Energy efficiency of batch and semi-batch (CCRO) reverse osmosis desalination

Inorganic fouling mitigation by salinity cycling in batch reverse osmosis

Reverse osmosis (RO) technologies have been widely implemented around the world to address the rising severity of freshwater scarcity. As desalination capacity increases, reducing the energy consumption of the RO process per permeate volume (i.e., specific energy consumption) is of particular importance. In this study, numerical models are used to characterize and compare the energy efficiency of one-stage continuous RO, multi-stage continuous RO, and closed-circuit RO (CCRO) processes. The simulated results across a broad range of feed salinity (5,000–50,000 ppm, i.e., 5–50 g kg−1) and recovery (40%–95%) demonstrate that, compared with the most common one-stage continuous RO, two-stage and three-stage continuous RO can reduce the specific energy consumption by up to 40.9% and 53.6%, respectively, while one-stage and two-stage CCRO can lead to 45.0% and 67.5% reduction, respectively. The differences in energy efficiencies of various RO configurations are more salient when desalinating high-salinity feed at a high recovery ratio. From the standpoints of energy saving and capital cost, the simulated results indicate that multi-stage CCRO is an optimal desalination process with great potential for practical implementation.

As world demand for clean water increases, reverse osmosis (RO) desalination has emerged as an attractive solution. Continuous RO is the most used desalination technology today. However, a new generation of configurations, working in unsteady-state feed concentration and pressure, have gained more attention recently, including the batch RO process. Our work presents a mathematical modeling for batch RO that offers the possibility of monitoring all variables of the process, including specific energy consumption, as a function of time and the recovery ratio. Validation is achieved by comparison with data from the experimental set-up and an existing model in the literature. Energetic comparison with continuous RO processes confirms that batch RO can be more energy efficient than can continuous RO, especially at a higher recovery ratio. It used, at recovery, 31% less energy for seawater and 19% less energy for brackish water. Modeling also proves that the batch RO process does not have to function under constant flux to deliver good energetic performance. In fact, under a linear pressure profile, batch RO can still deliver better energetic performance than can a continuous configuration. The parameters analysis shows that salinity, pump and energy recovery devices efficiencies are directly linked to the energy demand. While increasing feed volume has a limited effect after a certain volume due to dilution, it also shows, interestingly, a recovery ratio interval in which feed volume does not affect specific energy consumption.

Semi-closed reverse osmosis (SCRO): A concise, flexible, and energy-efficient desalination process

This work focuses on Specific Energy Consumption (SEC) in batch and semi-batch reverse osmosis (RO) processes. It is proved from optimal control theory that the minimal SEC in semi-batch RO occurs at constant flux conditions, similar to conclusions in both batch RO and continuous, infinite-stage RO. While semi-batch RO is comparable to two- or three-stage RO at the thermodynamic limit (i.e. zero flux), its performance may be severely compromised by finite flux applied in desalination and efficacy of flushing before the next filtration step. Batch RO is even more susceptible to salt retained during flushing. On the basis of typical flux used in industrial desalination and a 95% flushing efficacy, semi-batch RO at the cyclic steady state is only similar to one-stage RO at low recoveries (e.g. 30 and 40%) and excels slightly at high recoveries (e.g. 50 and 60%). Batch RO may outperform one-stage RO but is still not as good as two-stage RO. Reducing salt retention and operating at a reduced flux are ways to make batch and semi-batch ROs energy advantageous over their continuous counterparts.

Thermodynamic analysis of a solar thermal facilitated membrane seawater desalination process

Desalination is probably the only means for fresh water supply to countries in decertified climate. The majority of GCC counties rely on desalinated water for fresh water supply to major cities. Over 70% of the desalinated water in the GCC comes from thermal desalination plants including Multi Stage Flash (MSF) and Multi Effect Distillation (MED). The new trend in the desalination plant in the GCC is 30% Reverse Osmosis (RO) and 70% thermal. However, these percentages vary from one to another country depending on feed water quality and expertise. For example, Oman Sea has lower salinity than the Gulf water and hence Oman uses more RO for desalination than MED and MSF. This decision is also driven by economy as RO process less energy intensive and hence the produced water is less expensive as compared to thermal plants. On the contrary, Qatar and Kuwait use more MSF followed by MED due to the high salinity and low quality feed water. This is also because trials of RO in both Qatar and Kuwait were not successful because of the problems of membrane fouling and restrict pre-treatment requirements due to the quality of the water intake.The advantages of RO over thermal technologies are well known in terms of lower energy consumption and the cost of produced water; but are not yet taken advantage of in the GCC zone. One of the reasons is blamed on high feed water salinity and bad water quality; other reasons such as lack of experience, red tides and reliability are contributed to the dominance of thermal plants. However, field experience showed that good pretreatment and optimized RO design may overcome the problems of high feed salinity and bad water quality. Several RO plants, such as Fujairah in UAE, are good examples of a working RO technology in the harsh water environment. Good RO design includes design and optimization of both pretreatment and post-treatment. Field experience showed that most of RO plants failure was due to inefficient pretreatment which resulted in providing low quality water to the RO membrane that caused fouling. Fouling, including biological and scaling, can be handled once an efficient pretreatment process is available. Recent advances in pre-treatment techniques include the combination of Forward Osmosis (FO) with RO among other methods. Recent studies by the authors including commercial implantations have shown that the combination of FO with RO addresses the most technical challenge of RO process and that is fouling, which results in lower energy consumption and less chemical additives. Experience showed fouling in FO process in reversible, i.e. can be removed by backlashing while fouling in conventional RO process is irreversible.In this study, the feasibility of integrating FO with RO process for the desalting of the Gulf water in Qatar is presented. The results are expressed in terms of specific energy consumption, process recovery, produced water quality, chemical additives and overall process cost.The implementation of RO for desalination is not only reducing the cost of desalination but also the environmental impact. More R&D should be done to provide useful data about RO application and suitability for the Gulf water. The R&D should be focused on laboratory to market development of RO technology using rigorous lab scale and pilot plant testing program.

