DOES POLYMER ADDITION NEGATIVELY AFFECT MICROFILTRATION AND REVERSE OSMOSIS?

摘要

CH2M HILL completed an assessment of the impact of polymer on microfiltration (MF) and reverse osmosis (RO) membrane performance using pilot testing. Inclined plate clarification of tertiary wastewater with ferric chloride and polymer addition was used upstream of the membranes for solids, organics, and phosphorus removal. An anionic polymer was selected to mitigate the potential adverse impact of the polymer on the downstream membrane processes. Comparison with non-polymer operations determined that anionic polymer addition did not negatively impact MF and RO performance. In fact, MF performance may have improved as evidenced by lower Transmembrane Pressure (TMP) and higher permeability during polymer addition.