Pilot-Scale Reverse Osmosis for Brackish and Seawater Desalination Coupled with Renewable Energy

AUTHOR(S):

Z. Tigrine, N. Kasbadji Merzouk, H. Aburideh, M. Abbas, D. Zioui, D. Belhout, S. Hout

TITLE

Pilot-Scale Reverse Osmosis for Brackish and Seawater Desalination Coupled with Renewable Energy

ABSTRACT

Reverse osmosis membrane technology is used in a large range of applications namely the wastewater treatment and brackish and seawater desalination. It is considered an alternative clean water source to overcome water scarcity and ensure a good water quality in many Middle East and North Africa (MENA) regions. Water is an important factor for economic and social development of a country. For domestic, agricultural and industrial purposes, several membrane separation technologies were implanted in large scale for water production. The reverse osmosis (RO) desalination process is the prevailing technology to produce drinking water from salt water for many domestic and industrial applications. In the present work, we provide an experimental analysis of reverse osmosis pilot for small capacity designed for desalination and water treatment. In this preliminary study, we use brackish well water of UDES for experiments test. The pilot scale reverse osmosis is applied to the desalination and treatment of raw water to produce water of quality appropriate for potable purposes. The bacteriological analysis of raw water shows that the water contains total coliform and pathogenic bacteria. The main goal is to explore the effect of the pressure on the permeat and reject water flow rate in order to control system production and operation between various parameters that can directly affect the process. Design and optimization of a stand-alone renewable energy generator for powering a small scale reverse osmosis desalination system with battery storage is studied. The objective of the pilot study is to demonstrate the feasibility of brackish and seawater desalination generated with renewable energy. The effects of operating conditions on conversion rate behavior of spiraled membrane are evaluated.

KEYWORDS

Desalination, Membrane, Reverse osmosis, Seawater, Energy

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Cite this paper

Z. Tigrine, N. Kasbadji Merzouk, H. Aburideh, M. Abbas, D. Zioui, D. Belhout, S. Hout. (2016) Pilot-Scale Reverse Osmosis for Brackish and Seawater Desalination Coupled with Renewable Energy. International Journal of Environmental Science, 1, 350-356