Desalination 165 (2004) 351–361

SWRO core hydraulic module — the right concept decides

in terms of energy consumption and reliability
Part II. Advanced pressure exchanger design

Stephan Bross*, Wolfgang Kochanowski

KSB-AG, Johann-Klein-Straße 9, 67227 Frankenthal, Germany
Tel. +49 (6233) 863771; Fax +49 (6233) 863400; email: stephan.bross@ksb.com

Received 20 February 2004; accepted 1 March 2004

Abstract

By defining the combination of high pressure seawater feed pump and energy recovery system as the core
hydraulic module of SWRO plants it becomes obvious that this subsystem mainly contributes to the specific water
costs by its operational costs and has to be optimized by a complete approach. In the previous paper published at
the IDA Conference 2003 [1], different energy recovery systems were analyzed with respect to theire overall life
cycle costs. Identifying the core hydraulic module using pressure exchangers as the advantageous ERS-concept the
question of appropriate component optimization was discussed for the high pressure pump design. In the current
paper, this approach is extended to the pressure exchanger itself, contributing to an overall optimized core hydraulic
module. Therefore, inadequacies and limits of conventional pressure exchanger operation are explored and discussed
with respect to their impact on reliability. Based on these results, a new pressure exchanger design is presented.
This design was realized in a laboratory prototype and tested on a special test rig. The arrangements of the test rig
as well as the results of first prototype tests are described.

Keywords: SWRO; Pressure exchanger; Work exchanger; Core hydraulic module

1. Introduction variety of designs and sizes are known, starting

from small portable units for boat or camping
Seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) desalina-
applications up to huge desalination plants for
tion facilities are widely used for providing
industrial or municipal water supply. While the
potable water. Depending on the water demand, a
investment cost is the only customer key factor
for small units, the assessment of specific water
*Corresponding author.

Presented at the EuroMed 2004 conference on Desalination Strategies in South Mediterranean Countries: Cooperation
between Mediterranean Countries of Europe and the Southern Rim of the Mediterranean. Sponsored by the European
Desalination Society and Office National de l’Eau Potable, Marrakech, Morocco, 30 May–2 June, 2004.

0011-9164/04/$– See front matter © 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved
352 S. Bross and W. Kochanovski / Desalination 165 (2004) 351–361

costs becomes predominant for medium- and big-
size plants. Especially in the latter ones (plant sizes
above 500 m3/d), the seawater is normally pres-
surized up to 60–90 bar by means of centrifugal
pumps driven by electrical motors. Different state-
of-the-art energy recovery systems (ERS), like
Pelton turbines (PT), turbochargers (TC) or pres-
sure exchangers (PE), are widely used to reduce
the specific energy consumption.
By defining the combination of high-pressure
seawater feed pump (HP) and energy recovery
system as the core hydraulic module, it becomes
obvious that this subsystem mainly contributes
to the specific water costs by its operational costs
(energy consumption, maintenance and reliability)
and has to be optimized by an overall approach.
In Part I of this paper published at the IDA
Conference 2003 [1], different energy recovery
systems were analyzed with respect to their overall
life cycle costs. Having identified the core hyd-
raulic module using pressure exchangers as the
advantageous ERS concept, the question of
appropriate component optimization was dis-
cussed for the high-pressure pump design.
In the current paper, this approach is extended
to the pressure exchanger itself, contributing to
an overall optimized core hydraulic module.
2. SWRO core hydraulic module
2.1. Definition
The core hydraulic module of a single-stage
SWRO plant is defined as the arrangement of a
high-pressure pump (HP) combined with an
energy recovery system (ERS). According to this
definition, the core hydraulic module pressurizes
the pretreated feedwater and recovers the energy
contained in the brine flow. Pretreatment fluid
handling and permeate transport are not included.
A schematic representation of three different
core hydraulic modules using different ERSs is
shown in Fig. 1. The simplest one consists of a
high-pressure pump without using any energy
recovery device. Due to its high specific energy
consumption (~5–6 kWh/m3), it is used only in
very small plants and is mentioned here for
reasons of completeness only.
The state-of-the-art core hydraulic module
(Fig. 1b) uses a turbine recovering the brine energy
coupled to the motor of the high-pressure pump.
Different arrangements, like the Grundfos BMET
[i] (two standard high-pressure pumps, one
directly coupled to the turbine, one driven by an
electric motor) or the TURBO [ii] (hydraulic
turbocharger — integral turbine-driven centrifugal
pump in combination with an additional elect-
rically driven HP pump), are known. All are based
on the same principle of energy transfer from
pressure (brine) into mechanical (shaft) and back
into pressure (feedwater) energy. Thereby, the
required specific energy consumption is reduced
to about 3–4 kWh/m3.
In advanced core hydraulic modules (Fig. 1c),
high-pressure pumps are combined with pressure
or work exchangers (PE) for energy recovery
purposes. Within these devices, the pressure

