journal of

MEMBRANE
SCIENCE
ELSEVIER Journal of Membrane Science 129 (1997) 161-174

Optimal design and scheduling of flexible reverse osmosis networks

°a:~
M i n g j i e Z h u a, Mahmoud M. E1-Halwagl ' , Malik A1-Ahmad b

a Department of Chemical Engineering, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849, USA

b Department of Chemical Engineering, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Received 8 March 1996; received in revised form 15 October 1996; accepted 17 October 1996

Abstract

In this paper, we present a systematic technique for the optimal design and scheduling of flexible reverse osmosis networks
that can accommodate a given range of potential variations in the characteristics of the feed and system performance.
Flexibility provisions are made to allow the system to meet operational tasks as performance declines due to membrane
fouling and scaling. In addition to designing the system, decisions are made regarding the scheduling of maintenance. The
design technique is based on formulating the problem as a mixed-integer nonlinear programming (MINLP) problem whose
objective is to minimize the total annualized cost, while incorporating thermodynamic, technical and flexibility constraints. An
iterative solution procedure is proposed to implement the mathematical programming problem. The merits of the proposed
strategy procedure is illustrated by solving an industrial case study.

Keywords: Reverse osmosis; Economics; Fouling; Water treatment; Design

1. Introduction Several research efforts have been directed

Reverse osmosis (RO) membrane processes are
finding growing industrial interest. They can be effec-
tively used for seawater desalination, waste-water
treatment, and material recovery. For instance, in
the area of desalination, the RO membrane processes
have grown steadily and overtaken much of the share
of market of multistage flash (MSF) distillation by the
end of the 1980s [1]. In addition, industries that use
high-value chemicals are recognizing the efficiency of
RO systems in reusing/recovering these chemicals for
an environmental and economic benefit.
*Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 334 844 2064; fax: +1 334 844
2063; e-mail: mahmoud@eng.auburn.edu
towards membrane modeling [2], and multi-stage
RO system analysis and design [3-8]. Several process
configurations have been industrially implemented.
For instance, the system shown in Fig. la includes
three membrane stages with sequential permeate
staging. This configuration recovers high purity
solvent at the permeate. Another structure, called
the tapered flow arrangement (see Fig. lb) consists
of several stages in series with decreasing number
of modules in parallel. Based on a number of
heuristic rules, several short-cut methods were
proposed for the design of straight-through and
tapered RO systems [6-10].
Despite the usefulness of the foregoing membrane-
hybrid systems, each of these methods suffers from at
least one of the following limitations:

0376-7388/97/$17.00 © 1997 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

PII S0376-7388(96)003 10-9
162 M. Zhu et al./Journal of Membrane Science 129 (1997) 161-174
Feed ReJect)
(a)
Reject)
m
Permeate
(b)
Fig. 1. A state-space representation of RO membrane system. (a)
Permeate-staging RO system; (b) tapered reject-staging RO
scheme.
(1) Inadequate structural representation. All the
above-mentioned works have been based on some
empirical analysis without presenting a systematic
system framework that can embed all structural pos-
sibilities.
(2) Energy-recovery device. For high pressure and
high-flow treatment, use of energy recovery devices
may result in very cost-effective design. Most of the
above-mentioned works have not exploited this eco-
nomic potential.
(3) Single feed/single component separations. All
of previous works addressed single feed/single com-
ponent separations. None of them tackled more than
one component simultaneously.
In order to tackle these limitations, a systematic
procedure was proposed [11] for the design of RO
systems for waste reduction. This procedure features
minimization of total annualized cost and embodiment
of all structural possibilities.
So far, all aforementioned works have been based
on the nominal operating conditions without consid-
ering variations in characteristics of feed and system
performance. An important issue in designing RO
membrane systems is flexibility. Regardless of the
nature and magnitude of feed variations membrane
fouling, etc. the system must realize the assigned
separation tasks. Hence, there is a great need for a
systematic procedure that can address the problem of
designing flexible RO membrane systems.
The area of designing flexible chemical processes
has attracted several research efforts over the past
decade. Grossmann and Morari [12] outlined some
useful concepts involved in integrating flexibility with
design. Grossmann and co-workers [13,14] formu-
lated the flexibility problem as a mathematical pro-
gramming problem. Significant efforts have been
directed toward the synthesis of flexible heat-
exchange networks [15-18]. Design of mass exchange
networks with a specified uncertainty probability dis-
tribution has been recently addressed by Zhu and E1-
Halwagi [19].
The present work addresses the problem of synthe-
sizing a flexible RO system using a combination of RO
membranes, pumps, and energy-recovery turbines for
the separation of solvent and solute from aqueous
streams. The proposed method simultaneously inte-
grates the aspects of flexibility with cost effectiveness.
The problem is formulated as a mixed-integer non-
linear programming (MINLP) model for minimizing
the total annualized cost (TAC) subject to thermody-
namic, technical, fouling, and flexibility constraints.
Owing to the complexity of the devised optimization
program, we propose a solution algorithm to solve the
mathematical formulation. This algorithm is based on
iteratively solving a sequence of optimization or
algebraic problems so as to yield the optimal solution.
Finally, a case study is presented to illustrate the
effectiveness of the methodology.
2. Problem description and formulation
The problem of designing a flexible RO system for
solvent-solute separation, as shown in Fig. 2, can be
described as follows:
Given:
1. R = { i l i = 1,NR}: a set of feed (solute-rich)
streams. The solute-laden streams have flow rates
G = {Gili ~ R} and should be brought from a set
of supply compositions y~ = {~[i C R} to a set of
specified target compositions yt = {yll i E R}
 M. Zhu et al./Journal of Membrane Science 129 (1997) 161-174
Permeate
Uncertainties
yt={y~ti~ R]
O= {Oklk=l,Nu}
Feed Streams
R= {ill= I,NR}
G={GilieR } - - Re:te::er
yS={y~lia R}
Concentratedfrom
FeedStreams
Fig. 2. Examplesof RO systemconfiguration.
which correspond to the desired level of separa-
tion.
2. A set of membrane modules, booster pumps, and
energy-recovery turbines are available for the con-
struction of the system for the specified separation.
Each unit has a known cost estimation function
which relates the cost to its type and capacity.
3. O = { O k l k = l , N , } : the process uncertainties
expressed as a set of parameters with given prob-
ability distribution functions, and lower and upper
bounds such that ~ _< Ok < 0v, k = 1,N,, where
Ok can be the changes of flow rates, supply com-
positions, or performance degradation due to the
membrane fouling and scaling. For the decline in
membrane performance, the fouling models and
the membrane regeneration/maintenance costs are
also available.
The objective is to design a flexible RO system that
can separate certain solute from the feed streams via
RO membrane separation at a minimum total annual-
ized cost while maintaining a feasible operation over
the entire uncertainty region. This task involves the
identification of the optimum usage of all membrane
modules, as well as the types and sizes of all units, and
the determination of optimum membrane maintenance
schedule, and the network configuration.
2.1. Problem representation via state-space model
In order to systematically embed all system con-
figurations, we employ the generalized state-space
approach, which has been recently introduced and
used in synthesizing heat-exchange, mass-exchange,
163
distillation and membrane-separation networks
[ 11,20-23].
Based on the state-space approach, E1-Halwagi
[11] developed a structural representation which
embed RO systems including membrane modules,
pumps and turbines. According to this representation,
the RO system can be fully described via two sets of
boxes: a set of distribution boxes (DBs) and a set of
matching boxes (MBs). The distribution boxes are
responsible for stream mixing, bypass and recycle.
On the other hand, the matching boxes are used to
determine the optimal assignment of streams to units.
Therefore, the RO system can be conceptualized as
being composed of two DBs and two MBs as shown in
Fig. 3: a pressurization/depressurization stream-dis-
tribution box (PDSDB), a pressurization/depressuri-
zation matching box (PDMB), a membrane unit
stream-distribution box (MUSDB), and a membrane
unit matching box (MUMB). Using the same termi-
nology of the state-space concept in control systems,
variables associated with substreams leaving MBs are
called state variables, and the corresponding variables
entering MBs are called state inputs. All variables
entering the DBs (supply variables) are called inputs,
while all variables leaving the DBs for discharge
(target variables) are called outputs. The units in
the MBs are called state operators. The combination
of the DB and MB embeds all potential structural
possibilities including series and parallel unit arrange-
ments, and stream distribution such as splitting, mix-
G~ Gt yt
~ | MUSDB
Y [Jc ~ Pjb Pjp
jbESb
~j~ j~S ~
MUMB ~'~~
Y;-P
o;m~
j,~Sm
el° y;
j~S m
Fig. 3. A schematic representation of the flexible RO system
synthesis problem.
164 M. Zhu et al./Journal of Membrane Science 129 (1997) 161-174

