Reducing the specific energy consumption of 1st-pass SWRO by application of high-flux membranes fed with high-pH, decarbonated seawater

Water Research
Liron OphekOri Lahav

Abstract

A new operational approach is presented, which has the potential to substantially cut down on the energy and cost demand associated with seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) desalination, without changing the currently-installed infrastructure. The approach comprises acidification/decarbonation of the feed seawater followed by high-pH single RO pass using high-flux membranes. Since the limitation imposed by CaCO3(s) precipitation is overcome, the recovery ratio can be significantly increased. This work presents a new operational concept aimed at maximizing the benefits that can be obtained from new low-energy RO membranes available on the market. Results obtained from operating a pilot RO system revealed that following an acidification and decarbonation step, recovery ratio of 56% could be practically attained, along with effluent TDS and boron concentrations of 375 and 0.3 mg/l, respectively (feed water pH was adjusted to pH9.53 following the decarbonation step). The specific energy consumption (SEC) of this operation was calculated to be 5%-10% lower than the SEC typically associated with "conventional" SWRO operation. Two further scenarios were theoretically considered, under which the limiting operational parameter became Mg(OH)...Continue Reading

References

Dec 17, 2008·Environmental Science & Technology·Raphael Semiat
Apr 18, 2009·Water Research·Lauren F GreenleePhilippe Moulin
Jan 26, 2011·Water Research·Arun SubramaniJoseph G Jacangelo
Aug 6, 2011·Science·Menachem Elimelech, William A Phillip

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