Permeate 40% Permeate 40% Permeate 40%

Booster
HP Pump
Brine HP Pump Pump
(100%)
60% (100%) Turbine Pressure Exchanger
HP Pump
Brine 40%
60% 100% Brine

a) No Energy RecoverySystem b) State of the Art c) Advanced Module

E ~ 5-6 kWh/m3 E ~ 3.5 kWh/m3 E ~ 2.4 kWh/m3

Fig. 1. Schematic representation of different core hydraulic modules.

 S. Bross and W. Kochanovski / Desalination 165 (2004) 351–361 353

energy of the brine is transferred directly to the different core hydraulic modules the sensitivity
feed stream, thus avoiding the losses of converting of specific water costs to peak efficiency, mainte-
from one energy form to another. Pressure or work nance or reliability answers the question as to
exchangers are based on the positive displacement which feature the component design has to focus
technology with net energy transfer efficiencies on. In Part I of this paper [1], simple equations
of up to 96%. Accordingly, the specific energy were evaluated to calculate the specific energy
consumption can be reduced further to about 2– consumption of each arrangement and to work out
3 kWh/m3. Commercial examples of such sys- their sensitivities to pump and ERS efficiency
tems, viz. Energy Recovery Inc.’s Pressure changes. Based on these equations, the specific
Exchanger PX [iii], DesalCo’s Work Exchanger energy consumption for a 5000 m3/d single-stage
Energy Recovery (DWEER) [iv], are described RO plant was calculated. The plant parameters
in more detail in [3] and [4]. In contrast to the and assumed operating conditions are listed in
state-of-the-art module, where the high-pressure Table 1.
pump has to handle the whole feedwater stream, The results of these calculations are presented
the size of the HP pump is reduced to an extent to in Fig. 2, varying the recovery rate κ. The mem-
handle only the permeate flow rate, with an brane working pressure ∆p and the membrane
additional recirculation pump (BP), to balance the pressure drop ∆pM have been considered to be a
membrane’s and the PE’s pressure drop. function of the recovery rate and were obtained
The core hydraulic module mainly contributes from membrane design software. Additionally,
to the specific water costs by its operational costs Fig. 2 contains the permeate salinity TDS [ppm]
(energy consumption, maintenance and reliability) obtained for the specified recovery rate. The
and has to be optimized overall. While considering
only the energy consumption, it is obvious that Table 1
the advanced core hydraulic module (HP-BP-PE) Operating conditions
is advantageous. On the other hand, maintenance
and reliability are important and directly con- Plant parameters Efficiencies
nected to an appropriate and matched HP-ERS QPermeate = 5000 m3/d ηHP = 82%
design. It is well known that features decreasing T = 20°C ηT = 85%
the overall investment costs or increasing the TDSFeed = 38,500 ppm ηBP = 82%
module reliability may have some shortcomings ∆p = 55–75 bar ηPE = 94%
∆pM = 1.6–0.4 bar ηMot = 95%
in the available peak efficiency. Knowing for the

