Towards zero liquid discharge in the presence of silica: Stable 98% recovery in nanofiltration and reverse osmosis

S. Salvador Cob; C. Yeme; B. Hofs; E. R. Cornelissen; D. Vries; F. E. Genceli Güner; G. J. Witkamp

doi:10.1016/j.seppur.2014.11.009

Towards zero liquid discharge in the presence of silica: Stable 98% recovery in nanofiltration and reverse osmosis

S. Salvador Cob^*, C. Yeme, B. Hofs, E. R. Cornelissen, D. Vries, F. E. Genceli Güner, G. J. Witkamp

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

37 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Silica scaling can be a limiting factor for membrane treatment at very high recoveries. In this work the feasibility of reaching very high recoveries (≥98%) was investigated in a pilot plant consisting of cation exchange pretreatment, nanofiltration (NF) and reverse osmosis (RO), with pretreated ground water as feed water, with no aluminum detected. Experiments were carried out at total recovery (NF + RO) of 98% and 99% and with the addition of two different antiscalants at 99% recovery. 98% recovery was possible during 23 days of operation with only a minor decrease in the membrane permeability. At 99% recovery SEM-EDX analysis showed that silica and ironsilicate scaling occurred in the RO membrane, and strongly decreased the membrane permeability. The addition of antiscalants to the pilot plant did not prevent the occurrence of scaling. The laboratory beaker experiments did not prove the efficiency of the antiscalants either. The mean residence time of water in the pilot plant was estimated at 1 h. The occurrence of scaling in the presence of antiscalants can be attributed to factors such as the long residence time in the pilot plant, which is probably longer than the induction time, and the relatively high concentration of particulate iron in the feed water.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	23-31
Number of pages	9
Journal	Separation and Purification Technology
Volume	140
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.seppur.2014.11.009
Publication status	Published - 22 Jan 2015
Externally published	Yes

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Funding

This work was performed in the cooperation framework of Wetsus, Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Water Technology ( www.wetsus.nl ). Wetsus is funded by the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Infrastructure and Environment , the European Union Regional Development Fund , the Province of Fryslân, and the Northern Netherlands Provinces. The authors would like to thank the participants of the research theme “Clean Water Technology” for the fruitful discussions and their financial support. We would specially like to thank Harry van Wegen and Sydney Meijering for installing the pilot plant in the new location, their infinite help and permanent availability and also special thanks to Ferrie den Uijl, Ron Jong and the rest of the workers at the Linschoten treatment plant for their help and kindness. Wolter Siegers is acknowledged for his assistance with the pilot when needed and Koos Baas for providing the antiscalants and discussing the work. We would also like to thank Arie Zwijnenburg for the SEM–EDX analyses.

Funders	Funder number
Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Infrastructure and Environment
European Regional Development Fund

Keywords

Antiscalants
High recovery
Iron oxides
Residence time distribution
Silica scaling

Access to Document

10.1016/j.seppur.2014.11.009

Cite this

@article{333fc19b68e94d36b5b9fe1f03e1ca98,

title = "Towards zero liquid discharge in the presence of silica: Stable 98\% recovery in nanofiltration and reverse osmosis",

abstract = "Silica scaling can be a limiting factor for membrane treatment at very high recoveries. In this work the feasibility of reaching very high recoveries (≥98\%) was investigated in a pilot plant consisting of cation exchange pretreatment, nanofiltration (NF) and reverse osmosis (RO), with pretreated ground water as feed water, with no aluminum detected. Experiments were carried out at total recovery (NF + RO) of 98\% and 99\% and with the addition of two different antiscalants at 99\% recovery. 98\% recovery was possible during 23 days of operation with only a minor decrease in the membrane permeability. At 99\% recovery SEM-EDX analysis showed that silica and ironsilicate scaling occurred in the RO membrane, and strongly decreased the membrane permeability. The addition of antiscalants to the pilot plant did not prevent the occurrence of scaling. The laboratory beaker experiments did not prove the efficiency of the antiscalants either. The mean residence time of water in the pilot plant was estimated at 1 h. The occurrence of scaling in the presence of antiscalants can be attributed to factors such as the long residence time in the pilot plant, which is probably longer than the induction time, and the relatively high concentration of particulate iron in the feed water.",