Objectives : A water treatment system, combining aeration and reverse osmosis (RO) processes, was introduced to improve water supply facilities in a small village where additional water treatment was required due to high concentrations of natural radioactive substances, nitrate nitrogen, and fluoride. In this study, CCRO(Closed-circuit reverse osmosis) was first introduced for commercial use in Korea. With this system, we evaluated its water treatment efficiency and effectiveness of blending the aerated water and RO permeate for improved waterworks in rural areas.Methods : The removal rate of major pollutants and other ionic substances was evaluated by analyzing the water quality of raw water and unit processes. In addition, the operational efficiency of a small-scale water supply facility was verified and optimized by evaluating a change in operational characteristics depending on the blending ratio of the treated waters by aeration and CCRO processes.Results and Discussion : Up to 86% of the radon contained in raw water was removed by the aeration process within 2 hours, and 98.9% of uranium, 85.5% of nitrate nitrogen, and 82.8% of fluoride were removed by the RO process. In the case of other ionic substances, more than 80% was removed on average by the RO process. The higher blending ratio of RO permeate up to 75% resulted in the better quality of the final treated water. However, since requiring the high flux and pressure (at 1.8 m<sup>3</sup>/hr and 7.6 bar, respectively), CCRO operation resulted in a relatively high specific power consumption at 0.27 kWh/m<sup>3</sup>.Conclusion : In this study, we found that the major contaminants (natural radioactive substances, nitrate nitrogen, and fluoride) were effectively removed by the water treatment system wherein the aeration and CCRO processes were combined. In particular, it was confirmed for the first time in Korea that the stable operation and water treatment efficiency of the CCRO process was satisfactory for commercial purposes. It could produce high-quality tap water through the blending of waters treated by aeration and CCRO, expecting that meeting drinking-water quality standards would be attainable even when raw water contains high-concentration pollutants.

Impact of salt retention on true batch reverse osmosis energy consumption: Experiments and model validation

In recent years, the increasing threat to groundwater quality due to human activities has become a matter of great concern. The groundwater quality problems present today are caused by contamination and by overexploitation, or by combination of both, which are faced by many Indian states. Today, reverse osmosis (RO) membranes are the leading technology for desalination of groundwater because of their strong separation capabilities and exhibiting a great potential for treatment of waters worldwide. However, the RO process had some problems due to the formation of polarization films because high pressure operation and by-products which may generate bacteria and fouling. Also, high energy consumption and brine disposal problem is faced in RO process due to the limited recovery of water. These problems may be overcome by other membrane thermal process such as a membrane distillation (MD). This paper addresses the outline of RO and MD process for desalination. RO has developed over the past 40 years and MD is an emerging technology for brackish water desalination and yet is not fully implemented in industry. The MD is the better alternative to RO for desalination theoretically found in the literature.

Reverse Osmosis (RO) process is being engaged to yield fresh water from brackish water sources. However, the RO process is characterized by its high specific energy consumption (SEC) owing to high-pressure pumps. The current study focuses on reducing the SEC of the brackish water RO desalination plant using model-based optimization practice. The inlet conditions of RO process such as the feed pressure, flow rate (individual membrane module and total plant) and temperature, have a substantial influence on the performance indicators namely, water productivity, product concentration and SEC. Therefore, the optimisation of this study has been directed to determine optimal inlet conditions within feasible limits to minimise SEC. Arab Potash Company (APC) brackish water RO desalination plant has been considered as the case study. The optimal inlet conditions have resulted in a significant energy saving of 27.97% depending on the set of decision variables being considered at a fixed brackish water feed concentration.

Chapter 2 - Water Desalination by (Nonsolar) Renewable Energy-Powered RO Systems

Inorganic scaling in reverse osmosis (RO) desalination: Mechanisms, monitoring, and inhibition strategies

Minimizing brine waste in thermal power plants: A techno-economic evaluation of secondary RO and closed circuit RO systems

How RO membrane permeability and other performance factors affect process cost and energy use: A review