ing, recycle and bypass. Several examples of embed- branes, these local fluxes can be integrated [8,26] to
ding various RO system configurations using the predict the permeate flow rate through the membrane
state-space approach are given by E1-Halwagi [11]. with area A as follows:
G p = AQ.y(ZIP - 7r) (3)
2.2. @ s t e m description and modeling
where
Before exploring the system design and optimiza- 7/
tion, it is first necessary to invoke the appropriate "Y = 1 + 16A#roIls~l/r 4 (4)
modeling equations that can satisfactorily predict the
membrane performance with reasonable computa- tanh[( 1 6 a # r o / r 2) 1/2 (I/ri)] (5)
tional complexity. Several models exist for modeling zl= [(16A#ro/r2)l/2(1/ri)]
RO membrane modules (see Ref. [24] for an overview
and Ap = (pf + p r ) / 2 - PP. The osmotic pressure 7r
of these models). Lonsdale et al. [2] developed a mass
is estimated at the average bulk concentration
transfer solution-diffusion model for the case of per-
(Cj + C~)/2.
fect mixing on both sides of the membrane, and for a
cross flow configuration. A local behavior model was The solute flux can be approximated by:
proposed [6] for highly rejecting membranes Nb (D2M~(Cf+cr) (6)
described by the preferential water sorption model = \-~) 2
[25]. These models are mainly based on two para-
meters: the pure water permeability, Q, and the solute and the permeate concentration is approximated by:
transport parameter, ( D 2 u / K r ) (some models use the Nb
rejection coefficient instead). According to the above CP = -- (7)
Na
models, the solvent and solute local fluxes are pre-
dicted as follows: In addition, overall and component material balances
are given by:
N a = Q[p - pP - (Trw - 7rP)] (1)
Gf = G p + G r (8)
N b = ( D 2 M / K 6 ) ( C w - C e) (2)
G f c f = GPCp q- G T c T (9)
where N a and N b denote mass fluxes of solvent and
solute, respectively, while Q and D 2 M / K 6 are solvent
2.3. M e m b r a n e f o u l i n g and maintenance scheduling
permeability and solute transport parameter,
respectively. 7rw is osmotic pressure at the wall con-
Fouling and scaling are major factors affecting the
centration Cw, and 7rp and C p are corresponding vari-
RO system performance. It is significantly important
ables for permeation. Fig. 4 indicates a schematic
from both the operational and design point of view to
representation of a membrane unit and the variables.
have a reliable model to predict and evaluate the
These equations apply to tubular, hollow fiber as
fouling extent in the RO membrane system.
well as spiral membranes. For hollow fiber mem-
Foulants exist in different forms, such as suspended
particles (e.g. silica and iron oxides), inorganic com-
pr pounds (e.g. calcium sulphate, calcium carbonate,
Feed Pf - v A I L / / / / / / / / / / / / ~ Reject magnesium hydroxide, and magnesium sulphates).
C f G ~- Cr Gr Other foulants are just organic or biological com-
I I pounds which can drastically deteriorate the mem-
brane itself and change its performance over time.
PPl Cp Gp Several approaches have appeared in literature to
model membrane fouling. These approaches include
modeling the cake formation (build up of fouling
Permeate layers) [27,28], and modeling pore blockage and
Fig. 4. A schematic representation of a membrane unit. constriction [29-31].
 M. Zhu et al./Journal of Membrane Science 129 (1997) 161-174 165

A major effect of fouling is the deterioration of 2.4.1. Constraints for the PDSDB
membrane permeability. Reverse osmosis membranes Following are the material balances for the inlet
can also be chemically or mechanically regenerated so junctions of the PDSDB:
that their performance can be recovered. One of the
objectives of this paper is to determine the optimal
G" = Z GB + GD (10)
jbES b
maintenance schedule at the design stage so that the
resulting plant is not only optimum in terms of fixed jm E Sm (11)
cost, but also optimum in terms of operating cost £es b
which includes maintenance cost. In order to address
-, = V " c, ar . + GT; ' jm E Sm (12)
the scheduling of maintenance, the following terms G). ~ --Jm~]b
~Esb
are defined:
Inter-maintenance period: Time between two con- The superscripts A, B, C and D denote the stream
secutive membrane regeneration operations. Within a distribution directions as follows: A - from MB outlets
membrane regeneration operation, some (not neces- (or state variables) to their inlets (or state inputs); B -
sary all) modules are regenerated. from fresh-feed supplies (or network inputs) to MB
Maintenance cycle: Periodical time during which inlets; C - from MB outlets to targets for discharging
all modules are regenerated once. One maintenance (or network outputs); and D - from fresh-feed supplies
cycle may contain several inter-maintenance periods. (or network inputs) to targets. The lower case super-
Therefore, several questions need to be answered: scripts are defined as follows: b for booster pumps, m
What is the frequency of maintenance cycle? How for membrane modules, p for membrane permeates,
many periods are there in a cycle? Which membranes and r for membrane retentates, etc. Therefore, bm
should be regenerated at the end of each period? And, indicates the distribution from b to m, and rb from r to
what is the best sequencing of these periods in the b, etc.
cycle? For the material balances of the outlet junctions of
the PDSDB, the following equations can be obtained:
2.4. Mathematical formulation
c'= (13)
j,,ES~
Having invoked the system representation and
models, we are now in a position to develop an Gtyt = Z (GC:ypjm -}- GC~yrjm) + GDy" (14)
optimization design formulation which aims at jmEs"
minimizing the total annualized cost (TAC) of the
6;j~,---- Z ( ~ f ~ b + G A j ~ ; ~ ) + a ~ b , jbES b (15)
network while satisfying the operational, physical, j~cs m
thermodynamic and environmental considerations
for the network. The TAC of the network consists Gjb:Vj, = Z (G:j:b,~. + G:2bby;,~) + G~Y", jbES b
of two terms: annual operating cost and annualized j,,,E S"
investment cost. The annual operating cost is a func- (16)
tion of the operating condition that includes the cost of
The component material balances such as Eq. (14)
power necessary for pumping less the value of power
should be employed in the MUSDB whenever stream-
generated by turbines, the cost of membrane regen-
mixing occurs to transfer composition variables to the
eration, replacement, etc., while the annualized invest-
relevant substreams.
ment cost is for all membrane module units, pumps
Whenever stream-mixing occurs, the following
and energy-recovery devices, and is fixed once the
isobaric-mixing constraints are necessary since
configuration of the network is determined. The fol-
only streams with equal pressures can be mixed
lowing are the set of necessary constraints for the
together:
formulation.
It should be noted that these constraints should be (Pjb-P')G~=O, jb E S b (17)
repeated for each stream or component for multi-
stream or multi-component problem. (Pj, -- P~jm)G~j~b= O, jb E S b, in E Sm (18)
166 M. Zhu et al./Journal of Membrane Science 129 (1997) 161-174

