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Limits of High Recovery Inland Desalination: Closed‐Circuit Reverse Osmosis – a Viable Option?
Author(s) -
Futterlieb Martin,
ElSherbiny Ibrahim M. A.,
Tuczinski Marc,
Lipnizki Jens,
Panglisch Stefan
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
chemie ingenieur technik
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.365
H-Index - 36
eISSN - 1522-2640
pISSN - 0009-286X
DOI - 10.1002/cite.202100042
Subject(s) - reverse osmosis , brackish water , desalination , brine , environmental science , environmental engineering , limiting , water treatment , plug flow , waste management , process engineering , chemistry , salinity , engineering , membrane , geology , mechanics , mechanical engineering , biochemistry , oceanography , organic chemistry , physics
Cost‐efficient operation of inland brackish water reverse osmosis (BWRO) demands a high recovery. As recovery of BWRO is often limited to scaling, antiscalants (AS) are applied, whose environmental impact is disputed. In this paper, different systems (conventional single‐ and two‐stage plug flow RO (PFRO) and closed‐circuit RO (CCRO)) were simulated in various configurations (AS dosing, ion exchange (IEX) pretreatment, elements per vessel) to determine the recovery limiting factor for a hard feed. The novel proposed IEX‐CCRO reached the highest recovery without AS dosing. PFRO configurations had lower recoveries, mainly due to hydraulic limitations. Utilizing RO brine reduced both the water demand and salts necessary for IEX regeneration.