4.0 800

3.5 ηHP=82% Turbine-Kit 700

Permeate Salinity TDS [ppm]

ηHP=80%
Specific Energy E [kWh/m3]

3.0 600
ηHP=84%

ηHP=80%
2.5 ηHP=82% PE-Kit 500
ηHP=84%
2.0 400
TDSPermeate
1.5 300

Fig. 2. Specific energy consumption and water

1.0 200
0.25 0.30 0.35 0.40 0.45 0.50 0.55 0.60
quality for the turbine and the PE core hydraulic
Recovery Rate κ module; variation of HP efficiency.
354 S. Bross and W. Kochanovski / Desalination 165 (2004) 351–361

4.0 800

3.5 ηT=85% 700

Permeate Salinity TDS [ppm]

Turbine-Kit
Specific Energy E [kWh/m3]

ηT=83%

3.0 ηT=87% 600

ηPE=92%
2.5 PE-Kit 500

ηPE= 94% ηPE=96%

2.0 400

TDSPermeate
1.5 300

Fig. 3. Specific energy consumption and water

1.0 200
0.25 0.30 0.35 0.40 0.45 0.50 0.55 0.60 quality for the turbine and the PE core
Recovery Rate κ hydraulic module; variation of ERS efficiency.

specific energy consumption is obviously higher

for the turbine kit than for the PE kit (∆E ~0.5– 14000 1%-Reliability Improvement
Energy Savings [$US/a]