(ejb r Arb = O, jb C Sb, jm E S m

- P}~)G~db (19) GJm = ~ GAbOn jm C S m (25)
Jbdm ~
Jb~ Sb
Similar constraints should be applied to the
MUSDB wherever the stream-mixing occurs to trans-
Gj.YJm = E GAbjmyjb' jm E S m (26)
fer pressure variables to all substreams.
jb cS b

2.4.2. Constraints for the PDMB The following isobaric-mixing constraints will
Since it is illogical to pressurize a stream and ensure that only the streams of the same pressure
immediately depressurize it, each stream entering are allowed to mix. They are also necessary for
the PDMB will pass through either a booster pump transferring the pressures variables from the PDSDB
or a turbine. The identification of the existence or to the inlets of the MUMB:
absence of a pump or turbine can be done by defining (Pj~ - e.Jb I"~Gjb,]m
Abm = 0, jm E S m, jb E S b (27)
the binary integers (1,0) bj~ and tj~. Therefore, the
following constraints identifying the values of the
binary integers are necessary:
2.4.4. Constraints for the MUMB
Ubje > PJb - PJ~ >- Lbjb (20) The following equations are simplified from
Eqs. (1) and (2). The modification is based on the
Utjb >--PJb -- PJ~ >- Ltje (21) consideration of simplification of computational com-
plexity, while possessing adequate accuracy for design
bib + tjb < 1 (22) and optimization purpose. The high pressure side
bj~,tjb = 1,0; jo C So concentration is assumed to have the value of the
arithmetic average of the feed and retentate concen-
where U and L are arbitrary large and small positive trations. This assumption is mild due to the relatively
numbers, respectively. The foregoing constraints will small pressure drop per module compared to the feed
force bjb to be one and tjb to be zero if PJb is larger than pressure. For instance, in a typical hollow fiber RO
Pjb. Similarly, if Pjb is larger than PJb, then tjb will be module, the pressure drop is normally less than one
one and bj~ zero. The constraint (22) ensures that there atmosphere compared to a feed pressure that usually
exists at most one booster pump or one turbine for ranges from 30 to 60 atm. Hence, the maximum error
each stream in the PDMB. in pressure driving force will be less than -t-1.67 per
The following equations will predict the energy cent. The following equations will relate the flow rates
consumptions for the booster pumps or recovered and compositions on the reject and the permeate
energy of turbines: leaving a stage to the flow rate, pressure and composi-
tion of the stream entering that stage as well as the
{ GJ~ " P£) if bib 1 pressures of the permeate and the reject leaving that
W b. = eo---p(Pjb - =
gb etGjb .. (23) stage.
(PJb-PJ~) i f t j b = l
Q[P +er
where eo and et are the efficiencies of booster pumps 2 -/ffJm - r%1 (28)
and turbines, respectively.
+Y)r2 ~ ' ) (29)
2.4.3. Constraints for the MUSDB
Material balances for the inlet junctions of the 7rj= _ (Yj= + 5 2 ) / 2
MUSDB: (30)
7r0 Yo
~ P = Z ( T A b m ~jbd,.' SO
jb E (24) G~P = Mj AfNj a (31)
j~cSm
Material balances for the outlet junctions of the
_uO (32)
MUSDB:
 M. Zhu et al./Journal of Membrane Science 129 (1997) 161-174
Gjm =~jjm + ~ r jm
Gj.~j. = aJP~JJm + G'j,y),
-r r
jmES m ating cost for the entire flexibility region can be
H e r e , Mj,, is the number of membrane modules
parallel in the stage jm. N a and N b are the mass fluxes
for the permeated solvent and the solute, respectively,
while ~ and yP are the corresponding flow rate and
concentration through the membrane. The parameter
7r° is the osmotic pressure at a given concentration Y0
and 7 can be calculated from Eq. (4). For a given enter-
ing flow rate and concentration, there are eight un-
known variables for these seven equations. If the feed
pressure or membrane area is fixed, then all leaving
flow rates and concentrations will be determined. The
design procedure is aimed at determining the optimal
system configuration and operating conditions.
2.5. Feasibility test
The feasibility test is designed to check whether the
derived network can be feasibly operated over the
entire uncertainty region. This test can be mathema-
tically formulated as a max-min-max problem [13] as
follows:
x(d) = max na~n max fAd, z,O)
OEF
where d, z and 0 are vectors representing the design
variables, control variables and uncertain parameters,
respectively. J is the set of indices of inequality
constraints formalized as fj(d,z,q) <_O,j E J. F is
the uncertainty region, or uncertainty hyper-rectangle,
and is defined as follows:
/" = {0k[~ <_ Ok _< O~,k = 1, Nu}
The feasibility of operation for all j E J can be
ensured by the constraint:
x(,/) _ o
2.6. Design objective function
The design task is aimed at minimizing the TAC of
the network which is the summation of the annualized
investment cost and the annual operating cost. The
investment cost of the network includes all relevant
equipments, such as membrane modules, booster
167
(33) pumps, turbines, and necessary pipe lines. The oper-
ating cost includes energy consumptions for pumps,
(34)
and membrane regeneration/maintenance. The oper-
expressed as an expectation over the entire uncertainty
region as follows:
COSTVr d ~ n J ~ (o,) " "
[o~y(o,,o2,...,oN.-1)cUr (o)jb(O)dON. "'" dOzdO1
J o~"(O1,02,...,ON. --1)
fV cVT (o)Jb(O)dO (36)
where 01,02,... are uncertainty variables, while
0~un 0]nax, 02min (01), o~ax(01), "'" correspond to lower
and upper bounds which describe the boundary of
feasible region F which is defined as:
F = {0IV0 e F 3z : operating constraints are satisfied}
The function jb(O) is the joint probability distribu-
tion function of the uncertainty variables and CUr(0)
is the operating (utility) cost under uncertainty 0.
Eq. (36) can be discretized by employing a Gaussian
quadrature formula as follows:
N,
COST w = y p(O")cUT(O") (37)
m=l
where Np denotes the number of quadrature points
within F A / ' , andp(0m) denotes the occurrence prob-
ability for a small uncertainty region around the mth
quadrature point 0m such that p(0 ~) = W,db(Om),
where Wm is the Gaussian quadrature weight. This
discretization transforms the optimization problem
from the integral form into the more manageable
algebraic form. Another motivation for employing
this discretization is that it allows the handling of
the continuous operation via a multi-period represen-
(35) tation. Within each period, the average performance of
the system is employed instead of the transient beha-
vior. Therefore, the system performance can be
described by algebraic equations as opposed to
dynamic partial differential equations. This approach
renders the optimization program in a form which is
much easier to solve compared to a formulation which
involves algebraic and differential equations. The
accuracy of the formulation can be preserved to any
168 M. Zhu et al./Journal of Membrane Science 129 (1997) 161-174