keywords = "Antiscalants, High recovery, Iron oxides, Residence time distribution, Silica scaling",

author = "\{Salvador Cob\}, S. and C. Yeme and B. Hofs and Cornelissen, \{E. R.\} and D. Vries and \{Genceli G{\"u}ner\}, \{F. E.\} and Witkamp, \{G. J.\}",

year = "2015",

month = jan,

day = "22",

doi = "10.1016/j.seppur.2014.11.009",

language = "English",

volume = "140",

pages = "23--31",

journal = "Separation and Purification Technology",

issn = "1383-5866",

publisher = "Elsevier B.V.",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Towards zero liquid discharge in the presence of silica

T2 - Stable 98% recovery in nanofiltration and reverse osmosis

AU - Salvador Cob, S.

AU - Yeme, C.

AU - Hofs, B.

AU - Cornelissen, E. R.

AU - Vries, D.

AU - Genceli Güner, F. E.

AU - Witkamp, G. J.

PY - 2015/1/22

Y1 - 2015/1/22

N2 - Silica scaling can be a limiting factor for membrane treatment at very high recoveries. In this work the feasibility of reaching very high recoveries (≥98%) was investigated in a pilot plant consisting of cation exchange pretreatment, nanofiltration (NF) and reverse osmosis (RO), with pretreated ground water as feed water, with no aluminum detected. Experiments were carried out at total recovery (NF + RO) of 98% and 99% and with the addition of two different antiscalants at 99% recovery. 98% recovery was possible during 23 days of operation with only a minor decrease in the membrane permeability. At 99% recovery SEM-EDX analysis showed that silica and ironsilicate scaling occurred in the RO membrane, and strongly decreased the membrane permeability. The addition of antiscalants to the pilot plant did not prevent the occurrence of scaling. The laboratory beaker experiments did not prove the efficiency of the antiscalants either. The mean residence time of water in the pilot plant was estimated at 1 h. The occurrence of scaling in the presence of antiscalants can be attributed to factors such as the long residence time in the pilot plant, which is probably longer than the induction time, and the relatively high concentration of particulate iron in the feed water.

AB - Silica scaling can be a limiting factor for membrane treatment at very high recoveries. In this work the feasibility of reaching very high recoveries (≥98%) was investigated in a pilot plant consisting of cation exchange pretreatment, nanofiltration (NF) and reverse osmosis (RO), with pretreated ground water as feed water, with no aluminum detected. Experiments were carried out at total recovery (NF + RO) of 98% and 99% and with the addition of two different antiscalants at 99% recovery. 98% recovery was possible during 23 days of operation with only a minor decrease in the membrane permeability. At 99% recovery SEM-EDX analysis showed that silica and ironsilicate scaling occurred in the RO membrane, and strongly decreased the membrane permeability. The addition of antiscalants to the pilot plant did not prevent the occurrence of scaling. The laboratory beaker experiments did not prove the efficiency of the antiscalants either. The mean residence time of water in the pilot plant was estimated at 1 h. The occurrence of scaling in the presence of antiscalants can be attributed to factors such as the long residence time in the pilot plant, which is probably longer than the induction time, and the relatively high concentration of particulate iron in the feed water.

KW - Antiscalants

KW - High recovery

KW - Iron oxides

KW - Residence time distribution

KW - Silica scaling

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/84918799942

U2 - 10.1016/j.seppur.2014.11.009

DO - 10.1016/j.seppur.2014.11.009

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:84918799942

SN - 1383-5866

VL - 140

SP - 23

EP - 31

JO - Separation and Purification Technology

JF - Separation and Purification Technology

ER -

Towards zero liquid discharge in the presence of silica: Stable 98% recovery in nanofiltration and reverse osmosis

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Funding

Keywords

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this