• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• 제3권4호
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• pp.253-266
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• 2012

In this work, the effect of hybrid salts precipitation-nanofiltration (SP-NF) process on the scale deposits in thermal and membrane desalination processes has been studied. The analysis was carried out to study the scale formation from the Arabian Gulf seawater in MSF and RO reference processes by changing the percentage of pretreatment from 0 to 100%. Four different SP-NF configurations were suggested. A targeted Top Brine Temperature (TBT) of $130^{\circ}C$ may be achieved if 30% portion is pretreated by SP and/or NF processes. As a rule of thumb, each 1% pretreatment portion increases the reference TBT of $115^{\circ}C$ by $0.6^{\circ}C$. For both MSF and RO, parallel pretreatment of certain percentage of the feed by SP and the rest by NF, showed the lowest scale values. The case showed the best values for sulfate scale prevention and the highest values of increasing the monovalent ions relative to the divalent scale forming ions. Sulfate scale is significant in MSF process while carbonate scale is significant in RO. Salt precipitation was suggested because it is less costly than nanofiltration, but nanofiltration was used here because it is efficient in sulfate ions removal.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• 제8권3호
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• pp.279-292
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• 2017

This study was aimed at ultrafiltration (UF) as a pretreatment before reverse osmosis (RO) within the scheme of hybrid reverse osmosis-multistage flush (RO-MSF) desalination. Seawater at elevated temperature (after MSF heat-exchangers) was used as a feed in this process. The pretreatment system was represented as a set of functionally-linked technological segments such as: UF filtration, backwashing, chemical- enhanced backwashing, cleaning, waste disposal, etc. The process represents the sequences of operating cycles. The cycle, in turn, consists of the following unit operations: filtration, backwashing and chemical-enhanced backwashing (CEB). Quantitative assessment was based on the following indicators: normalized permeability, transmembrane pressure, specific energy and water consumption, specific waste generation. UF pre-treatment is accompanied by the following waste streams: $W1=1.19{\times}10$ power of $-2m^3$ (disposed NaOCl with 0.0044% wt.)/$m^3$ (filtrate); $W2=5.95{\times}10$ power of $-3m^3$ (disposed $H_2SO_4$ with 0.052% wt.)/$m^3$(filtrate); $W3=7.26{\times}10$ power of $-2m^3$ (disposed sea water)/$m^3$ (filtrate). Specific energy consumption is $1.11{\times}10$ power of $-1kWh/m^3$ (filtrate). The indicators evaluated over the cycles with conventional (non-chemical) backwashing were compared with the cycles accompanied by CEB. A positive impact of CEB on performance indicators was demonstrated namely: normalized UF resistance remains unchanged within the regime accompanied by CEB, whereas the lack of CEB results in 30% of its growth. Those quantitative indicators can be incorporated into the target function for solving different optimization problems. They can be used in the software for optimisation of operating regimes or in the synthesis of optimal flow- diagram. The cycle characteristics, process parameters and water quality data are attached.

• 대한기계학회논문집 C: 기술과 교육
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• 제1권1호
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• pp.69-73
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• 2013

역삼투막을 이용한 해수담수화 공정에서 발생되는 농축수의 최소방류 및 회수율 극대화를 위한 공정으로 전기투석을 이용한 농축수의 이차 농축기술 연구를 수행하였다. 실험방법은 정전압운전 방식을 채용하였으며, 농축/탈염조의 용량비율, 전압별 변화 및 전해질을 농축수로 활용시 등에 대한 검토를 수행하였다. 사용한 막은 다가이온막을 채용하였으며, 전력효율을 최소화하며, 농축수의 농도를 극대화 및 탈염수의 농도를 최소화할 수 있는 조건 도출을 목표로 삼았다. 실험결과 농축/탈염조의 비율은 1대 5의 비율이, 전압의 경우 12V로 전해질의 경우 농축수를 이용시에도 효율에는 큰 차이가 발생하지 않았다. 이와 같은 실험조건에서 도출된 최적조건으로는 탈염수의 총용존고형물 농도가 5.32g/l, 이차 농축수의 염도는 17.07%이며 전력량은 탈염수 톤당 16.74kWh로 나타났다.