1 kWh/m3). While the specific energy consump- 12000

tion is minimum for κ ~0.45 in the turbine con- 10000
Turbine -Kit
figuration, it is shifted to lower recoveries (κ ~0.35) 8000 PE-Kit
in the case of the PE kit. Taking into account that 6000
permeate TDS rises with increasing recovery rate, 4000
production of a high permeate quality at low 2000
12242 4897 4747 5933
recoveries and low specific energy consumption 0
Variation of HP- Variation of ERS-
is possible with the PE technology only. In Efficiency Efficiency
addition, variation in specific energies for a varia-
tion of ∆ηHP = ±2% in high-pressure pump effici- Fig. 4. Energy savings by efficiency improvements of
the HP and ERS of a 5000 m3/d RO plant.
encies is shown in Fig. 2. It can be seen clearly
that the range of specific energy deviation is much
higher for the state-of-the-art (turbine kit) than represented in Fig. 4. Based on overall energy
for the advanced core hydraulic module (PE kit). costs of approx. US$288,000/a for the state-of-
In Fig. 3, the same analysis is extended for a the-art module (turbine kit), savings of about
variation of considered ERS efficiencies. It US$12,242/a can be achieved by improving the
appears that a) the influence of ERS efficiency high-pressure pump, while it is only US$4,747/a
vanishes with increased recovery rates and b) the in the case of turbine improvements.
variation of PE efficiency dominates at lower For the advanced core hydraulic module,
recoveries. overall energy costs of ~US$218,000/a are incur-
The consequences of this analysis become red, which is 25% reduced as compared to the
evident if the change in energy costs per year is turbine kit. In this case, savings of only US$4,897/a
illustrated for the above-mentioned 5000 m3/d RO can be achieved by HP efficiency improvements,
plant. Assuming (i) the operating conditions given which is comparable to what can be reached by
in Table 1, (ii) a recovery rate of κ = 0.4 and (iii) PE efficiency enhancements (US$5,933/a).
an energy price level of CE = US$0.05/kWh, the According to [5], track re-liability of more than
deviation in energy costs for a variation of effici- 90% has to be guaranteed for BOOT (Build, Own,
ency by 2% in the HP or the ERS device is Operate, Transfer) contracts — with an increasing
 S. Bross and W. Kochanovski / Desalination 165 (2004) 351–361
trend. Based on a permeate price of ~ US$0.6/m3,
shortcomings of about 1% in reliability will cause
production losses of about US$10,500/a, which
is twice the savings through HP or PE efficiency
improvements. Therefore, it is obvious that for
the advanced core hydraulic module, the specific
water costs can be minimized by increasing the
reliability and reducing the maintenance costs (of
all components: HP, BP and PE) more than by
optimizing the peak efficiency.
Following this philosophy, a new high-
pressure pump design concept was developed and
presented in Part I of this paper [1]. In the present
paper, this philosophy is extended to the pressure
exchanger design itself, taking into account the
requirements of high efficiency, high reliability
and low maintenance.
3. Appropriate pressure exchanger design
3.1. General considerations
The following discourse is mainly on medium-
to large-size RO plants (QPermeate > 2000 m3/d)
equipped with stationary-type pressure ex-
changers (stationary vessels and switched valves,
Qnew =60% ∆pnew =3bar ∆paltered =5bar
Qaltered =54% ∆paltered =5bar
Booster
Qnew =40% Pump
Qaltered =36%
∆pnew =70 bar
∆paltered =72 bar
HP Pump
Vnew =0,5 m/s
valtered=0,45 m/s
Feedwater
Pump
Fig. 5. Changes of system conditions due to membrane alteration.
355
cf. DWEER system [iv]). In principle, these
deliberations also apply to smaller-sized units
equipped with rotating pressure exchangers (e.g.
ERI [iii]), but there, the approaches to solution
are different, so that they are not treated here but
will be dealt with in one of the upcoming articles.
Fig. 5 shows the arrangement of a stationary
pressure exchanger in a single-stage RO plant. As
described in [4] and [5], the pressure is transferred
from the brine to the feedwater inside the two
vessels which can be switched by means of a
control valve on one side of the vessel. On the
other vessel side, check valves provide the
necessary flow, whose switching is influenced
exclusively by the pressure conditions prevailing
in the vessels and, hence, indirectly by the position
of the control valve.
The vessels themselves are filled with brine
and fresh water in alternation, and the direction
