3/17/2017 NanofiltrationandReverseOsmosis

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Nano ltration and Reverse Osmosis

Membrane technology

NanofiltrationandReverseOsmosisarebothtechniquestobringintoactionunivalentandbivalentions.

Nano ltration
Nanofiltrationisatechniquethathasprosperedoverthepastfewyears.Today,nanofiltrationismainlyappliedindrinkingwaterpurificationprocesssteps,suchaswatersoftening,
decolouringandmicropollutantremoval.
Duringindustrialprocessesnanofiltrationisappliedfortheremovalofspecificcomponents,suchascolouringagents.
Nanofiltrationisapressurerelatedprocess,duringwhichseparationtakesplace,basedonmoleculesize.Membranesbringabouttheseparation.Thetechniqueismainlyappliedfor
theremovaloforganicsubstances,suchasmicropollutantsandmultivalentions.Nanofiltrationmembraneshaveamoderateretentionforunivalentsalts.

Otherapplicationsofnanofiltrationare:
Theremovalofpesticidesfromgroundwater
Theremovalofheavymetalsfromwastewater
Wastewaterrecyclinginlaundries
Watersoftening
Nitratesremoval

Reverse Osmosis (RO)

ReverseOsmosisisbaseduponthefundamentalpursuitforbalance.Twofluidscontainingdifferentconcentrationsofdissolvedsolidsthatcomeincontactwitheachotherwillmixuntil
theconcentrationisuniform.Whenthesetwofluidsareseparatedbyasemipermeablemembrane(whichletsthefluidflowthrough,whiledissolvedsolidsstaybehind),afluid
containingalowerconcentrationwillmovethroughthemembraneintothefluidscontainingahigherconcentrationofdissolvedsolids.(Binniee.a.,2002)
Afterawhilethewaterlevelwillbehigherononesideofthemembrane.Thedifferenceinheightiscalledtheosmoticpressure.
Bypursuingpressureuponthefluidcolumn,whichexceedstheosmoticpressure,onewillgetareversedeffect.Fluidsarepressedbackthroughthemembrane,whiledissolvedsolids
staybehindinthecolumn.
Usingthistechnique,alargerpartthesaltcontentofthewatercanberemoved.

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1.Waterflowsfromacolumnwithalowdissolvedsolidscontenttoacolumnwithahighdissolvedsolidscontent
2.Osmoticpressureisthepressurethatisusedtostopthewaterfromflowingthroughthemembrane,inordertocreatebalance
3.Bypursuingpressurethatexceedstheosmoticpressure,thewaterflowwillbereversedwaterflowsfromthecolumnwithahighdissolvedsolidscontenttothecolumnwithalow
dissolvedsolidscontent

ReverseOsmosisisatechniquethatismainlyappliedduringdrinkingwaterpreparation.Theprocessofdrinkingwaterpreparationfromsaltyseawateriscommonlyknown.Besides
that,ReverseOsmosisisappliedfortheproductionofultrapurewaterandboilerfeedwater.Itisalsoappliedinthefoodsector(concentrationoffruitjuice,sugarandcoffee),inthe
galvanicindustry(concentrationofwastewater)andinthedairyindustry(concentrationofmilkforcheeseproduction).

Summarized,theapplicationsofReverseOsmosisapplicationare:
Watersoftening
Drinkingwaterproduction
Processwaterproduction
Ultrapurewaterproduction(electronicindustries)
Concentrationofmolecularsolventsforfoodanddairyindustries

ThepretreatmentoffeedwaterfornanofiltrationorReverseOsmosisinstallationsgreatlyinfluencestheperformanceoftheinstallation.Therequiredformofpretreatmentdependson
thefeedwaterquality.Thepurposeofpretreatmentisreducingtheorganicmattercontentandtheamountofbacteria,aswellasloweringtheMFI.

Theorganicmattercontentandtheamountsofbacteriashouldbeaslowaspossibletopreventthesocalledbiofoulingofmembranes.Theapplicationofapretreatmenthasseveral
benefits:
Membraneshavealongerlifespanwhenpretreatmentisperformed
Theproductiontimeoftheinstallationisextended
Themanagementtasksbecomesimpler
Theemploymentcostsarelower

Nexttopretreatmentonecanperformachemicaldosage(acid,antiscalent),topreventscalingandprecipitationofinsolublesolids,suchascalciumcarbonateandbariumsulphateon
themembranesurface.
Theappliedacidsarehydrochloricacid(HCl)andsulphuricacid(H2SO4).
Sulphuricacidisthemostwidelyusedchemicalforthispurpose.However,hydrochloricacidisappliedmoreandmorebecausesulphuricacidcannegativelyinfluencethefoulingspeed
ofamembrane.Whenthefeedwatercontainshighamountsofsulphateions,hydrochloricacidreplacessulphuricacid.Thedosageofsulphuricacidwouldenhancethechancesof
scalingbysulphateionsonthemembranesinthiscase.(Baker,2000)

backtotop Thisisanoverviewofthemainpretreatmenttechniquesandthesubstances,whicharereducedduringtheseprocesses.

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