Improved Field Performance for Reverse Osmosis Systems.
Abstract
The report describes two test programs: the first one involved the physical cleaning of reverse osmosis (RO) membranes by means of flow surging and ultrasonic cavitation. The objective was to clean RO membranes in situ without using chemical additives. It was shown that ultrasonic cleaning is an effective method for removing ferric oxide, calcium carbonate/sulfate scale, and bentonite clay deposits from individual pieces of RO membranes. However, ultrasonic cavitation was not effective when applied to RO membranes in a spiral-wound configuration. Flow surging proved to be an effective method for cleaning spiral-wound RO modules in the preliminary test program conducted. A second test program involved the evaluation of a tubular fabric filter which has the potential of replacing conventional mixed media filters with substantial weight and filter housing area savings. During the test program the filter removed over half of the turbidity of the feedwater used without any chemical additives and could be cleaned intermittently by backwashing. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 01, 1982
- Accession Number
- ADA124244
Entities
People
- T. A. Kuepper
Organizations
- Naval Facilities Engineering Service Center