of flow goes into reverse at every alternation, i.e.
the water column inside the vessels has to be
accelerated or decelerated permanently. The
associated problem of non-stationary pressure
fluctuations is well-known from plant engineering
and construction, cf. [6]. If the flow inside a pipe
is broken by quick closing of a globe or gate valve,
Membrane
Qnew =40%
Qaltered =36%
∆pnew =3bar
Pressure Qnew =60%
Exchanger Qaltered =54%
V1
V2
Control
Valve
356 S. Bross and W. Kochanovski / Desalination 165 (2004) 351–361
pressure surges with a maximum amplitude of
∆pShock = ρ ⋅ a ⋅ v (1)
can be caused in the worst case. In Eq. (1), ρ
represents the density, a the speed of sound and v
the flow velocity of the medium. A pressure
exchanger whose vessels are filled at a mean flow
velocity of approx. v = 1m/s can induce pressure
fluctuations of up to ± 10bar. During operation of
a pressure exchanger, the check valves are reacting
to the pressure fluctuations, which is audible as
loud hammering and is the cause of frequent
maintenance.
As per Eq. (1), the amplitude of the pressure
fluctuations can be reduced, for instance, by a
reduction of the mean velocity v inside the vessels.
But a reduction of the amplitude to 25% of the
initial value is associated with a doubling of the
vessel diameters, which results in higher invest-
ment cost. In order to reduce the hammering of
the check valves, complex constructions are often
used. Also these cost-intensive measures combat
the symptom, but they do not eliminate the cause
of the problem. As is known from literature,
pressure fluctuations and surges in pipes can be
avoided when the shut-off elements used are
matched to the individual plant conditions, that
means when their closing behavior is designed
for that particular case, cf. [6].
The second demand placed on a pressure ex-
changer to ensure trouble-free operation is its
controllability. Different system conditions due
to alteration of the membranes, changes in the
feedwater quality (salt content, temperature), or
different modes of operation lead to changed
design parameters (flow rate Q, pressures ∆p,
recovery rate, cf. Fig. 5) which pressure ex-
changers have to be matched to during operation.
3.2. Basic design of pressure exchanger
The design of a pressure exchanger is based
on four objectives which ultimately all have a
reduction of the RO plant’s operating costs in
common.
1. Increased reliability of the plant by using a
product that is designed for continuous opera-
tion without maintenance work.
2. Controllability of the pressure exchanger by
an integral control unit which adjusts the
pressure exchanger independently and prompt-
ly to the operating conditions of the RO plant.
3. Avoidance of pressure fluctuations in the pres-
sure exchanger and in the RO plant.
4. Low specific energy consumption for all
components of the core hydraulic module.
For the basic design, a two-vessel system was
chosen that is on one end equipped with a driven
rotating valve that controls the flow rate of the
pressure exchanger and the adaptation to the
operating conditions (Fig. 6). The other end of
the pressure exchanger is fitted with check valves.
The overall length of the pressure exchanger is
about 7 m in order to allow its positioning under-
neath the membranes. The rotating valve is driven
by a servo motor. Both the number of delivering
cycles and the opening times of the free passage
cross-sections in the rotating valve can be changed.
This makes for a high flexibility in realizing the
most diverse control times and makes it possible
to govern all of the pressure exchanger’s operating
conditions in the RO plant.
The rotor of the rotating valve is supported in
two medium-lubricated bearings. The material
combination of the bearings is resistant to seawater
and is used for heavy-duty applica-tions in boiler
feed pumps and in cooling water pumps up to
installed power ratings of 10 MW. Operating expe-
riences over more than seven years demonstrate
that there has been no wear on these bearings.
The experiences made in the field of pumps
and valves for power stations and MSF installa-
tions have been incorporated in the design of the
rotating valve. The reliability of pumps for power
stations has to be such high that operation without
any maintenance under the most different, even
very severe operating conditions is assured. This
philosophy also governs the design features of the
rotating valves. All components of the rotating
 S. Bross and W. Kochanovski / Desalination 165 (2004) 351–361 357

