Water LORAINE A.
HUCHLER, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR
Management Huchler@martechsystems.com
Best practices for RO operations
Widespread use of reverse osmosis (RO) technology in
industrial applications began in the late 1980s, following the
introduction of polyamide materials that had a significantly
higher permeate flow and salt rejection than calcium acetate
technology. Since then, spiral-wound RO membranes have in-
creasingly replaced ion exchange for water purification in in-
dustrial applications, especially for boiler feedwater.
Drought conditions and rising demand for fresh water will
increase the usage of RO to purify water from lower-quality
sources. Implementing best practices will maximize the effi-
ciency and quality of product water from RO units, as well as re-
duce operating costs (chemicals and replacement membranes),
the rate of fouling and the frequency of offline cleaning.
Monitoring. Plant operators track key operating parameters
and will conduct an offline cleaning procedure when either
the quality or the quantity of the permeate declines. These key
operating parameters—pressure drop (differential), permeate
flowrate and salt passage—are strongly temperature depen-
dent. Measuring the changes in these key operating parameters
requires using a complex algorithm to normalize (adjust) the
measurements to a common temperature.
Best practice for monitoring. Collect these key parame-
ters and temperatures with online analyzers and use a software
package to calculate and track the normalization parameters.
Clean the RO when any of these three normalized parameters
changes by more than 10%.
Pretreatment capability. RO membranes remove dissolved
contaminants from water. The presence of any insoluble or
suspended solids in the feedwater will cause fouling of the
membrane surface and increase the frequency of cleaning.
Proper pretreatment will optimize the cleaning frequency to
once every three months or less. An empirical measurement of
small-diameter suspended solids commonly referred to as the
silt density index (SDI) is the correct parameter to predict the
fouling by a specific water source at the inlet to the RO unit.
Best practice for SDI at the inlet to the RO unit. The
SDI of the inlet water for reliable operation are: SDI < 3—
No chemical treatment required; 3 < SDI < 5—Anti-scalant
chemicals required; SDI >5—Additional pretreatment such as
clarification, media or membrane filtration and sodium zeolite
softeners, upstream of the RO unit is required.
‘Turndown’ of feed flowrate. Operators sometimes assume
that the presence of a variable-speed drive on the feed pump
means that they can operate the unit at variable flowrates. RO
units are co-flow, rather than cross-flow—the direction of
water flow is parallel to the membrane surface. Consequent-
98JANUARY 2014 | HydrocarbonProcessing.com
ly, operation at flowrates significantly lower than the design
rate will dramatically increase fouling rate of the membrane
surface. The best option is to install a permeate storage tank
with a dead band sized to accommodate the normal variability
of treated water demand. The other option is to temporarily
idle one or more skids to make a step-change in the permeate
production rate. Best practice for turndown of feed flowrate is a
maximum of 10%.
Idling. Operators idle membranes based on short- or long-
term changes in permeate demand. Idled RO membranes are
very vulnerable to bacteria growth, especially if the feedwater
is from a surface source such as a river or lake. Failure to prop-
erly idle RO membranes will result in microbiological fouling,
reducing the permeate quality and quantity, and increasing the
offline cleaning frequency. Sequence idling is the recommended
practice to accommodate the normal variability of permeate
demand in an industrial application. Lay-up idling is the rec-
ommended practice for seasonal changes, turnaround or more
permanent reduction in permeate demand.
Best practice for sequence idling. Surface waters have a
maximum idle time of four hours. Well water has a maximum
of one week idle time (unless there is bacterial contamination
in the well). In both cases, flush the membrane with permeate
prior to returning the RO skid to service after the idling period.
Consider periodically feeding the biocide, DBNPA (2,2-dibro-
mo-3-nitrilo propionamide), during service to control micro-
biological growth.
Best practice for lay-up idling. Conduct an offline clean-
ing procedure, followed by a flush with a preservative such
as sodium bisulfite immediately prior to idling. Alternatively,
substitute the biocide, such as DBNPA, during the flush if the
membranes require robust microbiological control.
Best practices yield benefits. RO has become the standard
technology for purifying water for industrial applications, es-
pecially for boiler makeup. Implementing best practices for RO
units will reduce the risk of off-spec permeate and potential
damage or failure to downstream steam generators.
LORAINE A. HUCHLER is president of MarTech
Systems, Inc., a consulting firm that provides technical
advisory services to manage risk and optimize energy-
and water-related systems including steam, cooling
and wastewater in refineries and petrochemical plants.
She holds a BS degree in chemical engineering, along
with professional engineering licenses in New Jersey
and Maryland, and is a certified management
consultant.