Membrane Technologies
Six different membrane technologies are applied for the production of drinking
and industrial water and in water reuse.
These technologies are :
microfiltration
ultrafiltration
nanofiltration
reverse osmosis
electro-dialysis
electro-deionization
(MF)
(UF)
(NF)
(RO)
(ED)
(EDI)
MainApplication
ReverseOsmosis
Desalination:Seawater
Desalination:BrackishWater
Nanofiltration
Removal:Sulphate,Hardness,NOM
andmicropollutants
Ultra/Microfiltration
Removal: Suspendedand
ColloidalMatter/
Disinfection
P (pressure driven)
QRetentate
CRetentate
QFeed
CFeed
QPermeate
CPermeate
Brine or
Concentrate
Product
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QPermeate
Recovery (R) = -------------(%)
QFeed
Maximize
CFeed - CPermeate
Rejection (r) = ---------------------(%)
CFeed
Maximize
Media filtration
Dissolvedairflotation
Desalination Technologies
Group
Type
Distillation
processes
Multistageflashevaporation(MSF) Steamandelectrical
Membrane
processes
Multieffectevaporation(MED)
Steamandelectrical
ReverseOsmosis
Nanofiltration
Electrodialysis
Electrical
Electrical
Electrical
Electrical/chemicals
Electrodeionization
Ion
exchange
FormofEnergy
Cationandanionexchange
Chemicalsfor
regeneration
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Technology
Seawater
Distillation
SWReverseOsmosis
Brackish/Fresh
ReverseOsmosis
Electrodialysis
Lowsalinitywater
(polishing)
Ionexchange
Hardwaterand
coloredwater
Nanofiltration
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Desalination Capacity
Source: Sabine Lattemann
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Capacity
(Mm3/day)
70
60
MED
MSF
ED
NF
Total
RO
Total
50
RO
40
30
20
MSF
10
0
1950
MED
ED
NF
1960
1970
1980
1990
2000
2010
2020
Reverseosmosisisdominationthemarket,becauseinvestmentcostandenergycost
arelowerthanfordistillation(MSFandMED)
Source:DesalData,2015
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m
microfiltration
0.02 - 10
ultrafiltration
0.005 - 0.02
nm
20 - 10,000
5-
20
nanofiltration
<0.001
<1
reverse osmosis
<0.001
<1
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Rejection
Whether particles can pass a membrane or (partially) not (are partially or fully
rejected (can not pass) depends on:
Firstly
size of the particles;
size of the pores in the membranes;
So, the mechanism of sieving is governing for an important part the process.
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Rejection
In addition
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Salinity
Salinity of seawater, brackish water, or fresh water is the result of presence of
cations and anions.
The most important combination of these ions is sodium/chloride.
Sodium ion is written as Na+
Chloride ion is written as Cl
Several other cations and anions are usually present as well e.g.,
Calcium Ca2+, Magnesium Mg2+, Potassium K+, Ammonium NH4+
Sulfate SO42-, Hydrogen carbonate HCO3-, Nitrate NO3-, Fluoride F-
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dissolved
colloidal
<0.001m( <1nm)
0.001 1m(1 1000nm)
suspended
>1m ( >1000nm)
Sizeofinorganicions(includingattachedwatermolecules)
H+
0.053nm
H 2O
0.33nm
K+
0.25
Cl
0.24
Na+
0.37
NO3
0.26
Ca2+
0.62
HCO3
0.42
Mg2+
0.70
SO42
0.46
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Size of microbials
Microbe
Algae
>10
Giardiacysts
5 15
Cryptosporidiumoocysts
3 5
Coliformbacteria
0.1 10
Viruses
0.02 0.03
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Removal
Removal
RO
NF
UF
MF
ED
+/
.syntheticorganic
compounds
.naturalorganicmatter
+/
Inorganiccompounds
.monovalent:Na+,Cl
. divalent SO4
2,Ca2+
Organiccompounds
Microorganisms
Suspended/
colloidalmatter
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perforated
permeate tube
elements within
pressure vessels
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e.g., 35 m2
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ID ~ 0.8 mm
e.g., 40 m2 28
Small Footprint
Pentair/XFlow Aquaflex
Insideoutside/150m2/
PES/Backwashwithairscour
inside
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Immersed Membrane
Cassette (left) vs. System (right) (Zenon Environmental)
possible
aeration
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Tubular Modules
Ceramic Modules
Monolith
Dead End
w/
Periodic Backwash
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Immersed
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Membrane Materials
Materials:
Polymers:
RO and NF:
e.g., Polyamide (PA), Cellulose Acetate (CA)
UF and MF:
Polysulfone (PS), Polyethersulfone (PES), Polypropylene (PP),
Polyvinylidene Fluoride (PVDF), Polyacrylonitrile (PAN)
Symmetric vs. Asymmetric Membranes
Single Layer vs. Support Layer + Thin Film
Ceramics (e.g., Alumina (aluminum oxide))
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Conventional
Drinkingwater
UF/MF
NF
BrackishRO
BrackishED
ROSeawater
Distillation
Costofenergy
bar
kWh/m3
heat
0.5 2
5 10
10 20
50 90
0.1 0.2
0.1 0.2
0.3 0.5
0.5 1.0
0.5 1.0
3 4
1 4
160MJ/m3
$0.05 0.1/kWh
$5 15/GJ
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Cost indications
or $ perm3
Seawaterreverseosmosis
0.50 1.00
Brackishwaterreverseosmosis
0.25 0.50
Electrodialysis
0.25 0.50
Nanofiltration
0.15 0.25
Ultra/microfiltration
0.05 0.10
Remark:EnergyisamajorcostcomponentinseawaterRO
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Generated
3,700kWhinoneyear.
Thisamount is
equivalenttothe
energyneeded
desalting 1,050m3
seawater.
Yearly consumption of
drinkingwaterfrom the
tapequals75m3.
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Questions
What is a membrane?
Are micro- and ultrafiltration able to reduce salinity?
Explain why or why not.
Which ion is better removed by reverse osmosis: chloride or sulfate?
Explain briefly your answer.
Why is reverse osmosis dominating the desalination market?
Are viruses effectively removed by microfiltration?
Why is electro-dialysis not removing bacteria?
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