CHE 415 Unit Operations II Experiment #, title: 4, Reverse Osmosis Senders Name: Vino Patkunarajah

Chemical Engineering Other group members: Noble Mpandare, Igor Cardoso Senders Duties: Safety Officer
Section and Group #s: 3, 3 Date: 9/29/2014
Schematic of Equipment

Figure 1: Reverse Osmosis Schematic (including Labels)
[1]


CHE 415 Unit Operations II Experiment #, title: 4, Reverse Osmosis Senders Name: Vino Patkunarajah
Chemical Engineering Other group members: Noble Mpandare, Igor Cardoso Senders Duties: Safety Officer
Section and Group #s: 3, 3 Date: 9/29/2014
Detailed Procedure of Experiment
1. Close the Municipal Shut off Valve
2. Close the Inlet Shut-off Valve
3. Confirm that a 5-micron filter cartridge is installed in the back pre-filter housing
4. Open the Inlet Shut-off Valve
5. Insure that the feed water source is turned on and any pretreatment devices are in service mode
6. Verify that the Reject tube is connected to the drain
7. Verify that the Product tube is connected to the storage tank
8. Verify that the Level Controls are properly connected
9. Open the Municipal Shut off Valve
10. Fully Open (counter-clockwise) High Pressure Valve
11. Fully Close (clockwise) Recycle Valve
12. Turn control switch to ON
13. To adjust the Flow Rate set the High Pressure Valve to 30 psi
14. Record TDS, Flow Rate and Pressure of both the feed and product stream
15. Repeat Step 3 & 4 with the High Pressure Valve set to 55, 80, 105, 130 psi
16. Open Recycle Valve for 20%
17. Adjust the High Pressure Valve to 30 psi, and record the variables from Step 4.
18. Repeat Step 7 for all Pressure Values found in Step 5.
19. Repeat Steps 7 & 8 with the Recycle stream set to 40% and 60%
20. Turn control switch to OFF
21. Close the Inlet Shut-off Valve
Safety and Environmental Concerns
During experiment
All members are required to wear their hard hats, safety goggles, and laboratory coats when inside the Lab room.
Members must also be aware of water spills. If there is a water spill close the valve that is causing the overflow and
proceed to clean the spill.
Emergency Procedure
If there is a system failure, in order to prevent a slipping hazard: turn off the control switch then close the
municipal water supply and inlet shut off valve, then open the drain valve at the storage tank.
In case of a fire alarm, follow the same procedure for system failure, then immediately evacuate the building. The
safety officer should ensure that all team members are gathered in one area outside the building. When the
emergency has been cleared, the safety officer is to ensure that the experiment procedure is followed to start the
Reverse Osmosis system, then continue the experiment.
Equipment Safety
To prevent damage to the system:
Do not allow the system to exceed 150 psi
Ensure that the high pressure pump does not run dry
Ensure that the Inlet Shut-off Valve is open during the experiment
Ensure that the High Pressure Valve is not completely closed, as over-pressurization will damage the
system
Do not operate the system without a filter cartridge
CHE 415 Unit Operations II Experiment #, title: 4, Reverse Osmosis Senders Name: Vino Patkunarajah
Chemical Engineering Other group members: Noble Mpandare, Igor Cardoso Senders Duties: Safety Officer
Section and Group #s: 3, 3 Date: 9/29/2014
Environmental Concerns
The desalination of sea water is one of the main industrial applications of reverse osmosis. Desalination of sea
water could lead to brine discharge, which is an environmental concern. Brine discharge could contain harmful
chemicals that may cause adverse effects to marine life (Lenntech, 2014).
Points of Discussion
Reverse osmosis in the City of Toronto uses water as the solvent (Haguewater.ca, 2014).
The acceptable conductivity for drinking water is 0.0005-0.005 S/m (siemens per meter) (Lenntech, 2014)
The pressure should be increased in the equipment to a value higher than the osmotic pressure of the
inlet water. Osmotic Pressure is the pressure required for a solution to prevent inward flow of water
across the membrane.


CHE 415 Unit Operations II Experiment #, title: 4, Reverse Osmosis Senders Name: Vino Patkunarajah
Chemical Engineering Other group members: Noble Mpandare, Igor Cardoso Senders Duties: Safety Officer
Section and Group #s: 3, 3 Date: 9/29/2014
Information-Gathering Form

CHE 415 Unit Operations II Experiment #, title: 4, Reverse Osmosis Senders Name: Vino Patkunarajah
Chemical Engineering Other group members: Noble Mpandare, Igor Cardoso Senders Duties: Safety Officer
Section and Group #s: 3, 3 Date: 9/29/2014
References
Lenntech, B. (2014). Water conductivity - Lenntech. Lenntech.com. Retrieved 29 September 2014, from
http://www.lenntech.com/
Tucotte, G. (2014). CHE 415: Unit Operations II: Laboratory Manual. Ryerson University
Haguewater.ca. (2014). Reverse Osmosis Systems and Reverse Osmosis Supplies in Toronto GTA - Hague Quality
Water. Retrieved 30 September 2014, from http://haguewater.ca/products/drinking-water-purifier/


Safety Officer
Schematic diagram (or PFD*) /1
Detailed Procedure /2
(consistent with Leaders Design) /1
Safety** / Environment / Industry /3
Points of discussion for final report /2
Filled information-gathering sheet /1
___
Total /10