Indirect desalination of Red Sea water with forward osmosis and low pressure reverse osmosis for water reuse

While high quality water reuse based on dual membrane filtration (membrane filtration or ultrafiltration, followed by reverse osmosis) is expected to be progressively applied, treatment and sustainable management of the produced reverse osmosis concentrate (ROC) are still important issues. Forward osmosis (FO) is a promising technology for maximising water recovery and further dewatering ROC so that zero liquid discharge is produced. Elevated concentrations of organic and inorganic compounds may act as potential foulants of the concentrate desalting system, in that they consist of, for example, FO and a subsequent crystallizer. The present study investigated conditions under which the FO system can serve as concentration phase with the focus on its fouling propensity using model foulants and real ROC. Bulk organics from ROC consisted mainly of humic acids (HA) and building blocks since wastewater-derived biopolymers were retained by membrane filtration or ultrafiltration. Organic fouling of the FO system by ROC-derived bulk organics was low. HA was only adsorbed moderately at about 7% of the initial concentration, causing a minor flux decline of about 2–4%. However, scaling was a major impediment to this process if not properly controlled, for instance by pH adjustment or softening.

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Application of forward osmosis membrane in nanofiltration mode to treat reverse osmosis concentrate from wastewater reclamation plants

Water Science & Technology ◽

10.2166/wst.2018.087 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 77 (8) ◽

pp. 1990-1997 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Shahzad Jamil ◽

Sanghyun Jeong ◽

Saravanamuthu Vigneswaran

Keyword(s):

Reverse Osmosis ◽

Organic Compounds ◽

Water Reuse ◽

Inorganic Compounds ◽

Forward Osmosis ◽

Wastewater Reclamation ◽

Permeate Flux ◽

Acid Pretreatment ◽

Inorganic Matter ◽

Gac Adsorption

Abstract Reverse osmosis concentrate (ROC) from wastewater reclamation plants have high concentrations of organic and inorganic compounds, which have to be removed before its disposal. Forward osmosis (FO) and nanofiltration (NF) membranes were tested to treat the ROC for possible water reuse. This research investigated the combined and individual influence of organic and inorganic matter on the fouling of NF and FO membranes. The results revealed that the NF membrane removed most of the organic compounds and some inorganics. The study further highlighted that the FO membrane at NF mode removed the majority of the inorganic compounds and some organics from the ROC. A pretreatment of granulated activated carbon (GAC) adsorption removed 90% of the organic compounds from ROC. In addition, GAC adsorption and acid pretreatment of ROC improved the net water permeate flux by 17% when an FO membrane was used in the NF system. Acid treatment (by bringing the pH down to 5) helped to remove inorganic ions. Therefore, the resultant permeate can be recycled back to the RO water reclamation plant to improve its efficiency.

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Desalination of Red Sea water using both electrodialysis and reverse osmosis as complementary methods

Egyptian Journal of Petroleum ◽

10.1016/j.ejpe.2015.02.007 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 24 (1) ◽

pp. 71-75 ◽

Cited By ~ 16

Author(s):

E.A. Abdel-Aal ◽

M.E. Farid ◽

Fatma S.M. Hassan ◽

Adila E. Mohamed

Keyword(s):

Reverse Osmosis ◽

Red Sea ◽

Sea Water ◽

Complementary Methods

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Efficiently Combining Water Reuse and Desalination through Forward Osmosis—Reverse Osmosis (FO-RO) Hybrids: A Critical Review

Membranes ◽

10.3390/membranes6030037 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 6 (3) ◽

pp. 37 ◽

Cited By ~ 56

Author(s):

Gaetan Blandin ◽

Arne Verliefde ◽

Joaquim Comas ◽

Ignasi Rodriguez-Roda ◽

Pierre Le-Clech

Keyword(s):

Reverse Osmosis ◽

Critical Review ◽

Water Reuse ◽

Forward Osmosis

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Life cycle cost of a hybrid forward osmosis – low pressure reverse osmosis system for seawater desalination and wastewater recovery

Water Research ◽

10.1016/j.watres.2015.10.017 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 88 ◽

pp. 225-234 ◽

Cited By ~ 120

Author(s):

R. Valladares Linares ◽

Z. Li ◽

V. Yangali-Quintanilla ◽

N. Ghaffour ◽

G. Amy ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Life Cycle ◽

Reverse Osmosis ◽

Life Cycle Cost ◽

Forward Osmosis ◽

Low Pressure ◽

Seawater Desalination

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Analysis and calculation of the process of low-pressure reverse osmosis during recycling of hygienic water

Space engineering and technology ◽

10.33950/spacetech-2308-7625-2019-2-28-36 ◽

2019 ◽

pp. 28-36

Author(s):

Leonid S. Bobe ◽

Nikolay A. Salnikov

Keyword(s):

