Inorganic fouling mitigation by salinity cycling in batch reverse osmosis

David M Warsinger; Emily W Tow; Laith A Maswadeh; Grace B Connors; Jaichander Swaminathan; John H Lienhard V

doi:10.1016/j.watres.2018.01.060

Inorganic fouling mitigation by salinity cycling in batch reverse osmosis

Water Res. 2018 Jun 15:137:384-394. doi: 10.1016/j.watres.2018.01.060. Epub 2018 Feb 5.

Authors

David M Warsinger¹, Emily W Tow¹, Laith A Maswadeh², Grace B Connors¹, Jaichander Swaminathan¹, John H Lienhard V³

Affiliations

¹ Rohsenow Kendall Heat Transfer Laboratory, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA, 02139-4307, USA.
² Department of Management Science and Engineering, Stanford University, 450 Serra Mall, Stanford, CA, 98305, USA.
³ Rohsenow Kendall Heat Transfer Laboratory, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA, 02139-4307, USA. Electronic address: lienhard@mit.edu.

PMID: 29573825
DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2018.01.060

Abstract

Enhanced fouling resistance has been observed in recent variants of reverse osmosis (RO) desalination which use time-varying batch or semi-batch processes, such as closed-circuit RO (CCRO) and pulse flow RO (PFRO). However, the mechanisms of batch processes' fouling resistance are not well-understood, and models have not been developed for prediction of their fouling performance. Here, a framework for predicting reverse osmosis fouling is developed by comparing the fluid residence time in batch and continuous (conventional) reverse osmosis systems to the nucleation induction times for crystallization of sparingly soluble salts. This study considers the inorganic foulants calcium sulfate (gypsum), calcium carbonate (calcite), and silica, and the work predicts maximum recovery ratios for the treatment of typical water sources using batch reverse osmosis (BRO) and continuous reverse osmosis. The prediction method is validated through comparisons to the measured time delay for CaSO₄ membrane scaling in a bench-scale, recirculating reverse osmosis unit. The maximum recovery ratio for each salt solution (CaCO₃, CaSO₄) is individually predicted as a function of inlet salinity, as shown in contour plots. Next, the maximum recovery ratios of batch and conventional RO are compared across several water sources, including seawater, brackish groundwater, and RO brine. Batch RO's shorter residence times, associated with cycling from low to high salinity during each batch, enable significantly higher recovery ratios and higher salinity than in continuous RO for all cases examined. Finally, representative brackish RO brine samples were analyzed to determine the maximum possible recovery with batch RO. Overall, the induction time modeling methodology provided here can be used to allow batch RO to operate at high salinity and high recovery, while controlling scaling. The results show that, in addition to its known energy efficiency improvement, batch RO has superior inorganic fouling resistance relative to conventional RO.

Keywords: Batch reverse osmosis; High salinity; Induction time; Inorganic fouling; Nucleation; Reverse osmosis.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

Biofouling*
Calcium Carbonate
Calcium Sulfate / chemistry
Groundwater / chemistry
Membranes, Artificial
Models, Theoretical*
Osmosis
Salinity
Salts / chemistry
Seawater / chemistry
Silicon Dioxide / chemistry
Water / chemistry
Water Purification / instrumentation
Water Purification / methods*

Substances

Membranes, Artificial
Salts
brine
Water
Silicon Dioxide
Calcium Carbonate
Calcium Sulfate