Reverse Osmosis

Reverse Osmosis is a technology that is used to remove a large

majority of contaminants from water by pushing the water under
pressure through a semi-permeable membrane.

A process by which dissolved inorganic solids (such as

salts) are removed from a solution (such as water).

This is done by pushing the tap water through a semi

permeable membrane.
The membrane (which is about as thick as cellophane)
allows only the water to pass through, not the impurities or
contaminates.
These impurities and contaminates are flushed down the
drain.

The factors that affect the performance of RO system

* Incoming water pressure
* Water Temperature
* Type and number of total dissolved solids (TDS) in the
tap water
* Quality of the filters and membranes used in the RO
System

Components Common To All RO systems

* Line Valve
* Pre-Filter (s)
* Reverse Osmosis Membrane
* Post filter (s)
* Automatic Shut Off Valve (SOV)
* Check Valve
* Flow Restrictor
* Storage Tank
* Faucet
* Drain line

Osmosis & reverse osmosis

In normal osmosis:
Water molecules move from a region of higher
concentration to a region of lower concentration through a
partially permeable membrane
In reverse osmosis:
Water molecules are forced to move from a region of
lower concentration to a region of higher concentration by
applying a huge amount of pressure

Phenomenon of RO
A semi-permeable membrane is placed between two
compartments. Semi-permeable means that the
membrane is permeable to some species, and not
permeable to others. Assume that this membrane is
permeable to water, but not to salt. Then, place a salt
solution in one compartment and pure water in the other
compartment. The membrane will allow water to
permeate through it to either side. But salt cannot pass
through the membrane.

Cont

As a fundamental rule of nature, this system will try to

reach equilibrium. That is, it will try to reach the same
concentration on both sides of the membrane. The only
possible way to reach equilibrium is for water to pass
from the pure water compartment to the salt containing
compartment, to dilute the salt solution.

Cont

Osmosis can cause a rise in the height of the salt solution. This height will
increase until the pressure of the column of water (salt solution) is so high
that the force of this water column stops the water flow. The equilibrium
point of this water column height in terms of water pressure against the
membrane is called osmotic pressure.
If a force is applied to this column of water, the direction of water flow
through the membrane can be reversed. This is the basis of the term
reverse osmosis..

Terms used in RO
Recovery : The percentage of feed-water that emerges
from the system as product water.
Rejection : The percentage of solute concentration
removed from feed-water by the membrane.
Passage : The opposite of rejection, passage is the
percentage of dissolved contaminants in the feed-water
allowed to pass through the membrane.

Cont
Permeate : The purified product water produced by a
membrane system.
Flow : Rate of feed-water introduced to the membrane
element or membrane system.
Flux : The rate of permeate transported per unit of
membrane area.

Factors Affecting Reverse Osmosis

Pressure
Temperature
Recovery
Salt Concentration

Cont
With increasing pressure, the permeate will decrease
while the permeate flux will increase.
If the temperature increases and all other parameters are
kept constant, the permeate flux and the salt passage will
increase.
In the case of increasing recovery, the permeate flux will
decrease. The salt rejection will drop with increasing
recovery.

Reverse Osmosis (RO) Applications

* Reverse Osmosis (RO) Applications
* Perchlorate Removal From Drinking Water
* Nitrate Removal From Groundwater
* Perchlorate Removal From Groundwater
* Raw Water Pre-treatment
* Tertiary Wastewater Treatment

Advantages
No phase change so energy requirements are low.
RO systems are compact, and space requirements are
less.
Many RO systems are fully automated so RO plants
usually require little labor.
Maintenance is easy & Scheduled maintenance can be
performed without shutting down the entire plant.

Disadvantages
The applied pressure must exceed the osmotic pressure to
obtain product flow and to separate the solute from the
solvent.
RO is usually not applicable for concentrated solutions.
Because all RO membranes and devices are susceptible to
fouling, the RO process usually cannot be applied without
pretreatment.
RO feed streams must be compatible with the membrane

References:
1. http://puretecwater.com/what-is-reverse-osmosis.html
2. http://science.howstuffworks.com/reverse-osmosis.htm
3. https://www.espwaterproducts.com/about-reverseosmosis/
4. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVdWqbpbv_Y
5. Reverse osmosis by Jane Kucera Co-published by John
Willey and sons.