MEMBRANE SEPARATION

INTRODUCTION
Membrane processes cover a group
ofseparation processesin which the
characteristics of a membrane (porosity,
selectivity, electric charge) are used to separate
the components of a solution or a suspension.
In these processes the feed stream is separated
into two: the fraction that permeates through the
membrane, called thepermeate, and the
fraction containing the components that have
not been transported through the membrane,
usually called theretentate

Classification of Membrane Separation

Processes
Name of
Process

Driving Force

Separation
Size Range

microfiltration

Pessure gradient

10 0.1 m

ultrafiltration

idem

Reverse osmosis

idem

< 0.1 m 5
nm
< 5 nm

Electrodialysis
Dialysis

Electric field
gradient

< 5 nm

Concentration
gradient

< 5 nm

REVERSE OSMOSIS
Reverse Osmosis is a water
purification technique that reduces
the quantity of dissolved solids in
solution

Principles

How does reverse osmosis

work ?
Reverse osmosis work by using a high pressure pump to
increase the pressure on the salt side of the RO and force
the water across the semi permeable RO membran
leaving almost all (around 95 99% of dissolved salts).
The amount of pressure required depends on the salts
concentration of the feed water. The more concentrated
the feed water, the more pressure is required to
overcome the osmotic pressure.

..!

There are three main problem

associated with Reverse Osmosis :
1. Fouling
2. Scaling
3. Degradation of RO membrane

Fouling
Fouling occurs when contaminants accumulate
on the membrane surface effectively plugging the
membrane.
Fouling can be caused by the following :
1. particulate or colloidal mater (dirt, silt, clay ,
etc)
2. organics (humic/fulvic acids, etc)
3. microorganisms (bacteria, etc)
4. Breakthrough of filter media upstream of the
RO unit

 The primary methods used to combat

fouling are mechanical processes
that physically remove the
suspended solids or chemical
treatments the deactivate the
foulant.
Coagulation process using cationic
polymers, inorganic salts, and
aluminum and iron salts

Scaling
Scaling can occurs if certain dissolved (inorganic)
compounds exceeded their solubility limit and
precipitate on the membrane surface.
The results of scaling are a higher pressure drops
across the system, higher salt passage (less salt
rejection), low permeate flow and lower
permeater water quality.
an example of a common scale that tends to form
of an RO membrane is calsium carbonate (CaCO 3)

 In order to minimize scaling,

pretreatment methods involving
chemical or ion exchange techniques
and acidification are used.
a chemical process can reduce the
hardness
Lime, soda, ash, and NaOH are used
to convert soluble calcium and
magnesium to insoluble calcium
carbonate and magnesium hydroxide.

 Another softening procedure involves zeolite

in an ion exchange process
Acidification can reduced the crystallization
of calcium carbonate. Sulfuric acis is most
commonly used in this process, but can
often increase the formation of sulfate scale.
Antiscalants are chemicals added to
minimize carbonate or sulfat scale. They
consist of acrylates and phosphonates.

Membrane Degradation
It occurs when the membranes are exposed to
conditions that destroy the polymers used to
create the membrane
To prevent membrane degradation by acidic or
alkaline waters, a corrective amount of acid of
base should be added to the feedwater to make
the pH approximately neutral.
To prevent oxidation reactions, dechlorination is
used

Process Flow Diagram - RO

Application of Reverse Osmosis

Reverse Osmosis (RO) is a modern process
technology to purify water for a wide range of
applications, including :

semiconductors
food processing
biotechnology
pharmaceuticals
power generation
seawater desalting, and
municipal drinking water.