PROCEDURE

General start-up procedure

1. All the valves were making sure initially closed.

2. A sodium chloride solution was prepared by adding 100g of sodium chloride into 20L of

water.

3. The tank was filled up with the salt solution that was prepared in step 2. The feed was

maintained at room temperature.

4. The power for control panel was turned on. All sensors and indicators were checked to

functioning properly.

5. Thermostat was switched on and the thermo oil level was checked to make sure it is

above the coil inside thermostat. The thermostat was checked if connections were

properly fitted.

The temperature was adjusted at the thermostat to maintain feed temperature.

6. The unit is now ready for experiments.

Experiment procedure

1. The experiment was started with membrane 1. Valves V2, V5, V7, V11 and V15 were

opened.
2. To set the maximum working pressure at 20 bars, the plunger pump (P1) was switched on

and valve V5 was slowly closed. The pressure value at pressure gauge was observed and

the pressure regulator was adjusted to 20 bars.

3. Valve V5 was opened. Then, membrane maximum inlet pressure was set to 18 bars for

Membrane 1 by adjusting the retentive control valve (V15).

4. The system was allowed to run for 5 minutes. Sample from permeate sampling port was

collected and the sample was weighed using digital weighing balance. The weight of

permeates was recorded every 1 minute for 10 minutes.

5. The step 1 to 5 was repeated for Membrane 2, 3 and 4. The respective sets of valves were

opened and closed and the membrane maximum inlet pressure was adjusted for every

membrane.

Membrane Open Valves Sampling Retentive Membrane

Valves control valve maximum inlet
pressure(bar)

1 V2, V5, V7, Open V19 and V15 18

V11 and V15 close V11

2 V2, V5, V8, Open V20 and V16 12

V12 and V16 close valve V12

3 V2, V5, V9, Open V21 and V17 10

V13 and V17 close valve V13

4 V2, V5, V10, Open V22 and V18 8.5

V14 and V18 close V14
 6. The graph of permeate weight versus time was plotted.

General shut-down operation

1. The plunger pump was switched off.

2. Valve 2 was then closed.

3. All liquid in the feed tank and product tank were drained by opening valves V3 and V4.

4. The entire pipes were flushed with clean water. V3 and V4 were closed; the clean water

was filled to the feed tank until 90% full.

5. The system was run with the clean water until the feed tank is nearly empty.