A Review: End Of Life Reverse Osmosis Membrane Conversion And Its Prospects In The Study Of Conversion To Reconditioned Membrane

Abstract

Reverse Osmosis (RO) is the most widely applied water purification technology worldwide. However, RO membranes have a short service life before they become waste (End of Life RO/EoL RO), so they must be incinerated or disposed of in landfills. Several sustainability solutions have been proposed and studied in recent years. Therefore, a comprehensive review of the emerging trends in the reuse of EoL RO membranes is presented in this paper. Recycling EoL RO membranes is the most preferred option to solve this waste problem either as direct reuse or after conversion into other types of membranes. Direct reuse of EoL RO membranes can be divided into three categories, such as rejuvenation of EoL RO membranes, use at lower rates of treatment, and use for new applications. Rejuvenation of EoL RO can be done by cleaning treatment, use at a lower level can be done by converting it into NF, UF or MF membranes and EoL RO can be made into recycled products by utilizing parts of the EoL RO membrane module. A review of prospects and challenges faced in the conversion process into reconditioned membranes is also presented in this paper.