RO Training Course

RO Plant Configuration
 Feed water source (open intake or well)
 Cartridge Filter (5 micron)
 Antiscalant Injection
 HPP
 Energy Recovery Turbine (in case of sea
water)
 Pressure Vessels
 RO Plant Configuration
 Membranes
 Chemical Cleaning / Flushing System
 Instrumentation, Gauges, Alarms and Protections
 PVC (low pressure stream) and St. St (high
pressure stream) pipes
 Post treatment chemicals (chlorine and Caustic
Soda)
 Drain water system for reject water (sea or
injection wells)
 Pre-Treatment system
Why?

 In order to increase the efficiency and

life of a Reverse Osmosis system,
effective pretreatment of the feed water
is required.
Filtration Range
Typical RO or Nano-Filtration
 Pre-Treatment system
 Selection of the proper pretreatment will
maximize efficiency and membrane life by
minimizing possibility of:
 Fouling
 Scaling
 Membrane degradation
 Pre-Treatment system
 When to apply?

 If the feed water quality does not comply

with membranes’ manufacturer
recommendations.
 Pre-Treatment system
 The proper selection of a good pretreatment system
for shall depend on:

 Feed water source (surface water or well

water)
 Feed water composition

 Application
 Pre-Treatment system
 Colloids
 Definition:
 Colloids are very small diameter suspended particles
which are responsible for the turbidity of surface
water and cause fouling to membrane system.
 Sizes:
 The colloids particles size is 0.001 - 1 micrometer
 Elimination:
 In order to get rid of the colloids, we have to enlarge
its size to allow it to precipitate, the only way to do
that is to use coagulation –flocculation pretreatment.
Pre-Treatment system
 Chemicals

 Coagulation- Flocculation.

 Chlorination & De-chlorination.

 Scale Inhibitor.
 Pre-Treatment system
Coagulant
 Inorganic coagulants ( as Fe
(III) and Al(III) salts)
 Organic coagulants (cationic
polyelectrolyte) e.g. King Lee
or Nalco 8103
Flocculant
 Inorganic polymers(activated
silica).
 Natural polymers ( starches,
alginate).
 Synthetic flocculants
( currently common than the
first two old types).
 Pre-Treatment system
 Chlorination & De-chlorination
 Chlorination for RO/NF pretreatment has been
applied usually where biological fouling prevention is
required (typically for surface water) chlorine is added
continuously at the intake and a reaction time of 20 –
30 minutes should be allowed, a free chlorine of 0.5 – 1
PPM should be maintained through the whole
pretreatment line.
 De-chlorination upstream of the membranes is
required, to protect the membranes from oxidation.
 Pre-Treatment system
 1-Acid Addition:
 This is to avoid calcium carbonate scaling by
decreasing the feed water PH
 The Acid should be used is HCl or H2SO4, the best is
to use hydrochloric Acid.
 2-Scale Inhibitor chemicals:
 Scale inhibitors (Antiscalant) can be used to control
scaling due to Ca, Sr, Ba, SO4, PO4, and Fe.
 Antiscalant is a surface-active material that interferes
with the precipitation reactions.
 Pre-Treatment system
 Antiscalant Types:
 Sodium Hexa-meta phosphate (SHMP)
 Polymeric organic scale inhibitors which more
effective than SHMP ( Poly carboxylic acid, Poly
maleic acid, poly acrylic acid and poly phosphonate)
 For example:
 King Lee PTP0100,
 Permatreat 191,
 Hypersperse MDC220, etc.
 Bacteri Oxid. Org.
Pretreatment CaCO3 CaSO4 BaSO4 SrSO4 CaF2 SiO2 SDI Fe Al
a agents matter

