What are the operating condition for RO systems in a power generation?

In the case of a power generation facility, the final end product is electricity, which is generated using steam as a source of energy. Thus, continuous steam production is required to achieve this. This directly relates to the importance of the boilers' feed-water quality.

The use of Reverse Osmosis in power producing facilities has grown in popularity over the last 15 years, especially among newly constructed plants. Regardless of the fuel source, it may readily be retrofitted to the boiler-water pre-treatment systems of large and old power generation facilities.

This article discusses five operating criteria to think about when buying RO systems for your Power Generation facility.

1: Cost of Wastewater Treatment: The expense of wastewater treatment and disposal is steadily rising. For plants where costs are becoming prohibitive, it may be more cost-effective to construct a wastewater RO system with additional stages to reduce wastewater to the smallest quantity practicable. Specialized Reverse Osmosis systems and additional equipment’s, such as crystallizers, may be required in some "zero discharge" power producing facilities.

2: Selection of Cellulose Acetate (CA) or Polyamide Composite (PA) RO Membranes: Physical and chemical resistance of cellulose acetate and polyamide composite membranes varies greatly. Fluid temperature, pH, and chlorine resistance are only three examples of fluid qualities that may influence your decision. Another important consideration is operating pressure. In comparison to PA membranes, CA membranes may operate at substantially higher pressures of more than 450psi.

CA membranes can handle chlorine residual content, which is typical in most municipal water system streams, but if PA membranes are used, they must be neutralized chemically or eliminated via activated carbon filtering.

RO membrane fouling can occur. The easiest method to deal with this problem is to prevent it from happening in the first place. Pre-treating RO feed water for common foulants reduces maintenance and allows for longer RO runs between cleaning and membrane replacement.

3: Preventing hardness, strontium, or barium from scaling the RO membranes: The following are the three most prevalent methods for preventing scale build-up in Power Generation RO systems:

1: To keep the pH in check, acid is fed.

2: Installing a softener, and

3: Feeding an anti-scalant before the RO system.

4: Prevent microbial fouling of the membrane in industrial reverse osmosis: Microbiological fouling does not generally cause as much harm as mineral scale, but it can impair the effectiveness of a Reverse Osmosis system significantly. Fouling prevention is, once again, significantly more successful than fouling remediation.

Microbiological fouling of reverse osmosis systems is often prevented by employing a biocide to reduce the microbe content in the RO input water to a predefined maximum level.

5: Prevent non-microbiological organic fouling of the RO membrane: Controlling the COD of the RO feed water has proven to be the most effective method. If there is a recycled or a wastewater component in the RO feed water, the COD might be nearly anything. In this instance, effective upstream treatment of the waste or recycled stream utilizing secondary (biological) treatment will be required to reduce COD to levels that prevent non-biological organic fouling of RO membranes.

How can we help?

Netsol Water will design and choose the RO Systems that best suit the needs of your business and the project. We integrate RO technology with the appropriate pre-treatment and post-treatment to deliver long-term and full solutions.

Our water and wastewater treatment systems provide the following benefits_

1: Engineered and custom-designed solutions for one-of-a-kind requirements.

2: Design, engineering, manufacture, automation, installation, maintenance, and training are all included in turnkey systems.

3: Water and wastewater treatment, recycling, reuse, and disposal using cutting-edge technologies.

4: On-line assistance and on-site service and support are at our best.

For further assistance or product-purchase-related queries, call us at +91-9650608473 or email at enquiry@netsolwater.com.