Chapter 1

Introduction to Reverse Osmosis

Syed Javaid Zaidi, Haleema Saleem
Qatar University, Qatar
CVEN 342 Water Resource Management
Presented by : Hammad Siddiqui

Date: 7th November 2022

Reverse Osmosis Systems - 1st Edition (elsevier.com)

 INTRODUCTION

Global Needs for

Desalination

Population Clean water Constant Climate Water

growth shortage due exploitation change pollution due
increases to natural of natural to industrial
freshwater disasters resources by discharge/ru
demand (earthquake, agricultural n off
flood, etc.) users
GLOBAL WATER SCARCITY
Water scarcity will be one of the
defining features of the 21st
century

The U.N. predicts that by 2025

two thirds of the world's
population will suffer water
shortages

By 2050, 1 in 5 developing
countries will face water
shortages

Global physical and economical surface water scarcity map

A comprehensive review of solar‐driven desalination technologies for off‐grid greenhouses Article
Natural
Desalination:
Water Cycle!
• Major Stages
• 1. Evaporation
• 2. Condensation
• 3. Precipitation
• 4. Collection
 INTRODUCTION-DESALINATION FACTS
Approximately 15,906 desalination plants

Total desalination capacity 95.37 million cubic meters per day

Around 47.5% of this capacity is located in the Middle East and North
Africa.

More than 300 million of people around the world who rely on
desalinated water for some or all their daily needs

E. Jones etal. / Science of the Total Environment 657 (2019) 1343–1356

GULF DESALINATION CAPACITY
 SUSTAINABILITY IN DESALINATION
Why Desalination is the RIGHT choice?
FACT: Desalination is not cheaper compared to conventional water treatment.

BUT, with all the water we have… Desalination can provide a sustainable
source of freshwater:

• for coastal cities that have either

limited or no dependable
freshwater sources.
WORLD DESALINATION INDEX

•World desalination capacity

7% Middle East
Asia
8% Europe
Africa
North & South America

12%

8%
65%
 Desalination is the answer to global water scarcity with the help
of emerging technology As earth has enough water in the form
of sea which can be made potable using desalination

Desalinated water production world •World desalination capacity

wide
14000
11888.69
12000
10000 Middle East
MIGD

8000
6000 5067.31 7%
4000 Asia
8%
2000 1559.18 974.5
0
Europe
RO MSF MED Hybrid & other 12%
Africa
Technology used
8% North &
65%
MED ED Hybrid South Amer-
8% 3% 2% ica

MSF
26%

RO
61%
 • Potential of desalinated water
Desalination is the answer to global water scarcity with the help of emerging
technology
As earth has enough water in the form of sea which can be made potable using
desalination
NEED FOR
DESALINATION
Technology used for global water desalination
(pie chart )

ED Hybrid
MED 2%
3%
8%
Desalinated water production
world wide MSF
60000000 26%
50000000
40000000
30000000
20000000 RO
10000000 61%
0

RO MSF
MED Hybrid and others
DESALINATION CAPACITY OF
QATAR
Overall capacity of Qatar sea Expected Qatar seawaterMSF
water desalination up to 2010 desalination 2018-2022MED
RO
1%
24%

RO
39% MSF
46%

75%
MED
15%
 THERMAL RO and RO Plant
Capacities
REVRESE OSMOSIS AND THERMAL CAPCITY CHANGE IN QATAR OVER THE YEARS

RO
96
Thermal 333

26.6%
263
Million gallons / day

100250 %
128
97%

65

0.364
Upt2012 2012-2018 beyond upto 2012 2012-2018

RO Power (RO) MSF

MAJOR DESALINATION TECHNOLOGIES

MEMBRANE

THERMAL

World’s installed desalination capacity based on the technology

 Water is heated, evaporated and collected
 Produces clean water and brine
DESALINATION MARKET - WORLDWIDE

Major World’s installed Top 10

desalination desalination desalination
plants capacity based markets
worldwide on saline feed
water resources

A comprehensive review of solar‐driven desalination technologies for off‐grid greenhouses Article

 Membrane Desalination

• Remove salt ions from water by using membranes that selectively permit or prevent the passage of
certain ions.
• Seawater Reverse Osmosis (SWRO) desalination
• Increasingly popular
• Advances in Technology