Acid addition VE P

Scale inhibitor P VE VE VE VE P P

Softening IX VE VE VE VE VE

Media
P P P P
filtration

Oxidation
P VE
filtration

In line
P P P P
coagulation

Coagulation
P VE P P VE
flocculation

MF/UF VE VE P P P VE

Cartridge
P P P P P
filtration

Chlorination VE

De-
VE
chlorination

Shock
P
treatment

GAC filtration P VE VE
 Pre-Treatment system
 Multimedia Filtration:
 The removal of suspended and colloidal particles by
media filtration is based on their deposition on the
surface of filter grains while the water flows through a
bed of these grains (filter media).
 The most common filter media in water treatment are
gravel, sand and anthracite.
 During operation, influent water to be filtered enters
at the top of the filter, percolates through the filter bed
and is drawn off through the collector system at the
bottom.
 Pre-Treatment system
Direct filtration (i.e. sand Cross flow filtration (i.e. RO,
or MMF and cartridge NF, UF, and MF)
filter) Feed in
Feed In

RO
MMF

reject out

Filtrate Out Product Out

 Pre-Treatment system
 Cartridge Micro filtration:
 A cartridge filter with a pore size of less than 10
micrometer is the minimum pretreatment required
for every RO system.

 It is a safety device to protect the membranes and

HPP from suspended particles.

 Usually it is the last step of a pretreatment sequence

 Typical RO or NF System

Feed Feed
Pump Low
Temperature Pressure
Suction Suction
Gauge Gauge Feed
Pressure Pressure
Gauge Switch Pressure Reverse Osmosis
Control Membrane
Valve Elements
Permeate Flow

Pressure Vessel Concentrate

Flow

5-10m High Pressure Pressure Gauge

Filter Pump RO Feed Brine

Feedwater Pump Discharge

Sampling Point
Flow F1
Concentrate Indicator
Flow Indicator F1 Control Valve
Permeate
Sample Point
Concentrate Concentrate Flow
Sampling Point to Reuse or Permeate
Disposal Flow to
Point of Use
 R.O.M.A.S
 Single stage system.
 Multi-stage system.
 Permeate stage system.
 Post treatment system
 PH adjustment:
 Add Caustic Soda to neutralize the RO permeate to
PH ranged from 6.5 to 8.5 as per European standards.
 The usually common recommended PH is 7.4
 Sanitization:
 This is conducted by chlorination using one of the
following products:
 Chlorine gas (not common).
 Sodium/ or Calcium hypochlorite (common).
Orientation to R.O Plant
 Equipment.
a) HPP
b) Turbines (Energy recovery system).
c) Membranes.
d) Feed pumps.
e) Chemical dosing pumps.
f) VFD.
g) Instrumentation.
 High pressure Pump
 HPP Types
 Positive displacement pump:
 This pump type is also known as piston/ or
reciprocating pump.
 Centrifugal pump:
 The most common HPP used in our application is
multistage centrifugal pump which consist of more
than one stage. The pump usually boosts the pressure
around 600 Psi before admittance to ERT. The pump
flow is controlled either through throttle valve or by
using VFD.
 Energy Recovery

 In sea water systems, the pressurized feed water

leaves the system with high pressure in the
concentrate stream.

 This energy can be recovered to decrease the specific

energy demand of the system.
 Energy Recovery Technology
 ERT Types:
 Class I: Pressure Exchangers & Energy Exchangers
 Energy recovery technologies use the principles of positive
displacement and are commonly referred to as pressure
exchanger as PX and DWEER
 Class II: Energy Recovery Turbine “ ERT”
 Energy recovery technologies are centrifugal in nature and
are commonly referred to as turbo chargers as PEI ( HTC -
225)and FEDCO(HPB-80).
 Class III:
Pressure Exchangers
Pressure Exchangers
Energy Recovery Turbine “ ERT”
Energy Recovery Turbine “ ERT”

Pelton wheel Type

 Energy Consumption
 Energy consumption in Sea water RO forecasted
as follows:
 10 KWh/m3 in case no energy recovery system
 5 KWh/m3 in case of using standard pumps and
turbines” PEI & FEDCO”
 3 - 4 KWh/m3 high efficiency pumps and turbine”
Pelton wheel”
 2 - 3 KWh/m3 high efficiency pumps and pressure
exchanger”PX or DWEER”
 RO Equipments
 Feed pumps:

 To supply feed water to RO system, feed water

pumps must be used.

