Performance of reverse osmosis units at high temperatures

There are few parameters which are typically used to describe the performance of reverse osmosis units operation. Product flow rate and salt rejection are the key performance parameters. They are mainly influenced by variable parameters such as pressure, temperature recovery and feed water salt concentration. The effect of temperature on membrane performance is the most important parameter. When temperature of feed water is increased for constant product flow the required applied feed pressure decreases and the product water salinity increases. Energy consumption is decreased as the applied pressure decreases. If the permeate flow is let to increase as the temperature increase fewer membrane elements will be required. This leads to a considerable saving in the water production cost. As a rule of thumb membrane capacity increases about 3% per degree Celsius increase in water temperature. In this paper, intensive trials will be undertaken to study the performance of reverse osmosis units. Known computer software will be used for this purpose as well as some operating data of Riyadh water treatment plants. It is expected that this work will help in optimizing the operation of reverse osmosis units. The balance between feed pressure, recovery, flux and membrane area will be maintained at the desired product water quality.Corresponding Author: Dr. Ibrahim S. Al-Mutaz1 Chemical Eng. Dept., College of Engineering, King Saud University, P O Box 800, Riyadh-11421 Email: almutaz@ksu.edu.s