ENERGY EFFICIENT LOW-FOULING HIGH-RECOVERY REVERSE OSMOSIS SYSTEM FOR BRACKISH WATER DESALINATION

摘要

A novel multi-stage reverse osmosis system is proposed that allows for following benefits : - a) reduction in pressure-loss while achieving optimum cross-flow velocities and therefore reducing energy consumption of 4-10%; - b) increased flux balance between stages resulting in reduced fouling of the first stage; - c) disruption of scale forming conditions resulting in reduced scaling of the last stage; - d) reduction in scale potential of the concentrate valve; - e) reduction in downtime for CIP by proactively disrupting scaling or fouling through several innovative methods; - f) ease-of and effectiveness-of CIP with reduced number of valves and - g) to keep system operational via isolation of the last stage for maintenance while the keeping remaining system in production mode. All the above improvements are achieved with process-flow and operational characteristics defined in the Specifications and Claims.