Check Valves
Pressure Vessel

Rotating Valve

Casting

Medium Rotating Valve

Lubricated Bearing

Rotor

Pressure Vessel

Fig. 6. Pressure exchanger with advanced valve technology; basic design.

valve are made of duplex steel and dimensioned
such that the deformations occurring under
operating conditions in the casing and the rotor
are smaller than 50 µm. This makes it possible to
keep the leakage losses very small and to attain a
competitive efficiency.
The use of medium-lubricated bearings and of
an electric drive has enabled a simple design of
the rotating valves with no necessity of further
auxiliary equipment or additional lubricants (e.g.
oil).
3.3. Control unit of pressure exchanger.
The control unit is integrated in the pressure
exchanger that means the pressure exchanger
controls itself independently and does not need
any control signals or additional measurement
instruments from the RO plant. The operating con-
dition inside the pressure exchanger is measured,
and the necessary control demands are derived
directly. The principal items of the operating
condition recognition are the position and the
velocity of the two pistons — one in each vessel
— fitted with magnets; the pistons’ position is
determined by four sensors (Fig. 7). The position
of the pistons and their velocities are the input
parameters of the control unit’s logical diagram.
In order to guarantee trouble-free operation of
the RO membranes, continuous delivering of the
feed stream ahead of the membrane must be
ensured. This is achieved by moving the piston in
the low-pressure vessel with a higher velocity than
the piston in the high-pressure vessel (Fig. 7).
Therefore, the piston in the low-pressure vessel
is the first to reach the turning point. The rotating
valve switches and “exchanges pressures” (low
pressure–high pressure). The low-pressure piston
is accelerated in the opposite direction, so that
both pistons deliver high-pressure brine in the
direction of the booster pump for about 1.5 s
before the second piston reaches the turning point.
Further sensors are positioned on the so-called
dead ends of the vessels. Should one of the pistons
358 S. Bross and W. Kochanovski / Desalination 165 (2004) 351–361
Piston Position
Sensor
v = 0.98 m/s
HP Feed
Outlet
HP
LP
LP Feed
Inlet
Check Valves
Check Valves
Fig. 7. Schematic representation of sensor integration.
reach such a position due to changed operating
conditions, the control unit receives an alarm
signal, and a new synchronization cycle of the
pistons is initiated.
The velocities of the pistons are measured for
each cycle so that, in principle, all operating
conditions can be derived from changes in
velocity. This also applies to the start-up procedure
and the shutdown of the plant.
The use of a servo motor bears the advantage
that the control unit reacts from cycle to cycle
and even within a cycle. Another advantage of
the control unit is its ability to operate and syn-
chronize several pressure exchangers in parallel
or in cascade connection. The permanent velocity
measurements of the flows in the vessels of the
pressure exchanger can be exploited to forward
these data via an interface and to also address the
pumps in the hydraulic module, e.g. by a variable
speed drive.
4. Prototype test results
4.1. Test bed setup
Fig. 8 shows a test bed that was set up in 2003.
It serves to simulate for the components of the
hydraulic module the most diverse operating
HP Brine
Inlet
Piston
Rotating
Valve
v = 1.02 m/s
LP Brine
Step Motor
Outlet
conditions in an RO plant and to optimize the
components. The test bed is a complete reverse
osmosis unit with feedwater pump, high-pressure
pump, pressure exchanger and booster pump.
Membranes are not installed in the test bed. The
pressure losses of the membranes are simulated
by changing the heads of the high-pressure pump
which, like all other pumps in the circuit, is speed-
controlled.
It is also possible to measure the efficiencies
of the components and the mixing factor of the
pressure exchanger. The pressure exchanger’s
control unit has been developed and tested with
the help of this test bed. In addition, it is possible
to simulate the specific energy consumption of
the facility for different operating conditions and
to deduce optimizations for the control of all com-
ponents in the facility. Moreover, examinations
regarding pressure fluctuations can be conducted.
4.2. Test bed results
The above-mentioned pressure fluctuations are
clearly audible and visible during operation of
conventional pressure exchangers. For the exam-
ination of this phenomenon, the first prototype of
the new pressure exchanger was manufactured so
 S. Bross and W. Kochanovski / Desalination 165 (2004) 351–361
Fig. 8. RO-test bed with installed PE-prototype.
that its operating behavior corresponded to that
of known systems. Very loud noises developed at
the check valves (valve hammering), jerky moving
as well as “breathing” (cyclic contraction) of the
brine outlet line (hose) were noticeable.
Then, the design of the pressure exchanger’s
rotating valve was changed in a way to prevent
the pressure fluctuations described above. Internal
bypass lines avoid pressure fluctuations on opening
and closing of the rotating valve. These measures
make for absence of pressure fluctuations in the
high-pressure part. The measured pressure charac-
teristics of the low-pressure inlet and outlet flow
are shown in Figs. 9 and 10.
Fig. 9 depicts the pressure pattern in the low-
pressure feedwater and low-pressure brine water
pipes and shows the pattern of the pressure fluc-
tuations for the conventional design. At a flow
velocity of 0.5 m/s, a maximum pressure fluctua-
tion of ∆p = 8 bar occurs. The brine outlet line is
subjected to both low pressure (under 1 bar) and
a strong pressure fluctuation, which leads to the
above-mentioned “breathing” and moving of the
hose.
359
Then, the logical diagram was improved with
the purpose of minimizing the above pressure
fluctuations.
Fig. 10 clearly shows that these pressure
fluctu-ations do not occur any more, which has
not been achieved by additional equipment (surge
tank, for example) in the plant, but solely by
changing the logical diagram of the rotating valve.
Thanks to this flexible, freely programmable
control unit and the permanent velocity measure-
ments of the pistons, it can be ensured that the
pressure exchanger adjusts to each system con-
dition and to changed operating conditions with-
out any failure.
Actually, the installation of a basic-desing
prototype in a plant on the Sinai Peninsula in order
to gain field test experiences is on the way.
Furthermore, this test unit will also be equip-
ped with the other components of the hydraulic
module, so that it will be possible to measure the
operating conditions for pressure exchanger, high-
pressure pump and recirculation pump (booster
pump) and gain experiences for their optimal
adjustment. The specific energy consumption of
360 S. Bross and W. Kochanovski / Desalination 165 (2004) 351–361