Major Advantages of Membrane Processes

• Relatively Simple
• Cost effective
• Due to advances in energy recovery devices and membranes
• Modular – Expandable
• Relatively small footprint
• Relatively easy maintenance
15
 Current Desalination
Technologies
1. Thermal Desalination Processes
Similar to the Earth’s natural
water cycle
Water is heated, evaporated and
collected
Produces clean water and brine
Example: Multi-Stage Flash Desalination
 Process uses multiple boiling chambers kept at
different atmospheric pressures
 Saltwater enters the system and is boiled and
evaporated in each chamber
 Process produces clean water and brine
 Current Technologies

2. Membrane Desalination Processes

Saltwater is forced through membrane sheets at high
pressures
Membrane sheets are designed to catch salt ions
Process produces clean water and brine

Example: Reverse Osmosis

 Saltwater is forced through a membrane at
600 to 1000 psi
 Multiple layers of membranes remove as
many of the salt ions as possible
 Membrane Processes
•A membrane is a selective barrier that permits the separation of
certain species in a fluid by combination of sieving and diffusion
mechanisms

•Membranes can separate particles and molecules and over a

wide particle size range and molecular weights
 Membrane Processes

Four common types of membrane Processes:

Reverse Osmosis
Forward Osmosis
Nanofiltration
Ultrafiltration
What is ?
Osmosis and Osmotic pressure
Osmosis is a process of flow of solvent from region of low
concentration to region of high concentration that is separated by a
semi permeable membrane
Reverse Osmosis
a process by which a solvent passes through a porous membrane in
the direction opposite to that for natural osmosis when subjected to a
hydrostatic pressure greater than the osmotic pressure.
 REVERSE OSMOSIS
A semipermeable
A pressure-driven membrane allows water
membrane desalination to permeate and rejects High purity
method salts and other dissolved
ions.

Less environmental
High cost Requires less energy
impact
 RECENT TRENDS AND BENEFITS OF RO OVER THERMAL

Thermal desalination uses 75kw/h whereas

the RO uses only 5 kw/h for 100m 3/h

Pump is the only component to consume

major portion of electricity.
GCC countries are shifting from
thermal-based technologies to RO-
technology
RO has a modular plant structure.

Membranes are made up of

polymer/ceramic material which are non
corrosive

The footprint of RO plant is considerably

smaller than other MSF plants
 AVERAGE SEAWATER COMPOSITION
The World Health Organization and the United Seawater with total dissolved
States Environmental Protection Agency, under the solids of 35,000 mg/L is
Safe Drinking Water Act, have specified maximal considered as the standard
*total dissolved solids concentration of 300-500 seawater comprising the
ppm, largest amount of water
*chloride concentration of 150-240 ppm, and around the world
*sodium concentration of 90 -180 ppm
in the permeate of an RO system for drinking water
standard
Standard seawater composition
Sl. No. Ion Concentration (mg/L or
ppm)
1 Chlorine 1.97 x 104
Sl. No. Sea or Ocean TDS (mg/L or ppm) 2 Sodium 1.09 x 104
1 Baltic Sea 8,000 3 Sulphate 2.7 x 103
2 Caspian Sea 13,500 4 Magnesium 1.310 x 103
3 Pacific Ocean 33,600 5 Calcium 4.12 x 102
4 Indian Ocean 33,800 6 Potassium 3.90 x 102
5 Atlantic Ocean 37,000 7 Bicarbonate 1.5 x102
6 Red Sea 43,000
7 Arabian Gulf 50,000 8 Bromide 65
8 Dead Sea 260,000 9 Carbon 28
10 Nitrogen 11.5
11 Strontium 86
12 Oxygen 4.4
Average TDS values of different seas and oceans 13 Boron 2
14 Silicon 1.4
15 Fluoride 1.3
 WATER A GRAND CHALLENGE FOR QATAR
NATIONAL VISION 2030
Problems of Arabian Gulf- Sea water desalination
Qatar challenges
High
desalination
plant
Salinity
concentration in
the Arabian gulf
Absence of High Domestic Industrial
Less annual
region
natural fresh evaporation usage and usage and
rain fall
water rates growth growth

Feed water
High wind
quality

Temperature of
feed water &
Algae boom
difference of
temperature
 SOME OF THE RO DESALINATION PLANTS IN
GCC COUNTRIES
Sl. No. Plant Country Capacity(MIGD) Commissioning
year
1 Abu Samra Qatar 0.2 1982
2 Ras Abu Fantas A3 Qatar 36 2016
3 Umm al houl Qatar 60 2016-2017
4 Mirfa IWPP UAE 53 2017
5 Al Taweelah IWP UAE 200 2022
6 Khor Fakkan Plant UAE 3 2008
7 Hamriyah UAE 20 2014
8 Ajman Plant UAE 10 2011
9 Ras Al Khaimah UAE 22 2020
IWP
10 Ghalilah UAE 15 2015
11 Shoaiba 3 Saudi Arabia 55 2019
Expansion II
12 Ras Al Khair Saudi Arabia 228 2014
Desalination Plant
13 Shuwaikh Kuwait 33 2010
14 Barka II power Oman 26.4 2009
15 Salalah plant Oman 25 ongoing
16 Sur plant Oman 17.7 2014
17 Ghubra IWP Oman 42 2013
18 Al-Dur Bahrain 48 2009
RO Desalination Plant in Qatar

