Harumi Matsuzaki

Desalination of brackish water by bubble-cleaning type electrodialyzer in large scale

Abstract An electrodialyzer of an entirely new construction and with attractive features has been developed. The main technological characteristic of the device is the continuous introduction of air bubbles between membranes. Because membrane fouling can be prevented by action of air bubbles, the precise pre-treatment of raw water for the purpose of removing suspended solids is unnecessary. And, the level of efficiency is raised because the air bubbles act as a turbulence promotor. Furthermore, some attractive features was realized. Using a basic study which goes into details and the results obtained in bench-scale experiments, a plant with a capacity of 10 m 3 /d for practical use was designed and constructed. Brackish ground water was continuously treated for 200 hours with this plant, and plant performance and reliability were confirmed.