• 상하수도학회지
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• 제27권6호
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• pp.771-778
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• 2013

Gas hydrate (GH) process is a new desalination technology, where GH is a non- stoichiometric crystalline inclusion compounds formed by water and a number of gas molecules. Seawater GH is produced in a low temperature and a high pressure condition and they are separated from the concentrated seawater. The drawback of the GH process so far is that salt contents contained in its product does not meet the fresh water quality standard. This means that the GH process is not a standalone process for seawater desalination and it needs the help of other desalting process like reverse osmosis (RO). The objective of this study is to investigate the effect of GH process on energy saving for RO process in seawater desalination. The GH product water quality data, which were obtained from a literature, were used as input data for RO process simulation. The simulation results show that the energy saving effect by the GH process is in a range of 68 % to 81 %, which increases as the salt removal efficiency of the GH process increases. Boron (B) and total dissolved solids (TDS) concentrations of the final product of the hybrid process of GH and RO were also investigated through the RO process simulation to find relavant salt rejection efficiency of the GH process. In conclusion, the salt rejection efficiency of the GH process should exceed at least 78% in order to meet the product water quality standards and to increase the energy saving effect.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• 제2권1호
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• pp.1-24
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• 2011

The deficiency of clean water is a major global concern because all the living creatures rely on the drinkable water for survival. On top of this, abundant of clean water supply is also necessary for household, metropolitan inhabitants, industry, and agriculture. Among many purification processes, advances in low-energy membrane separation technology appear to be the most effective solution for water crisis because membranes have been widely recognized as one of the most direct and feasible approaches for clean water production. The aim of this article is to give an overview of (1) two new emerging membrane technologies for water reuse and desalination by forward osmosis (FO) and membrane distillation (MD), and (2) the molecular engineering and development of highly permeable hollow fiber membranes, with polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) and polybenzimidazole (PBI) as the main focuses for the aforementioned applications in National University of Singapore (NUS). This article presents the main results of membrane module design, separation performance, membrane characteristics, chemical modification and spinning conditions to produce novel hollow fiber membranes for FO and MD applications. As two potential solutions, MD and FO may be synergistically combined to form a hybrid system as a sustainable alternative technology for fresh water production.

• 상하수도학회지
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• 제30권2호
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• pp.131-137
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• 2016

The development of alternative water resources has emerged as an effective method for solving drought of water resources due to extreme weather and increase in water consumption. Recently, in Korea, there has been active research on reverse osmosis desalination technology, wastewater reuse using forward osmosis membranes, and the forward osmosis(FO)-reverse osmosis(RO) hybrid process combining these two technologies. In this study, the basic performance of FO membranes manufactured by three domestic and international manufactures such as Microfilter Co., Ltd., Toray Chemical Korea Inc., and Hydration Technologies Inc., were investigated for wastewater reuse. In addition, as an experiment to select feed solution, the selected membranes were operated 48 consecutive hours using three secondary effluents pretreated by the UF membrane with a pore size of $0.1{\mu}m$ and auto strainer with pore sizes of $1{\mu}m$ and $100{\mu}m$ as feed solution. Although there was not much difference in the operating performance. Thus, the treated water using the $100{\mu}m$ auto strainer was selected as feed solution applied to the assessment.

• 대한환경공학회지
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• 제38권1호
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• pp.34-41
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• 2016

UF (ultrafiltration)-SWRO (seawater reverse osmosis) 공정을 이용하여 해수와 기수의 유입수 블렌딩(pre-blending)이 보론(boron)과 휴믹산(humic acid)의 제거에 미치는 영향을 조사하였다. 유입수 블렌딩은 TDS (total dissolved solids) 농도를 기준으로 15,000 mg/L~27,000 mg/L까지 설정하였으며, RO에서의 보론 제거특성을 분석하였다. 또한, 동일한 TDS 농도범위에서 휴믹산을 주입하여 유기물 제거 특성을 알아보았다. 보론은 TDS 농도가 높아질수록 제거율은 76.60% - 83.27%로 높게 나타났지만, 최종 생산된 생산수의 보론 농도는 0.48 mg/L-0.69 mg/L로 높아져 유입수 내 보론 농도가 다량 유입될 시 유입수 블렌딩이 필요할 것으로 판단된다. 휴믹산의 경우 10 mg/L 수준일 경우 TDS 농도 22,500 mg/L가 27,000 mg/L 보다 제거율이 높게 나타났지만, 휴믹산이 5 mg/L 수준일 경우 TDS 농도 18,000 mg/L가 15,000 mg/L보다 높게 나타났다. 한편, 휴믹산이 주입되었을 때 UF-SWRO 공정에서는 오히려 플럭스(flux)와 회수율(recovery rate)이 증가하는 효과를 나타내었는데, 이는 파울링 물질이 $Ca^{2+}$와 휴믹산의 결합에 의해 대부분 제거되어 나타난 것으로 판단된다. 따라서 UF-SWRO를 이용한 해수 담수화 시 보론 농도와 휴믹산 제거측면에서 TDS 농도가 낮을수록 유리하다고 판단된다.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• 제1권3호
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• pp.193-206
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• 2010