MIGD- Million Imperial Gallons per Day

DEFINITIONS
Feed Stream: Water flowing into
Concentrate: Water which is
Desalination: Process of removing the primary stage of an RO
Brackish water : Water of total rejected during the RO process,
salt from sea water or brackish system. This stream will be
dissolved solid levels from 1,000 and it consists of the majority of
water for producing potable divided to form
mg/l up until 15,000 mg/l. the dissolved solids present in the
water, utilizing different systems product/permeate stream as well
feed in a more concentrated form
as a concentrate stream

High-Pressure pumps: Used to

Fouling: Process of depositing
Water Flux: Flux is used to pump the pre-treated seawater Osmosis: It is a natural process
solid substances on the RO
express the rate at which water up to the required pressure by RO where water undergoes diffusion
membrane surface. This process
permeates across a membrane membrane to achieve the desired across a membrane from a low
could be because of the existence
and is normally expressed as separation of feed water into pure concentrated salt solution to a
of biological growth, sparingly
volume per area per unit of time water and concentrated brine high concentrated salt solution.
soluble salts, or suspended solids.
streams

Osmotic Pressure: Osmotic Parts per million (ppm): A

pressure is the minimum pressure measurement of concentration, Permeate: It is the portion of the Salt Rejection: It is the amount of
which needs to be applied to a and one ppm is one-unit weight of feed water stream that passes salt separated from the feed
solution to prevent the inward solute per million unit weight of across the membrane and is water, and is expressed in
flow of its pure solvent across a solution. For the analysis of water, generally known as “product”. percentage
semipermeable membrane the ppm is the same as mg/l
ESSENTIAL PROCESS STEPS IN RO-BASED
DESALINATION PLANTS

The pretreatment stage involves all the essential treatment

procedures before the RO plant operations. This pretreatment
process is essential for an increased plant lifetime and to limit
chemical cleaning as well as replacement of membrane.

Post-treatment and/or polishing steps are needed for

conditioning the water subsequent to the RO process to make it
appropriate for the specific application

29
Fabrication methods currently used
in Desalination membrane

Polymer Casting Electro spinning Advanced Electro

Spinning
 Selection criteria of Membrane

• Sustainable Performance
• Product flow
• Salt rejection
• Chemical Stability

• Performance depends on
• Feed water quality
• Inherent membrane properties
• Chemistry, spacer, membrane area etc.
• Operation conditions
• Flux, recovery , temperature , Weather

31 31
 Membrane Cell
Permeate
Collection

RO
SYSTEM
IN CAM,
QU

Feed water tank

 Phase inversion Membrane preparation part 1 – YouTube
Membrane
preparation Phase inversion Membrane preparation part 2 – YouTube

Membrane preparation by phase inversion - YouTube

RO testing Reverse Osmosis Laboratory Demonstration - YouTube

 TYPES OF RO MEMBRANES
Cellulose acetate (CA) membrane

• Susceptible to microbiological attack

• Undergo compaction at higher pressures
Presently, the seawater RO
• Limited chemical stability
membranes are noted to have salt
rejections more than 99%
Polyamide thin-film composite (TFC) membranes

• Exhibit more flux at a given applied pressure

• Less microorganism susceptible
• More stable over a wide range of pH

Thus, polyamide TFC membranes

are currently the most widely
used desalination membranes

Source: Ghosh, A. K., R. C. Bindal, S. Prabhakar, and P. K. Tewari. "Composite polyamide reverse osmosis (RO)
membranes–recent developments and future directions." BARC Newsletter 321 (2011): 43-51.
 COMMERCIAL MEMBRANE MANUFACTURERS
Parent company Firm Location Membrane material Membrane
configurations
Spiral wound RO module
DuPont Water DuPont USA Polyamide Spiral-wound
Solutions Filmtec
Polyamide,
Nitto Denko Hydranautics USA Piperazine, Spiral-wound
Poly Ether Sulfone
Koch Membrane Fluid Systems USA Polyamide, Cellulose Spiral-wound
systems acetate
Toray Industries, Toray Japan Polyamide Spiral-wound
Inc. Industries,
Inc.
SUEZ SUEZ Water USA Polyamide, Cellulose Spiral-wound
Technologies acetate
& Solutions
Toyobo Toyobo Japan Cellulose triacetate Hollow-fiber
Mann+Hummel MICRODYN- Germany Polyamide, Cellulose Spiral-wound and
NADIR acetate Flat-sheet

