Anditya Rahardianto

Rapid field assessment of RO desalination of brackish agricultural drainage water.

Rapid field evaluation of RO feed filtration requirements, selection of effective antiscalant type and dose, and estimation of suitable scale-free RO recovery level were demonstrated using a novel approach based on direct observation of mineral scaling and flux decline measurements, utilizing an automated Membrane Monitor (MeMo). The MeMo, operated in a stand-alone single-pass desalting mode, enabled rapid assessment of the adequacy of feed filtration by enabling direct observation of particulate deposition on the membrane surface. The diagnostic field study with RO feed water of high mineral scaling propensity revealed (via direct MeMo observation) that suspended particulates (even for feed water of turbidity <1 NTU) could serve as seeds for promoting surface crystal nucleation. With feed filtration optimized, a suitable maximum RO water recovery, with complete mineral scale suppression facilitated by an effective antiscalant dose, can be systematically and directly identified (via MeMo) in the field for a given feed water quality. Scale-free operating conditions, determined via standalone MeMo rapid diagnostic tests, were shown to be applicable to spiral-would RO system as validated via both flux decline measurements and ex-situ RO plant membrane scale monitoring. It was shown that the present approach is suitable for rapid field assessment of RO operability and it is particularly advantageous when evaluating water sources of composition that may vary both temporally and across the regions of interest.

Antiscalant removal in accelerated desupersaturation of RO concentrate via chemically-enhanced seeded precipitation (CESP)

An experimental study was carried out to demonstrate and quantify the feasibility of antiscalant (AS) removal from brackish water RO concentrate of high gypsum scaling propensity via lime treatment prior to seeded gypsum precipitation. Based on studies with model solutions, it was shown that sufficient AS removal (up to ∼90%) from RO concentrate is feasible via a lime treatment step (at a dose significantly lower than that required for conventional lime softening) to enable effective subsequent seeded gypsum precipitation. This two-step chemically-enhanced seeded precipitation (CESP) treatment of primary RO concentrate is suitable as an intermediate concentrate demineralization (ICD) stage for high recovery desalting employing secondary RO desalination. Analysis of gypsum precipitation and lime treatment kinetic data suggests that, after adequate CaCO(3) precipitation has been induced for effective AS scavenging, CaSO(4) desupersaturation can be achieved via seeded gypsum precipitation without retardation due to seed poisoning by AS. Also, the lime dose required to prevent seed poisoning during subsequent gypsum desupersaturation via seeded gypsum precipitation can be adequately assessed with a precipitation kinetics model that considers AS seed poisoning based on a Langmuir adsorption isotherm. The degree of AS removal after lime treatment increased linearly with the logarithm of the single lime dose additions. Staged lime dosing (i.e., multiple lime additions), however, removed a higher degree of AS relative to an equivalent single lime dose addition since a higher driving force for CaCO(3) precipitation could be maintained over the course of the lime treatment period.