Organic fouling and biofouling pose a significant challenge to the membrane filtration process. Photocatalysis-membrane hybrid system is a novel idea for reducing these membranes fouling however, when $TiO_2 photocatalyst nanoparticles are used in suspension, catalyst recovery is not only imposes an extra step on the process but also significantly contributes to increased membrane resistance and reduced permeate flux. In this study, $TiO_2$ photocatalyst has been immobilized by coating on the microfiltration (MF) membrane surface to minimize organic and microbial fouling. Nano-sized $TiO_2$ was first synthesized by a sol-gel method. The synthesized $TiO_2$ was coated on a Poly Vinyl Difluoride (PVDF) membrane (MF) surface using spray coating and dip coating techniques to obtain hybrid functional composite membrane. The characteristics of the synthesized photocatalyst and a functional composite membrane were studied using numerous instruments in terms of physical, chemical and electrical properties. In comparison to the clean PVDF membrane, the $TiO_2$ coated MF membrane was found more effective in removing methylene blue (20%) and E-coli (99%).

• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• 제9권4호
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• pp.221-231
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• 2018

A new procedure to produce poly(vinylidene fluoride)/boron nitride hybrid membrane is presented for application in membrane distillation (MD) process. The influence of hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) incorporation on the performance of the polymeric membranes is studied through the present investigation. For this aim, h-BN nanopowders were successfully synthesized using the simple chemical vapor deposition (CVD) route and subsequent solvent treatments. The resulting h-BN nanosheets were blended with poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) solution. Then, the prepared composite solution was subjected to phase inversion process to obtain PVDF/h-BN hybrid membranes. Various examinations such as scanning electron microscopy (SEM), wettability, permeation flux, mechanical strength and liquid entry pressure (LEP) measurements are performed to evaluate the prepared membrane. Moreover, Air gap membrane distillation (AGMD) experiments were carried out to investigate the salt rejection performance and the durability of membranes. The results show that our hybrid PVDF/h-BN membrane presents higher water permeation flux (${\sim}18kg/m^2h$) compared to pristine PVDF membrane. In addition, the experimental data confirms that the prepared nanocomposite membrane is hydrophobic (water contact angle: ${\sim}103^{\circ}$), has a porous skin layer (>85%), as well competitive fouling resistance and operational durability. Furthermore, the total salt rejection efficiency was obtained for PVDF/h-BN membrane. The results prove that the novel PVDF/h-BN membrane can be easily synthesized and applied in MD process for salt rejection purposes.

• 상하수도학회지
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• 제31권4호
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• pp.303-310
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• 2017

Pressure retarded osmosis(PRO) has attracted much attention as potential technology to reduce the overall energy consumption for reverse osmosis(RO) desalination. The RO/PRO hybrid process is considered as the most logical next step for future desalination. The PRO process aims to harness the osmotic energy difference of two aqueous solutions separated by a semipermeable membrane. By using the concentrated water(RO brine) discharged from existing RO plants, the PRO process can effectively exploit a greater salinity gradient to reduce the energy cost of processing concentrated water. However, in order to use RO brine as the draw solution, PRO membrane must have high water flux and enough mechanical strength to withstand the high operational pressure. This study investigates the development of a thin film composite PRO membrane and spiral wound module for high power density. Also, the influence of membrane backing layer on the overall power density was studied using the characteristic factors of PRO membranes. Finally, the performance test of an 8-inch spiral wound module was carried out under various operating conditions(i.e. hydraulic pressure, flow rate, temperature). As the flow rate and temperature increased under the same hydraulic pressure, the PRO performance increased due to the growth of water permeability coefficient and osmotic pressure. For a high performance PRO system, in order to optimize the operating conditions, it is highly recommended that the flow pressure be minimized while the flow rate is maintained at a high level.