Hollow fiber configuration

 THIN-FILM COMPOSITE (TFC)
Top active surface layer - Usually polyamide (PA)-performs the
function of separation

Middle microporous substrate layer - Mostly polysulfone (PSf)-

provides pathways for fluid flow

Bottom reinforcing fabric support layer - Usually woven or

nonwoven polyester materials - provides the mechanical strength

Source:Antony, A., and G. Leslie. "Degradation of polymeric membranes in water and wastewater treatment." In Advanced Membrane Science
and Technology for Sustainable Energy and Environmental Applications, pp. 718-745. Woodhead Publishing, 2011.
Thin Film Composite (TFC) RO Membrane

Polyamide 200 nm

Polysulfone support 60 mm
Polyester Reinforcing web 300 mm

Drawbacks:
• Hydrophobic
• Rough
• Not chlorine resistant
• organic solvent
• Thickness
• composition
37
 DRAWBACKS OF TFC
Sensitivity to fouling Bio-fouling remains
a major concern
which leads to
higher pumping
Energy intensive and non-selective
pressures, shorter
membrane life and
lower permeates
Degradation due to chlorination quality

Inadequate boron rejection efficiency

Development
Thin-film of fouling and
Cellulose chlorine
composite
Acetate (CA) Next what? resistant RO
(TFC)
membrane membrane
membrane
with better
water flux
Source: Duan, Jintang, Yichang Pan, Federico Pacheco, Eric Litwiller, Zhiping Lai, and Ingo Pinnau. "High-performance
polyamide thin-film-nanocomposite reverse osmosis membranes containing hydrophobic zeolitic imidazolate framework-8."
Journal of membrane science 476 (2015): 303-310
 THIN-FILM NANOCOMPOSITE (TFN) MEMBRANE
When nanoscale materials are used
in TFC-RO membranes it paved the
way to the development of thin film High water Good salt
flux rejection
nanocomposite membrane.

Better anti-
Good chlorine
fouling
resistance
It is possible to tune membrane properties
properties by using nanoparticles

Thin-film Thin-film
Cellulose Acetate
composite (TFC) nanocomposite
(CA) membrane
membrane (TFN) membrane

Source: M. Safarpour, A. Khataee, V. Vatanpour, Thin-film nanocomposite reverse osmosis membrane modified by reduced
graphene oxide/TiO2 with improved desalination performance, J. Memb. Sci. 489 (2015) 43–54
WIDELY USED NANOPARTICLES IN TFC
Metal/ Metal- Other
Carbon-based
oxides nanoparticles
• Carbon • Silver (Ag) • Silica
nanotubes (CNT) • Copper (Cu) • Halloysite
• Graphene oxide • Titanium dioxide • Zeolite
(GO) (TiO2) • Cellulose nano-
• Carbon quantum • Zinc oxide (ZnO) crystals
dots/ Graphene • Alumina (Al2O3) • Nanoclay
quantum dots • Metal-organic
frameworks

Source: Wu, Huiqing, Beibei Tang, and Peiyi Wu. "Optimizing polyamide thin film composite membrane covalently bonded
with modified mesoporous silica nanoparticles." Journal of membrane science 428 (2013): 341-348
 HISTORY OF RO TECHNOLOGY
Year Major milestones
1748 Phenomenon of osmosis process across semipermeable membranes was observed foremost by
Jean Antoine Nollet

1948 In USA, Hassler studied osmotic properties of cellophane membranes

1959 1959 – Reid and Breton demonstrated the desalination ability of

CA film

1960 Asymmetric CA membrane developed by Loeb and Sourirajan

1963 General Atomics developed first spiral wound module
1967 DuPont developed first efficacious hollow-fiber module
1972 Cadotte prepared first interfacial composite membrane
1974 First sea water RO desalination plant came into operation in Bermuda.
2006 At UCLA, thin-film nanocomposite membrane was developed