measured value
measured value measured value
measured value
reference value
reference value reference value
reference value
8 bar

Brine out
out
Feed in
ppFeedin

ppBrine
closed
closed valve open
openvalve closed valve
closed open
openvalve
rotationangle
angle rotation angle
(a) valve valve rotation (b) valve valve rotation angle

Fig. 10. Measured pressure characteristics at the low pressure side — conventional design: (a) feed water; (b) brine.

measured value
measured value measured value
measured value
reference value
reference value reference value
reference value
out
Feed in

out
in

Brine
ppFeed

ppBrine

closed
closed valve open
openvalve closed valve
closed open
openvalve
(a) rotationangle
rotation angle (b) rotation
rotation angle
angle
valve valve valve valve

Fig. 11. Measured pressure characteristics at the low pressure side — advanced design: (a) feed water; (b) brine.

the entire hydraulic module at plant operation can
then be documented.
5. Conclusion
The use of a pressure exchanger as energy
recovery system enables a very low energy con-
sumption for the reverse osmosis process. Low
operating costs are a prerequisite for low drinking
water prices. Especially for the regions of the
Middle East and North Africa receiving little
rainfall, the provision of drinking water will
become more and more affordable.
An operationally reliable pressure exchanger
that can be incorporated in any reverse osmosis
facility and can cope with each facility’s operating
conditions is an important precondition. The
design of the product presented has been matched
to satisfy these requirements. A new rotating valve
technology with an integrated control system was
developed, eliminating the burdens of pressure
fluctuations with occurring conventional designs.
Tests in a test bed simulating a reverse osmosis
facility have been conducted with positive results.
The test and documentation of the pressure
exchanger’s operational reliability in a field test
is on the way. The next step will be the instalation
of this solution in different projects.
 S. Bross and W. Kochanovski / Desalination 165 (2004) 351–361
Acknowledgement
The authors would like to thank the whole RO
team of the KSB development center for their
commitment and care in carrying out the design,
manufacture and testing of the pressure exchanger
prototype.
References
[1] S. Bross, W. Kochanowski, M. Ellegaard and G.
Schwarz, SWRO-core-hydraulic-module; the right
concept decides in terms of energy consumption and
reliability, IDA World Congress on Desalination and
Water Reuse, Paradise Island, Bahamas, 2003.
[2] E. Oklejas, Energy efficiency considerations for RO
plants: a method for evaluation, International
Desalination & Water Reuse Quarterly, 11(4) (2002)
26–34.
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[3] L. Hauge, The pressure exchanger, International
Desalination & Water Reuse Quarterly, 9(1) (2000)
54–60.
[4] S.A. Shumway, The work exchanger for SWRO
energy recovery, International Desalination & Water
Reuse Quarterly, 8(4) (1999) 27–33.
[5] W.T. Andrews, A twelve-year history of large scale
application of work-exchanger energy recovery
technology, Desalination, 138 (2001) 201–206.
[6] J. Parmakian, Water Hammer Analysis. Prentice Hall
Inc., New York, 1955.
Commercial references
[i] BMET, Grundfos, DK-8850 Bijerringbro.
[ii] TURBO, Pump Engineering, Willington, Delaware.
[iii] PX, Energy Recovery, Inc., San Leandro.
[iv] DWEER, DesalCo Ltd, Cayman Islands.