scholarly journals Reverse osmosis effluents: biogeochemical and mineralogical investigation

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Encarnación Ruiz-Agudo ◽  
Lucian Staicu ◽  
Mihály Pósfai ◽  
Paulina Wojtowicz ◽  
Diego Baragaño Coto ◽  
...  
Author(s):  
H. K. Plummer ◽  
E. Eichen ◽  
C. D. Melvin

Much of the work reported in the literature on cellulose acetate reverse osmosis membranes has raised new and important questions with regard to the dense or “active” layer of these membranes. Several thickness values and structures have been attributed to the dense layer. To ensure the correct interpretation of the cellulose acetate structure thirteen different preparative techniques have been used in this investigation. These thirteen methods included various combinations of water substitution, freeze drying, freeze sectioning, fracturing, embedding, and microtomy techniques with both transmission and scanning electron microscope observations.It was observed that several factors can cause a distortion of the structure during sample preparation. The most obvious problem of water removal can cause swelling, shrinking, and folds. Improper removal of embedding materials, when used, can cause a loss of electron image contrast and, or structure which could hinder interpretation.


2014 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 467-476
Author(s):  
Nisha Sharma ◽  
Jaspal Singh ◽  
Barjinder Kaur

Radionuclides (uranium, thorium, radium, radon gas etc.) are found naturally in air, water, soil and rock. Everyday, we ingest and inhale these radionuclides through the air we breathe and through food and water we take. Out of the internal exposure via ingestion of radionuclides, water contributes the major portion. The natural radioactivity of water is due to the activity transfer from bed rock and soils. In our surveys carried out in the past few years, we have observed high concentrations of uranium and total dissolved solids (TDS) in drinking waters of some southern parts of Punjab State exceeding the safe limits recommended by national and international agencies. The main drinking water source is the underground water procured from different depths. Due to the highly saline taste, disorders in their digestive systems and other ailments, people are installing reverse osmosis (RO) systems in their houses. Some RO systems have been installed on commercial basis. The state government is also in the process of installing community RO systems at the village level. As high values of uranium are also undesired and may pose health hazards due to radioactivity and toxicity of uranium, we have conducted a survey in the field to study the performance of various RO systems for removal of uranium and TDS. Water samples from about forty RO systems from Faridkot, Mansa, Bathinda and Amritsar districts of Punjab State were collected and analyzed. Our results show that some RO systems are able to remove more than 99% of uranium in the underground waters used for drinking purposes. TDS values are also reduced considerably to the desired levels. So RO systems can be used to avoid the risk of unduly health problems posed by high concentrations of uranium and TDS in drinking water.


2012 ◽  
Vol 11 (12) ◽  
pp. 2319-2331 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Gavrilescu ◽  
Ana-Maria Schiopu ◽  
George Ciprian Piuleac ◽  
Corneliu Cojocaru ◽  
Ion Apostol ◽  
...  

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chem Int

The objective of this work is to study the ageing state of a used reverse osmosis (RO) membrane taken in Algeria from the Benisaf Water Company seawater desalination unit. The study consists of an autopsy procedure used to perform a chain of analyses on a membrane sheet. Wear of the membrane is characterized by a degradation of its performance due to a significant increase in hydraulic permeability (25%) and pressure drop as well as a decrease in salt retention (10% to 30%). In most cases the effects of ageing are little or poorly known at the local level and global measurements such as (flux, transmembrane pressure, permeate flow, retention rate, etc.) do not allow characterization. Therefore, a used RO (reverse osmosis) membrane was selected at the site to perform the membrane autopsy tests. These tests make it possible to analyze and identify the cause as well as to understand the links between performance degradation observed at the macroscopic scale and at the scale at which ageing takes place. External and internal visual observations allow seeing the state of degradation. Microscopic analysis of the used membranes surface shows the importance of fouling. In addition, quantification and identification analyses determine a high fouling rate in the used membrane whose foulants is of inorganic and organic nature. Moreover, the analyses proved the presence of a biofilm composed of protein.


Author(s):  
Leonid S. Bobe ◽  
Nikolay A. Salnikov

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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