Source: Duan, Jintang, Yichang Pan, Federico Pacheco, Eric Litwiller, Zhiping Lai, and Ingo Pinnau. "High-performance
polyamide thin-film-nanocomposite reverse osmosis membranes containing hydrophobic zeolitic imidazolate framework-8."
Journal of membrane science 476 (2015): 303-310
DIFFERENT RO APPLICATIONS

Industrial water and

Desalination for drinking
wastewater reclamation Superior purity water
use
and its reuse
• Reverse osmosis • Because of the rising • Microelectronics as well
elements are very water demand along as pharmaceutical
effective and economical with the water scarcity, industries need
for removing total water recovery as well extremely pure water for
dissolved solids, as wastewater the purpose of
hardness, organics, reclamation and its production.
disinfectant byproducts, reusability in
harmful heavy metals, commercial power
and color for meeting plants have turned out
the quality requirement to be a developing trend
of safe drinking water.
DIFFERENT RO APPLICATIONS
Ingredient water (for Removal of specific
Spot-free rinse
beverages and food): contaminant
• In the case of several • For maintaining the • The Environmental
commercial product quality and Protection Agency has
manufacturing plants, preventive well-being selected reverse osmosis
which develop parts for measures, extremely as a best available
aircrafts or vehicles, and pure water is needed technology (BAT) for the
commercial enterprises • RO in combination with removal of several
such as car washing, the ultraviolet sterilizers inorganic contaminants,
cleaning of surfaces as could fulfill the inclusive of selenium,
well as its rinsing could requirements by nitrite, nitrate, fluoride,
be a significant portion decreasing the level of barium, arsenic,
of the production dissolved solids and antimony, and
process. eradicating radionuclides, inclusive
• The reverse osmosis microorganisms as well of photon emitters,
technology has the as contaminants. beta-particle, radium-
ability to remove the 226, and alpha emitters.
minerals which can
cause scaling as well as
spotting to occur.
 FUTURE OF RO TECHNOLOGY IN DESALINATION
Chlorine-Resistant Alternate Membrane Higher Boron Rejection
Less-fouling membranes
Membranes Materials Membranes
• Surface waters and • Since the RO feed water • The membrane manufacturers • Boron is a non-metallic
wastewater feed sources sources are becoming are continuing to modify the element that is present in the
regularly consist of biological increasingly complex, there is commercial TFC RO form of boric acid as well as
materials along with nutrients a continuing requirement for membranes as well as borates in surface water and
that feed bacteria. membrane elements which elements, whereas scientists groundwater
• The aforestated materials have scaling resistance, continue to develop other • The boron concentration has
might seriously foul reverse fouling resistance as well as materials that might been reported to be as high as
osmosis membranes and are degradation resistance contribute an excellent 7 mg/L in the Arabian Gulf
consequently destroyed with substitute to polymer • All major RO membrane
the utilization of chlorine materials manufacturers have invested
before reverse osmosis. • The utilization of considerable efforts in
• Most of the polyamide nanotechnology has developing advanced grades
membranes have no tolerance contributed to the of desalination membranes
towards chlorine, hence they advancement of with boron rejection as higher
should be separated in nanostructured membranes, as 93 to 96 percent.
advance of the RO process. or membranes functionalized
• Developing chlorine resistant using distinct nanomaterials
membranes is crucial as this
reverse osmosis technology is
being utilized for treating ever
more challenging feed waters.
Developing the tolerance of
reverse osmosis membranes
to oxidizers will further
diminish the operating
 BASIC CALCULATIONS- Examples
1) If 15.87 Kg of a chemical is added to a 204.1 Kg of water, calculate the percent strength (by weight) of the
solution?

Solution:

= 7.2%

2) What is the system recovery, when feed flow(Q f) is 63.3 m3/h, and Concentrate flow(QC) is 13.63 m3/h?

Solution:
= 78.5 %
IN THIS CHAPTER
A general introduction to reverse osmosis (RO) process technology was given

Further, the essential process steps in an RO-based desalination plant, RO technology in GCC
countries, the benefits as well as the limitations of RO processes were briefly discussed

Applications of RO process such as desalination, industrial water treatment, specific

contaminant removal, production of superior purity water were discussed, along with reverse
osmosis membrane manufacturers

Furthermore, the future of this technology in desalination such as chlorine-resistant

membranes, less-fouling membranes, handling water with higher total-dissolved solids, and
alternate membrane materials were briefly reviewed.

At the end of this chapter, explanation of various terms commonly used by industry practitioners in RO
process technology was presented
 Acknowledgem
ents

 Center for Advanced Materials, Qatar University

Thank You