Assessing Pretreatment Effectiveness for Particulate, Organic and Biological Fouling in a Full-Scale SWRO Desalination Plant

Abushaban, Almotasembellah; Salinas-Rodríguez, Sergio G.; Pastorelli, Delia; Schippers, Jan C.; Mondal, Subhanjan; Goueli, Said A.; Kennedy,

doi:10.3390/membranes11030167

Cited by 13 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 37 publications

(69 reference statements)

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“…DOM plays a dominant role in the formation of fouling layers on RO membrane surfaces [ 4 ]. Consequently, the effective pretreatment of seawater to remove these potential contaminants is essential for the long-term stable operation of seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) desalination [ 5 , 6 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparison of Coagulation-Integrated Sand Filtration and Ultrafiltration for Seawater Reverse Osmosis Pretreatment

Li,

Xie,

et al. 2024

Membranes

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The removal of dissolved organic matter (DOM) from seawater before the reverse osmosis (RO) processes is crucial for alleviating organic fouling of RO membranes. However, research is still insufficiently developed in the comparison of the effectiveness of integrating coagulation with ultrafiltration (UF) or sand filtration (SF) in the pretreatment stage of seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) for the removal of DOM. In this study, we investigated the effect of pretreatment technologies on RO fouling caused by DOM in seawater, including the integration of coagulation and sand filtration (C-S pretreatment) and the integration of coagulation and ultrafiltration (C-U pretreatment). Both integrated pretreatments achieved comparable DOM removal rates (70.2% for C-U and 69.6% for C-S), and C-S exhibited enhanced removal of UV-absorbing compounds. Although C-U was more proficient in reducing the silt density index (below 2) compared to C-S (above 3) and improved the elimination of humic acid-like organics, it left a higher proportion of tyrosine-protein-like organics, soluble microbial by-product-like organics, and finer organics in the effluent, leading to the formation of a dense cake layer on RO membrane and a higher flux decline. Therefore, suitable technologies should be selected according to specific water conditions to efficiently mitigate RO membrane fouling.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparison of Coagulation-Integrated Sand Filtration and Ultrafiltration for Seawater Reverse Osmosis Pretreatment

Li,

Xie,

et al. 2024

Membranes

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“…However, a significant obstacle to the high performance of RO technology is membrane biofouling, which impacts the water flux and the lifetime of membrane filters and modules [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 ]. Recently, several methods have been developed to monitor biofouling in RO systems, such as assimilable organic carbon (AOC), the membrane biofilm formation rate (mBFR) and bacterial growth potential (BGP) [ 6 , 7 ]. Many pretreatment processes have also been employed to decrease the fouling of RO membranes, such as the chlorination of feed water, ultrafiltration and microfiltration [ 8 , 9 , 10 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Enhanced Anti-Biofouling Properties of BWRO Membranes via the Deposition of Poly (Catechol/Polyamine) and Ag Nanoparticles

Xie

Liu

et al. 2023

Membranes

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The surface modification of reverse osmosis (RO) membranes to improve their anti-biofouling properties is gaining increased attention. Here, we modified the polyamide brackish water reverse osmosis (BWRO) membrane via the biomimetic co-deposition of catechol (CA)/tetraethylenepentamine (TEPA) and in situ growth of Ag nanoparticles. Ag ions were reduced into Ag nanoparticles (AgNPs) without extraneous reducing agents. The hydrophilic property of the membrane was improved, and the zeta potential was also increased after the deposition of poly (catechol/polyamine) and AgNPs. Compared with the original RO membrane, the optimized PCPA3-Ag10 membrane showed a slight reduction in water flux, and the salt rejection declined, but enhanced anti-adhesion and anti-bacterial activities were observed. The FDRt of the PCPA3-Ag10 membranes during the filtration of BSA, SA and DTAB solution were 5.63 ± 0.09%, 18.34 ± 0.33% and 34.12 ± 0.15%, respectively, much better than those of the original membrane. Moreover, the PCPA3-Ag10 membrane exhibited a 100% reduction in the number of viable bacteria (B. subtilis and E. coli) inoculated on the membrane. The stability of the AgNPs was also high enough, and these results verify the effectiveness of poly (catechol/polyamine) and the AgNP-based modification strategy for the control of fouling.

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“…Membrane fouling is perhaps the weakest point in RO processes [ 16 , 17 ]. Fouling can be organic [ 44 , 45 ], inorganic [ 46 , 47 ] and biological [ 48 , 49 ]. In terms of performance, fouling mainly has two types of impact.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of SWMM Fouling and Position on the Performance of SWRO Systems in Operating Conditions of Minimum SEC

et al. 2023

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Due to water stress in the world in general desalination technologies are becoming increasingly important. Among the available technologies, reverse osmosis (RO) is the most widespread due to its reliability and efficiency compared to other technologies. The main weakness of RO is the loss of performance due to membrane fouling, which usually affects the water permeability coefficient (A), causing it to decrease. In RO desalination plants, fouling does not affect all spiral wound membrane modules (SWMMs) in the pressure vessels (PVs) in the same way. This will depend on the type of fouling and the position of the SWMM inside the PV. In this study, the impact of A and the position of the SWMM on the performance of the RO system is analyzed. For this purpose, decrements of up to 50% have been assumed for the seven SWMMs in series considering nine commercial SWMM models. The operating point analyzed is that which minimizes the specific energy consumption (SEC), a point obtained in a previous work carried out by the authors. The results show how the impact of A on the SWMM in the first position is more significant than the impact on modules that are in another position for the nine SWRO models studied. A drop of 50% in the coefficient A of the first element produces a permeate loss in the pressure pipe between 0.67 and 1.35 m3 d−1. Furthermore, it was observed that the models with the lowest coefficient A exhibited the highest performance losses in terms of permeate production when A was decreased.

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Assessing Pretreatment Effectiveness for Particulate, Organic and Biological Fouling in a Full-Scale SWRO Desalination Plant

Cited by 13 publications

References 37 publications

Comparison of Coagulation-Integrated Sand Filtration and Ultrafiltration for Seawater Reverse Osmosis Pretreatment

Comparison of Coagulation-Integrated Sand Filtration and Ultrafiltration for Seawater Reverse Osmosis Pretreatment

Enhanced Anti-Biofouling Properties of BWRO Membranes via the Deposition of Poly (Catechol/Polyamine) and Ag Nanoparticles

Impact of SWMM Fouling and Position on the Performance of SWRO Systems in Operating Conditions of Minimum SEC

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