desired extent by simply increasing the number of
quadrature points. Attention should be given not to
excessively increase the number of quadrature points
to the extent leading to a very large size of the
optimization program.
2.7. Design formulation
The optimal design of flexible RO systems can be
formulated as a mixed-integer non-linear program-
ming (MINLP) problem which has the TAC as the
objective function and Eqs. (10)-(35) as its con-
straints. The solution for this formulation features a
minimized TAC and is feasible to tackle the entire
uncertainty region. At the same time, thermodynamic,
technical, and fouling constraints are satisfied. The
MINLP can be solved using the software LINGO [32].
3. Design approach
The objective of the design procedure is to develop
an RO system that features a minimum TAC and is
flexible to tackle the specified uncertainties. The
major uncertainties are assumed to be performance
declines due to the fouling. Therefore, the optimal
membrane maintenance schedule should be deter-
mined at the design stage. The proposed design pro-

PreselectSchedules
i= l,Ns
1st.Schedule:i = 1
I.
-Fi~xil~D~;i~~t;~oiim .............. ~.......................................
P= { OklkeU~}

d = arglDESIGN(P)} "~
TAC' = UT'(d)+ IV(d) |
'(d)=,~upW(8
k)UT(8~,d)~

1
AdjustPointsand Weights:~ (Flexibility Test ~ ( k=k+l ~'
P={ P'OC} j

N_........................

