Energy efficient low-fouling high-recovery reverse osmosis system for brackish water desalination

Abstract

A novel multi-stage reverse osmosis system is proposed that allows for following benefits —a) reduction in pressure-loss while achieving optimum cross-flow velocities and therefore reducing energy consumption of 4-10%; —b) increased flux balance between stages resulting in reduced fouling of the first stage; —c) disruption of scale forming conditions resulting in reduced scaling of the last stage; —d) reduction in scale potential of the concentrate valve; —e) reduction in downtime for CIP by proactively disrupting scaling or fouling through several innovative methods; —f) ease-of and effectiveness-of CIP with reduced number of valves and —g) to keep system operational via isolation of the last stage for maintenance while the keeping remaining system in production mode. All the above improvements are achieved with process-flow and operational characteristics defined in the Specifications and Claims.