Reverse osmosis treatment of municipal sewage effluent for industrial reuse

摘要

The application of reverse osmosis (RO) treatment to municipal sewage effluent is relatively new; most projects have been aimed at producing RO product water suitable for permitted discharge or reuse in irrigation. Industrial water users employ much different criteria in the evaluation of the potential effluent source, the treatment process for reuse and treated water quality. A case history is presented on a major Florida electric power generating facility which currently uses municipal sewage effluent in scrubber and cooling applications but seeks to expand its reuse to include make-up water for high pressure steam production. Data from a pilot test of RO treatment prior to the plant's existing ion exchange demineralizers is presented. This information includes RO pretreatment concerns, RO operating evaluations, RO cleaning data, the effect on ion exchange demineralizer economics and the effects on final process water quality. The effect of reuse on the overall plant water balance is presented along with a discussion concerning design considerations for RO systems to be used in similar industrial applications.