Mass Transfer ◽

Reverse Osmosis ◽

Life Support ◽

Space Station ◽

Low Pressure ◽

Operating Pressure ◽

Life Support System ◽

Cleaning Agent ◽

The Difference ◽

Pressure Channel

Analysis and calculation have been conducted of the process of low-pressure reverse osmosis in the membrane apparatus of the system for recycling hygiene water for the space station. The paper describes the physics of the reverse osmosis treatment and determines the motive force of the process, which is the difference of effective pressures (operating pressure minus osmotic pressure) in the solution near the surface of the membrane and in the purified water. It is demonstrated that the membrane scrubbing action is accompanied by diffusion outflow of the cleaning agent components away from the membrane. The mass transfer coefficient and the difference of concentrations (and, accordingly, the difference of osmotic pressures) in the boundary layer of the pressure channel can be determined using an extended analogy between mass transfer and heat transfer. A procedure has been proposed and proven in an experiment for calculating the throughput of a reverse osmosis apparatus purifying the hygiene water obtained through the use of a cleaning agent used in sanitation and housekeeping procedures on Earth. Key words: life support system, hygiene water, water processing, low-pressure reverse osmosis, space station.

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Enabling Water Reuse by Treatment of Reverse Osmosis Concentrate: The Promise of Constructed Wetlands

ACS Environmental Au ◽

10.1021/acsenvironau.1c00013 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Rachel C. Scholes ◽

Angela N. Stiegler ◽

Cayla M. Anderson ◽

David L. Sedlak

Keyword(s):

Reverse Osmosis ◽

Constructed Wetlands ◽

Water Reuse

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Using Reverse Osmosis Membrane at High Temperature for Water Recovery and Regeneration from Thermo-Responsive Ionic Liquid-Based Draw Solution for Efficient Forward Osmosis

Membranes ◽

10.3390/membranes11080588 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (8) ◽

pp. 588

Author(s):

Eiji Kamio ◽

Hiroki Kurisu ◽

Tomoki Takahashi ◽

Atsushi Matsuoka ◽

Tomohisa Yoshioka ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Ionic Liquid ◽

High Temperature ◽

Energy Saving ◽

Osmotic Pressure ◽

Reverse Osmosis ◽

Forward Osmosis ◽

Solution Temperature ◽

Water Recovery ◽

Temperature Dependent ◽

Draw Solution

Forward osmosis (FO) membrane process is expected to realize energy-saving seawater desalination. To this end, energy-saving water recovery from a draw solution (DS) and effective DS regeneration are essential. Recently, thermo-responsive DSs have been developed to realize energy-saving water recovery and DS regeneration. We previously reported that high-temperature reverse osmosis (RO) treatment was effective in recovering water from a thermo-responsive ionic liquid (IL)-based DS. In this study, to confirm the advantages of the high-temperature RO operation, thermo-sensitive IL-based DS was treated by an RO membrane at temperatures higher than the lower critical solution temperature (LCST) of the DS. Tetrabutylammonium 2,4,6-trimethylbenznenesulfonate ([N4444][TMBS]) with an LCST of 58 °C was used as the DS. The high-temperature RO treatment was conducted at 60 °C above the LCST using the [N4444][TMBS]-based DS-lean phase after phase separation. Because the [N4444][TMBS]-based DS has a significantly temperature-dependent osmotic pressure, the DS-lean phase can be concentrated to an osmotic pressure higher than that of seawater at room temperature (20 °C). In addition, water can be effectively recovered from the DS-lean phase until the DS concentration increased to 40 wt%, and the final DS concentration reached 70 wt%. From the results, the advantages of RO treatment of the thermo-responsive DS at temperatures higher than the LCST were confirmed.

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Study of the Ecological Footprint and Carbon Footprint in a Reverse Osmosis Sea Water Desalination Plant

Membranes ◽

10.3390/membranes11060377 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (6) ◽

pp. 377

Author(s):

Federico Leon ◽

Alejandro Ramos-Martin ◽

Sebastian Ovidio Perez-Baez

Keyword(s):

Reverse Osmosis ◽

Canary Islands ◽

Ecological Footprint ◽

Sea Water ◽

Water Desalination ◽

Energy Costs ◽

Generation System ◽

Negative Part ◽

Desalination Plant ◽

Materials Used

The water situation in the Canary Islands has been a historical problem that has been sought to be solved in various ways. After years of work, efforts have focused on desalination of seawater to provide safe water mainly to citizens, agriculture, and tourism. Due to the high demand in the Islands, the Canary Islands was a pioneering place in the world in desalination issues, allowing the improvement of the techniques and materials used. There are a wide variety of technologies for desalination water, but nowadays the most used is reverse osmosis. Desalination has a negative part, the energy costs of producing desalinated water are high. To this we add the peculiarities of the electricity generation system in the Canary Islands, which generates more emissions per unit of energy produced compared to the peninsular generation system. In this study we have selected a desalination plant located on the island of Tenerife, specifically in the municipality of Granadilla de Abona, and once its technical characteristics have been known, the ecological footprint has been calculated. To do this we have had to perform some calculations such as the capacity to fix carbon dioxide per hectare in the Canary Islands, as well as the total calculation of the emissions produced in the generation of energy to feed the desalination plant.

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