Reverse osmosis Scale

Reverse Osmosis. This was the first membrane-based separation process to be commercialized on a significant scale. The breakthrough discovery that made reverse osmosis (qv) possible was the development of the Loeb-Sourirajan asymmetric cellulose acetate membrane. This membrane made desalination by reverse osmosis practical within a few years commercial plants were installed. The total worldwide market for reverse osmosis membrane modules is about 200 million /yr, spHt approximately between 25% hoUow-ftber and 75% spiral-wound modules. The general trend of the industry is toward spiral-wound modules for this appHcation, and the market share of the hoUow-ftber products is gradually falling (72). 

Ultrafiltration is a pressure-driven filtration separation occurring on a molecular scale (see Dialysis Filtration Hollow-fibermembranes Membrane TECHNOLOGY REVERSE osMOSis). Typically, a liquid including small dissolved molecules is forced through a porous membrane. Large dissolved molecules, coUoids, and suspended soHds that caimot pass through the pores are retained. 

Hardness Calcium, magnesium, barium and strontium salts expressed as CaCOa Chief source of scale in heat exchange equipment, boilers, pipe lines, etc. forms curds with soap interferes wKh dyeing, etc. Softening, distillation, internal boiler water treatment, surface active agents, reverse osmosis, electrodialysis... 

Suifate (S04>-2 Adds to solids content of water, but, in itself, is not usually significant combines with calcium to form calcium sulfate scale Demineralization, distillation, reverse osmosis, electrodialysis... 

It takes 20 to 40 L of sap to yield one liter of maple syrup. To remove the water, you could freeze the sap, as the Native Americans did 300 years ago. The ice that forms is pure water by discarding it, you increase the concentration of sugar in the remaining solution. Large-scale operators today use reverse osmosis to remove about half of the water. The remainder must be boiled off. The characteristic flavor of maple syrup is caused by compounds formed on heating, such as... 

Provision of pretreatment The initial fill volume and MU supply is almost always pretreated in some manner. Because of the large volume of water in these systems, even low-hardness waters can produce sufficient quantities of calcium carbonate scale to severely impede heat transfer thus, for MTHW pretreatment, the use of ion-exchange softeners is the norm. For HTHW, some form of demineralization such as reverse osmosis (RO) or deionization by cation-anion exchange is typically preferred. 

Membrane equipment for industrial scale operation of microfiltration, ultrafiltration and reverse osmosis is supplied in the form of modules. The area of membrane contained in these basic modules is in the range 1-20 m2. The modules may be connected together in series or in parallel to form a plant of the required performance. The four most common types of membrane modules are tubular, flat sheet, spiral wound and hollow fibre, as shown in Figures 8.9-8.12. 

Figure 8.19. Outline flow-diagram of a large-scale reverse-osmosis plant for the demineralisation of brackish...

All symbols are defined at the end of the paper. Equation 10 defines the pure water permeability constant A for the membrane which is a measure of its overall porosity eq 12 defines the solute transport parameter D /K6 for the membrane, which is also a measure of the average pore size on the membrane surface on a relative scale. The Important feature of the above set of equations is that neither any one equation in the set of equations 10 to 13, nor any part of this set of equations is adequate representation of reverse osmosis transport the latter is governed simultaneously by the entire set of eq 10 to 13. Further, under steady state operating conditions, a single set of experimental data on (PWP), (PR), and f enables one to calculate the quantities A, Xy 2> point... 

Research effort at Albany International Research Co. has developed unit processes necessary for pilot scale production of several species of reverse osmosis hollow fiber composite membranes. These processes include spin-dope preparation, a proprietary apparatus for dry-jet wet-spinning of microporous polysul-fone hollow fibers, coating of these fibers with a variety of permselective materials, bundle winding using multifilament yarns and module assembly. Modules of the membrane identified as Quantro II are in field trial against brackish and seawater feeds. Brackish water rejections of 94+% at a flux of 5-7 gfd at 400 psi have been measured. Seawater rejections of 99+% at 1-2 gfd at 1000 psi have been measured. Membrane use requires sealing of some portion of the fiber bundle for installation in a pressure shell. Much effort has been devoted to identification of potting materials which exhibit satisfactory adhesion to the fiber while... 

Another full-scale process combines catalytic oxidation including biodegradation, adsorption, precipitation/flocculation, and reverse osmosis [120]. 

Koyuncu et al. [56] presented pilot-scale studies on the treatment of pulp and paper mill effluents using two-stage membrane filtrations, ultrafiltration and reverse osmosis [56]. The combination of UF and RO resulted in very high removals of COD, color, and conductivity from the effluents. At the end of a single pass with seawater membrane, the initial COD, color and conductivity values were reduced to 10-20 mg/L, 0-100 PCCU (platinum cobalt color units) and 200-300 ps/cm, respectively. Nearly complete color removals were achieved in the RO experiments with seawater membranes. 

Low-volume waste sources include water treatment processes that prevent scale formation such as clarification, filtration, lime/lime soda softening, ion exchange, reverse osmosis, and evaporation. Also included are drains and spills from floor and yard drains and laboratory streams. 

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