 Feed water pumps may be located on the sea water

intake, ground wells and/or after the raw water
tanks.
 RO Equipments
 Chemical Dosing Pump:
 These pumps used to inject Feed / or product water
with chemicals solutions. The dosing pumps usually
equipped with pulse and speed switches, the speed
switch should be high enough in order to make water
stream homogenous with the recommended
chemicals dosage rates.
 Pumps construction material should be consistent
with chemical type should be used.
 RO Equipments
 VFD
 A variable frequency drive (VFD) is a
system for controlling the rotational speed
of an alternating current (AC) electric
motor by controlling the frequency of the
electrical power supplied to the motor
 RO Equipments
 VFD system description:
 A variable frequency drive system generally consists of
:
 AC Motor:
 Usually 3 phase induction motors, single phase motors
can be used.
 VFD Controller:
 These are solid state electronic power conversion devices
 VFD Operator Interface
 Provides a means of an operator to start and stop the
motor and adjust the operating speed.
 Instrumentation
 Pressure gauges
 Water Counter meter
 Flow meter
 Hour meter
 PH meter
 Conductivity meter
 Corrosion Control

Piping

High Pressure Low Pressure

“ Stainless Steel” “ PVC”
 Stainless Steel Selection
 RO Plants with Concentrate Stream TDS below 7,000
PPM:

 Stainless steel type AISI 316 L with <0.03% C is the

minimum demand for the pipe system because lower
grade stainless steels with higher carbon content will
suffer from pitting in the welding zones (inter-granular
corrosion). For non-welded parts, stainless steel type
AISI 316 is usually acceptable.
 Stainless Steel Selection
 RO Plants with Concentrate Stream TDS higher than
7,000 PPM

 Stainless steel type 904 L is recommended for pipes and

bends for welding and for similar parts without
crevices. Where crevices occur, such as at flange
connections, in valves, in pumps, etc., stainless steel
type 254 SMO or similar with ≥ 6% Mo is
recommended. These two higher alloy stainless steels
can be welded together
 PVC Piping & Fittings

 Piping Schedule & Pressure ratings

 Flanges & Fittings Types
 Sizing & Calculations
Flush/ Cleaning System
Function & Purpose
Flush Tank Sizing
Flush Pump sizing
 Feed Water Specs
 SDI Max.5 (less than 3 preferred)
 Turbidity Max.1 NTU
 TOC (Total organic carbon) Max.3
 Free Chlorine Zero
 Ferrous iron 4ppm
 Ferric iron 0.05ppm
 Manganese 0.005ppm
 Feed Water Specs
 Contaminants:
 1-Inorganic: (e.g. Ionic as Cations Ca +2, Mg+2, Na+1, etc.
and Anions Cl-1, SO4-2, etc). The dissolved ions size is less
than 0.001 microns.Ions are very small, some are even
smaller than water molecules (Na size is 0.37 nanometer,
while Cl size is 0.24 nanometer)
 2-Non ionic: (as organics, natural organic matter
originating from decay of trees, plants, etc.)
 3-Particulate: (as Suspended solids, colloidal material,
microbiological). Colloids particles size is between 0.001 –
1 microns. Suspended solids size is > 1 microns
 4-Gases (Oxygen, Hydrogen sulfide, oxygen, chlorine,
carbon dioxide)
Product Water Specs
 Product water specs
 Alarms and Protections.
 Too high feed pressure
 Insufficient feed pressure
 Oxidizing agents in the feed
 Too high concentration of colloidal matter in the
feed
 Too high concentration of sparingly soluble salts
in the feed
 Too high feed temperature
 Alarms and Protections
 Alarms for:
 High permeate conductivity
 High concentrate conductivity
 Low feed pH
 High feed pH
 High feed temperature
 Low level in dosing tank
 Low / high level in product water tank
 Low / high level in raw water tanks