L
ChangeSchedule
i=i+l
1
I ~(d) = EP~rlUT(0,d)} 1

Screen the Best 1

Network & Schedule
TAC = rain

Fig. 5. Flow diagram of the solution strategy for flexible RO system scheduling and design.
 M. Zhu et al./Journal of Membrane Science 129 (1997) 161-174
cedure, as shown in Fig. 5, consists of two main
problems: the scheduling problem that predetermines
a number of maintenance schedules for membrane
regeneration (the uncertainty ranges are also fixed for
each schedule), and the flexible design problem that
produces the network configuration based on the input
information and uncertainty information from the
scheduling problem.
3.1. Flexible design problem
This procedure is based on a given flexibility frame-
work. Although the synthesis problem is formulated as
an MINLP, the problem can not be directly solved due
to two reasons. First, the feasibility test itself is an
optimization problem which cannot be solved before
the design has been derived. Secondly, the operating
cost term of the TAC is an integral over time which
cannot be represented analytically. Therefore, a solu-
tion procedure (see the part inscribed inside the
dashed-line box in Fig. 5) which consists of the
following major steps is proposed:
(1) Select a finite number of parameter points as
periods of operation. The nominal operating condi-
tion, and some extreme operating conditions may be
considered as an initial set of candidates.
(2) Carry out the optimal design procedure,
DESIGN, to determine the optimal network config-
uration for the selected points. The derived network
features the minimal TAC for selected periods. In
evaluating the operating cost, we employ weight
coefficients which can be determined from the uncer-
tainty probability distribution function.
(3) Perform the feasibility test procedure, F-TEST,
to determine whether the derived network is feasible to
operate over the entire uncertainty region. This can be
done by inspecting Eq. (35). Since the design vari-
ables have been determined in the previous step, the
network can be configured and the index x(d) can be
evaluated. If the test is satisfied (which corresponds to
x(d) being non-positive), go to the next step. Other-
wise, add the critical point to the set of operating
points, then return to step 2.
(4) Perform the Gaussian quadrature for the oper-
ating cost within the uncertainty region for the design,
which will give the accurate expectation of the oper-
ating cost term of the TAC. If the difference is within
the tolerance, stop. The optimal solution has been
169
obtained. Otherwise, modify the weights of the
selected points and return to step 2.
Although the designed network is based upon a
finite number of operating points, the feasible opera-
tion for the infinite number of variations contained in
the uncertainty region is ensured by the flexibility step
of the synthesis strategy.
3. 2. Scheduling problem
It is now appropriate to include the scheduling of
membrane maintenance/regeneration into the design
procedure. The fouling is the major uncertainty affect-
ing the system performance. Due to the deterioration
of membrane properties over time, maintenance
should be regularly scheduled to regenerate the mem-
branes. The optimization of maintenance scheduling is
not a straightforward task. More frequent the regen-
eration, better is the performance but higher the
operating cost. The scheduling problem is composed
of the following steps:
(1) Preselect a number of membrane maintenance
schedules. The corresponding uncertainty distribu-
tions and ranges are consequently fixed for each
selected schedule. The regeneration of a module unit
entails down time for that unit along with the con-
sequent reduced capacity, incurred regeneration cost
and improved membrane performance.
(2) For each maintenance schedule, call the flexible
design sub-procedure (inside the dashed-line box of
Fig. 5) to get an RO system which is optimal under the
specified uncertainties representing the selected main-
tenance schedule.
(3) Among all resulting RO systems, each repre-
senting an uncertainty framework, select a system that
has the lowest TAC. The corresponding maintenance
schedule is optimal.
4. Case study
This example deals with the desalination of sea-
water using DuPont B-10 hollow-fiber RO modules. It
is desired to produce fresh water from seawater. The
minimum acceptable flowrate of freshwater (perme-
ate) is 21.6 m 3 h - 1 . The maximum allowable compo-
sition (mass fraction) of salt in the permeate is
0.00057. The data for nominal case (no feed changes,
170 M. Zhu et aL /Journal of Membrane Science 129 (1997) 161-174

