Microbubble RO membrane cleaning reduces fouling on WWRO plant

Abstract

AbstractOver the last 10 years, there have been significant developments in new devices for energy recovery, new membrane materials and new sizes and orientations of reverse osmosis (RO) plants, all designed to reduce costs and improve efficiency. The fundamental issue of keeping membrane surfaces clean to ensure efficient RO plant operation has seen relatively few recent developments. This is surprising as any fouling of the membrane surface will have a dramatic effect on energy consumption and plant efficiency. Many researchers have focused on identifying and studying the foulants in great detail, but there have been few studies in how to remove it. Commodity acid and alkali compounds are still widely used due to the perceived lower application costs. Specially blended cleaning chemicals incorporating detergents, surfactants and chelants are also in wide use and are increasingly accepted by the market to be economically and environmentally viable. “Strategically pairing chemical agents that have complem...