High recovery RO techniques are being developed which can recover from 90 to 98% of the water leaving a relatively small volume concentrated brine that can be cost effectively managed. In order to attain such high recovery, special precautions and pre-treatment procedures are necessary to minimize fouling, including softening and the use of antiscalants. The use of Electron Microprobe (EMP) techniques in combination with high ionic strength geochemical modeling is a powerful combination in which the membrane foulants can be identified. Two high recovery RO case studies are presented where membrane fouling has occurred and the EMP/modeling approach has been employed. The results of the evaluations showed that in both cases, amorphous silica was the cause of the fouling.
This presentation is available to AMTA Members only.
Speaker
- Kent Whiting, LG
Company
- CDM Smith Inc.
Event
- AMTA Annual Meeting, San Diego, CA
Session
- San Diego Biennial
Date
- 07/12/10
Media
Keywords
- Electron microprobe, RO, fouling
Reference
- 9650-DP484