Cleaning of reverse osmosis membranes

ABSTRACT

This presentation tries to answer this question by comparing the cleaning efficiency of inorganic acid and alkali with different Osmotech membrane cleaners. Further scopes of work were to investigate the effect of different cleaner combinations and the sequence of their application, e.g. acidic followed by alkaline cleaning or vice versa. The tests have been carried out on a reverse osmosis pilot plant using flat sheet membrane samples cut from an 8″ membrane element which has been in operation for several years. The element has been autopsied prior to the tests to investigate the type of deposit.

Keywords:

• Membrane cleaning
• Reverse osmosis (RO)
• SWRO
• Scaling
• Fouling
• Biofouling
• Cleaning chemicals
• Osmotech membrane cleaners
• Cleaning products
• Membrane autopsy
• Pretreatment

Notes

Presented at the International Conference on Desalination for the Environment, Clean Water and Energy, European Desalination Society, 23–26 April 2012, Barcelona, Spain