Table 1 The following cost data were employed in calculat-

Geometrical Properties of the DuPont B-10 RO modules
Property Value
Fiber length, l, m 0.750
Fiber seal length, ls, m 0.075
Outer radius of fiber, ro, m 50x 10-6
Inner radius of fiber, ri, m 21 x 10 6
Membrane area, A, m2 152.0
Table 2
Input data for the seawater desalination example
Feed composition, yS 0.03480
Maximum permeate compostion, yP 0.00057
Minimum water capacity, m3 h -l >21.6
Minimum flow rate per module, m3 s-~ 2.1 x 10-4
Maximum flow rate per module, m3 s-1 2.7x 10 4
Pressure drop per module, N m -2 0.22x 105
Solute transport parameter, D2M/K6, kg/s m2 4.0× 10 - 6
Initial water permeability, Q0, kg/s N 3.0× l0 lO
no fouling) are taken from Refs. [7,11]. Geometrical
properties of the modules are listed in Table 1. The
input data for the design are summarized in Table 2.
Due to the fouling and scaling, the major dynamic
variation is the decline of water permeability. Without
regenerating membranes, it is estimated that after one
year of operation, water permeability changes from
the initial value 3.0 × 10 -1° down to 1.0 x 10 -1° kg/
s N. An exponentially decaying model is used to
describe it, as shown below:
Q = Qoe-t/T
where Qo = 3.0 × 10 - l ° kg/s N and ~- = 328 d.
In addition, the feed flowrate and pressure are
allowed to vary so that the water capacity can be
maintained at the desired level.
The membrane modules have an upper pressure
bound of 70 atm, a m a x i m u m unit flowrate per module
of 2.7 × 10 -4 m 3 s -1, and a minimum unit flowrate
per module of 2.1 x 10 -4 m 3 s 1. The high pressure
side bulk concentration is assumed to have the value of
the arithmetic average o f the feed and retentate con-
centrations. Turbines may be used to recover energy
from high pressure retentate. The decisions of select-
ing the units and determining the system configuration
are to be made at the design stage. The optimum RO
maintenance schedule will also be decided.
ing the TAC. Membrane costs were assumed to be
$2700/module. Each time a maintenance is scheduled
for regenerating the modules, the cost involved fixed
charges and variable charges. The variable charges are
typically a linear function of the number of regener-
ated modules. The following expression is used:
Membrane regeneration cost = $10000 ÷ 450
x (number of modules)
The equipment costs of pumps and turbines are
obtained from the following equations:
Pump cost = $2590(power in k W ) 0"79
Turbine cost = $830(power in kW) 0'47
The corresponding electricity cost was chosen as
$0.07/kW h. The equipment costs were adjusted to
account for installation and contingencies by a Lang
factor of 2.8. A three-year linear depreciation scheme
was used with no salvage value.
By employing the proposed design procedure, the
resulting design, as shown in Fig. 6, was found to
include 94 RO membrane modules, a feed pump and
an energy-recovery turbine. This is a two-stage
tapered-flow scheme. There are 54 and 40 modules
in the first and second stage, respectively. The design
solution also identified the optimal policy for the feed
pressure to vary between 62 and 70 atm depending on
the status of fouling, while the feed seawater flowrate
is controlled to fluctuate from 45 to 51 m 3 h -1 (see
Fig. 7). The water capacity is always maintained
above 21.6 m 3 h -1. The total annualized cost of the
network is $518 000/yr.
The optimum maintenance schedule of the network
is found to have two maintenance cycles per year. This
solution indicates that all membrane modules are to be
regenerated once every six months. The optimum
inter-maintenance period of the network is found to
be three months. At the end of the first three-month
period, half of the modules (27 in the first stage and 20
in the second stage) are regenerated and the other half
(marked as gray modules to indicate different fouling
status from the first half) are regenerated at the end of
the second period, thereby completing a regeneration
cycle. Fig. 7 presents the optimal operating profiles of
the designed system during one operating year. At the
beginning, all modules are assumed to be new (or just
 M. Zhu et al./Journal of Membrane Science 129 (1997) 161-174 171

TAC
45 ? ; 1 : 3 ~ ~ % K ppm $1,000
630
620

610
T
600
j' v

Fresh Water
W271 590

58d
570

560

2 21.6 m3/l~-
~ 570 ppm
IT 55o
540

201
530

520

510

Inter-Maintenance Periods Per Cycle

Fig. 8. O p t i m a l m a i n t e n a n c e schedule.

pressure reaches its upper bound (70 atm), the feed

flowrate is increased so that the water capacity is
Fig. 6. O p t i m u m R O system for seawater desalination.
ensured. After regenerating the membranes at the
end of each period, the feed pressure is maintained
at a lower level. This maintenance schedule results in a
Optimal Profile of Feed Pressure minimum total annualized cost for the system.
r0 I I )/ I r~ I //1 In order to display the effect of selecting non-
I I I t I I p

optimal scheduling on the cost, Fig. 8 compares the

..... .... .... i ..... t ..... :;...... ..... ! .....
66 -- I I I ~_~ I___ I _1 ..... total annualized costs for different designs. The plots
indicate the TACs over maintenance periods for a
,, ,, ,, ,, ,, / number of preselected schedules. As has been seen,
62 i i i i
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 the schedule with two maintenance cycles per year and
Optimal Profile of Feed Flowrate two maintenance periods per cycle features the lowest
52 [ [ ~ I I I I TAC among all designs.
~50 .....
I
I
-I . . . . . .
J
I
L .....
I
J . . . .
~
t
J- ......
i
~
I. . . .
J
r
.L ......
I
i
L
i
.....
I i i t i t t
t i t t I i i
I t I t t ~ t
48 ..... I ...... r ..... "1-- -1- ..... ~ . . . . "r . . . . . . . . . . . .
t l t J t i
I J t t t i
5. Conclusions
t t t !
4 ~ . t ~ it l t l 'i

