Evaluation of Methods for Monitoring the Intergrity of Reverse Osmosis MembraneSystems. Appendices. Desalting and Water Purification Research Report No.55A

摘要

Several methods for monitoring the integrity of reverse osmosis membrane systemswere evaluated in conjunction with a six month wastewater recycling project in McAllen, Texas. Screened, de-gritted sewage was treated with a microfiltration/bioreactor followed by chloramination, anti-scalant, acidification with sulfuric acid and reverse osmosis. On-line methods evaluated were differential pressure across each stage, normalized product flow, salt passage, total organic carbon, particle count and particle index. Periodic methods evaluated were pressure hold test, dye challenge, UV analysis, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa counts. After the six-month baseline study, the membrane system was damage purposefully in a variety of ways to find the change in response for each of the methods with a known level of damage. Methods were evaluated for ease of interpretation, labor intensity, and ability to detect damage. The highest-ranking methods were total organic carbon monitoring, UV 254 monitoring and dye challenge.