Cleaning optimisation of reverse osmosis membranes used for wastewater reclamation

Wastewater reclamation contributes to the preservation of conventional water resources and thus helps to ensure appropriate human development for future generations. Wastewater reclamation can be achieved through several technologies. One of the most common technologies is the tertiary treatment of...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Authors: Bernat, X., Prats, G., Gibert Agulló, Oriol|||0000-0002-7313-5147, Lefèvre, B., Tobella, J.
Format: article
Publication Date:2012
Country:España
Institution:Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC)
Repository:UPCommons. Portal del coneixement obert de la UPC
Language:English
OAI Identifier:oai:upcommons.upc.edu:2117/27166
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/2117/27166
https://dx.doi.org/10.2166/wrd.2012.011
Access Level:Open access
Keyword:cleaning efficiency indicators
cleaning optimisation
fouling
membrane technology
reverse osmosis
wastewater reclamation
Osmosi inversa
Membranes (Tecnologia)
Àrees temàtiques de la UPC::Enginyeria química
Description
Summary:Wastewater reclamation contributes to the preservation of conventional water resources and thus helps to ensure appropriate human development for future generations. Wastewater reclamation can be achieved through several technologies. One of the most common technologies is the tertiary treatment of urban municipal wastewater, which is often based on membrane technologies. Reverse osmosis is an effective separation technology for removing dissolved salts and low molecular weight organic compounds. However, membranes suffer from fouling, which directly reduces technical, environmental and economic feasibility of the process and hence of the reclamation plant. One of the strategies helpful to reduce fouling is the optimisation of the membranes cleaning and maintenance. The aim of this work is to test the impact of the membrane cleaning protocol design on the recovery of the original properties of a reverse osmosis membrane used for several years in a wastewater reclamation plant in Spain. Furthermore, the work is focused on the validation of the adequacy of the most-common indicators used for assessing membrane’ cleaning efficiency