0 50 100
Fig. 7, O p t i m a l profiles o f operating conditions.
regenerated). Hence, the feed pressure can be main-
tained at lower value (62 atm). Because of fouling the
feed pressure has to be increased, while the feed
flowrate can be slightly decreased. Once the feed
150 200 250 300 350 400 This work has presented a systematic methodology
Days for the optimal design of flexible RO systems under
variable feed conditions and system performance
(varying permeability caused by fouling). The design
task has been formulated as an MINLP which seeks to
minimize the TAC of the network while considering
the thermodynamic, modeling, economic, environ-
mental, and feasibility constraints. The optimum
RO maintenance schedule is also determined in the
172 M. Zhu et al./Journal of Membrane Science 129 (1997) 161-174
design stage. An iterative solution procedure has been
proposed to implement the mathematical program-
ming approach. The effectiveness of this design meth-
odology has been demonstrated by solving a seawater
desalination case study.
6. Nomenclature
A area of membrane module, m 2
b set of binary integers (1,0) to identify the
existence/absence of booster pumps.
b = {bjblbj~ = 0 , 1,jb E S b}
cUT utility or operating cost of network which
is a function of operating conditions.
cuT(o) means operating cost under un-
certainty 0
[D2M/ K~5] solute transport parameter, kg/s m 2.
Gi mass flow rate of the ith entering solute
rich stream, kg/s. G = {Gil i E R}
mass flow rates of substreams going
through the MBs, kg/s
J set of indices of inequality constraints
describing the network
L arbitrary small positive number
l fiber length, m. ls for fiber seal length
mjo number of membrane modules parallel in
the stage jm
N mass flux through membrane. N a and N b
denote mass fluxes of solvent and solute,
respectively
Nb number of booster pumps and turbines
N~ number of membrane stages
Up number of uncertainty points
NR number of entering solute rich streams
N~ number of uncertainty parameters
P inlet pressure for the MBs, N m -2. P is the
corresponding outlet pressure
Q solvent permeability through membrane,
kg/s N. Q0 denotes the initial value.
R set of indices of entering rich streams.
R = {ili = 1, Ng}
radius of fiber, m. ri and ro for inner and
outer radius, respectively
sb set of indices of booster pumps or
turbines. S b ~- {jb~b = 1, Nb }
Sm set of indices of membrane stages.
S m -----{jm~,n = 1, Nm}
set of binary integers (1/0) to identify the
e x i s t e n c e / a b s e n c e of t u r b i n e s , t =
{tjbltje ----0/1, jb E Sb}
U arbitrary large positive number, or set of
indices of u n c e r t a i n t y p a r a m e t e r s .
u -- {klk = 1, Nu}
W work, kW
inlet mass composition of rich substream
for the MBs. y is the corresponding outlet
composition
yS set of supply mass compositions, of
entering rich streams, yS = {~[i E R}
yt set of mass compositions, or target com-
positions, of exiting lean streams.
6.1. Greek letters
defined in Eq. (5)
energy efficiency, eb for booster pumps
and et for energy-recovery turbines
F region of uncertainty. F = {0kl~ _< Ok
<_O~,k~ u}
7 defined in Eq. (4)
# viscosity, kg/m s
7f osmotic pressure, N m -2
P density, kg m -3
T membrane performance decline time con-
stant, d
0 set of u n c e r t a i n t y p a r a m e t e r s . 0 =
{o~1,~~ u}
oL set of lower bounds of uncertainty
parameters. 0L = { ~ l k E U}
0U set of upper bounds of uncertainty
parameters. 0 U = {O~lk C U}
6.2. Subscripts
i index of entering rich streams, i E R
J index of inequality constraints, j C J
jb index of booster pumps or turbines, jb C S b
jm index of membrane stages. Jm C S m
6.3. Superscripts
A distribution direction of flowrate inside the
DB: from the inlet junctions connecting to
the outlets of the MB to the outlets leading
to the inlets of the MB
 M. Zhu et al./Journal of Membrane Science 129 (1997) 161-174
B d i s t r i b u t i o n d i r e c t i o n o f f l o w r a t e i n s i d e the
D B : f r o m the i n l e t j u n c t i o n s c o n n e c t i n g to
the e n t e r i n g s t r e a m s to the outlets l e a d i n g
to t h e inlets o f t h e M B . F o r c o l d s t r e a m s ,
e n t e r i n g s t r e a m s c o m e f r o m the c o o l e d
rich streams
b b o o s t e r p u m p s or t u r b i n e s
C distribution direction of flowrate inside the
D B : f r o m the i n l e t j u n c t i o n s c o n n e c t i n g to
the outlets o f t h e M B to the o u t l e t s for
exiting
D d i s t r i b u t i o n d i r e c t i o n o f f l o w r a t e i n s i d e the
DB: f r o m the i n l e t j u n c t i o n s c o n n e c t i n g to
the e n t e r i n g s t r e a m s to the outlets for
exiting
m membrane modules
p e r m e a t e sides o f m e m b r a n e
P under uncertainty, AIChE J., 29(3) (1983) 425-433.
F r e j e c t ( r e t e n t a t e ) sides o f m e m b r a n e
s supply
t target
Acknowledgements
T h e f i n a n c i a l S u p p o r t o f the N a t i o n a l S c i e n c e
Foundation (grant # NSF-CTS-NYI-9457013) is
gratefully acknowledged.
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