.2 0.48 10 122 8010 43 0.9 38

Max. 35 8.26 63.4 1.13 45 125 8040 45.5 2.2 76

pH

suspended solids, highly variable in this very shallow seawater intake (mainly during storm events). UV absorbance removal was in 2030% range (Fig. 6). Hydrocarbons were also well removed when present in the suspension form, protecting the aim of the pre-treatment: the direct filtration. The direct filtration step included a double filtration with two coagulant injections: this treatment line was selected to take into account the worst water quality expected in this surface seawater. Media were chosen to improve both filtration length and filtered water quality. The results obtained on the filtration pilot during the 4-month period of operation yielding rather good SDI (1.82.9 with incoming sea water SDI 1045 %/min) (Table 5). Here also, the maturation was very short, and the risk of breakthrough very low, due to the sticky nature of the floc formed with the FeCl3-floculant aid applied (Figs. 7 and 8). Filtering runs remained longer than 24 h. Ultrafiltration pre-treatment was evaluated in
SDI
5.0 4.5 4.0 3.5 3.0 2.5 2.0 1.5 1.0 0.5 0.0

Temperature
50 45

Turbidity

UV absorbance

Temperature as C, SDI as %/min and pH

40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0

08-19

08-26

09-02

09-09

09-16

09-23

09-30

10-07

10-14

10-21

10-28

11-04

Date (mm/dd)

Fig. 5. Raw water characteristics during the test period (temperature, pH, turbidity and UV absorbance).

11-11

Turbidity as NTU and UV as abs/m

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Flotation survey

30

3.0

FeCl3 dosing rate

Dosing rate (mg/L), pH, turbidity (NTU)
25

pH UV absorbance
2.5

Turbidity

20

2.0

15

1.5

10

1.0

0.5

0.0

09-29

10-06

10-13

10-20

10-27

11-03

11-10

Date (mm/dd)

Fig. 6. Floated water quality (coagulation using FeCl3). Table 5 SDI results

SDI after pre-treatment <3 <2.7 <2.5 <2.3

Time, % 100 85 65 50

direct filtration and after coagulationflotation. The SDI measured in the permeate of the two membranes tested was similar for both applications (direct filtration and after dissolved air flotation), and in the same range as the second stage filtered water. The SDI seems to be related to the membrane porosity, the higher the cut off the higher the SDI value (in 14 range value).

Fig. 7. Direct filtration optimisation head losses and SDI follow up during a filtering run using pumice and sand media, coagulation with ferric chlorine associated with a coagulant aid.

11-17

UV abs/m

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40 20

199

35

Seawater 1st stage filtration

18 16 14

30

2nd stage filtration

Filtered water SDI

Seawater SDI

25

12 10 8 6

20

15

10 4 5 2 0

Date (mmm/dd)

Fig. 8. SDI value in the raw water in each of the dual media filtered water.

High filtration flux was obtained on the pressurized in-out Aquasource membranes, whatever the feed water quality (120140 L/h/m in dead-end filtration). 4. Discussion The two seawaters tested can be characterised by a low turbidity and low organic content: the main differences observed during the pilot studies are the SDI value range and variability (Fig. 9). The Persian Gulf surface water has a high and unstable SDI. Some very high turbidity peaks, and some hydrocarbon pollutions are also reported. The pre-treatment must be adapted to the surface seawater characteristics, and must be able to face the degraded periods. A single stage direct filtration using dual media is well adapted to the good surface seawater encountered in the Gulf of Oman. In this case, the filtration media must be selected to optimise both filtered water quality (using a low effective size sand or garnet) and filtration duration (pumice or an-

thracite as top layer media). The coagulation strategy optimised during the pilot test includes a double coagulant injection during the worst period (SDI higher than 8) and adapted coagulation pH to the fouling tendency of the ferric hydroxide formed. In the case of more degraded water, with a high water quality variability expected, and to face pollution events (in terms of turbidity, algae bloom or hydrocarbons), the association of dissolved air flotation with double direct filtration gives a very efficient and reliable pre-treatment upstream reverse osmosis: the treatment line is more robust and able to handle very bad water quality. In this case again, filters media and coagulation chemicals and conditions must be optimised to reach low and steady SDI in the filtered water. Alternative clarification treatment using membranes (ultrafiltration or microfiltration) gives similar treated water quality. The remaining question being the SDI adaptation to characterise the fouling potential of a permeated water. These very good values on both conventional and membrane treatments should result in both

nov-07

oct-03

oct-10

oct-17

oct-24

oct-31

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50 45 40 35

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SDI (%/min.)

30 25 20 15 10
Persian Gulf Gulf of Oman

5 0 0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 Turbidity (NTU) 3 3.5 4 4.5 5

Fig. 9. Comparison of the Gulf of Oman and the Persian Gulf water qualities.

low cartridge consumption and long time between cleanings, then long expected life of the reverse osmosis membranes. 5. Conclusion The pilot testing during 9 months on the Gulf of Oman, which was paramount to optimise the pre-treatment stage and the chemical regime in relation to the seawater quality improves the optimisation of the process. The results were used for the commissioning of the full industrial plant, a 37.5 MGD open seawater intake desalination plant located in Fujairah. Preliminary full-scale plant results demonstrate that the foreseen performance and water quality are being achieved. In the Persian Gulf, on a rather bad surface seawater intake, the pre-treatment including dissolved air flotation, direct filtration or ultrafiltration, gives good results in terms of turbidity, algae and hydrocarbon removal, leading to a reliable SDI far bellow 3 value. These pilot tests improve the knowledge of surface seawater treatment upstream RO and

demonstrate the reliability and robustness of such treatment facing variable surface seawater. References
[1] M.A. Galloway and J.G. Minnery, Ultrafiltration as pretreatment to seawater reverse osmosis, Proc. 2001 AWWA Membrane Conference, San Antonio, TX, 2001, 10 p. N. Wade and K. Callister, Desalination: the state of art, J. CIWEM, 11 April (1997) 8797. M. Wilf and M.K. Schierach, Improved performance and cost reduction of RO sweater systems using UF pretreatment, Desalination, 135 (2001) 6168. S.C.J.M. van Hoof, A. Hashim and A.J. Kordes, The effect of ultrafiltration as pretreatment to reverse osmosis in wastewater reuse and seawater desalination applications, Desalination, 124 (1999) 231242. A. Teuler, K. Glucina and J.M. Lan, Assessment of UF pretreatment prior RO membranes for seawater desalination, Desalination, 125 (1999) 8996. V. Bonnlye, A. Brehant, M.A. Sanz and M. Perez, Surface seawater pre-treatment upstream reverse osmosis: long term test using ultrafiltration membranes, Proc. IDA World Congress, Nassau, Bahamas, Sept. 2003, 15 p.

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