Premium
Antifouling membrane based on sodium alginate coated polyamide thin film composite for desalination of brackish water
Author(s) -
Kancherla Ravichand,
Vadeghar Ramesh Kumar,
Ginuga Prabhaker Reddy,
Sridhar Sundergopal
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
polymer engineering and science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.503
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1548-2634
pISSN - 0032-3888
DOI - 10.1002/pen.25515
Subject(s) - thin film composite membrane , desalination , brackish water , materials science , membrane , polyamide , chemical engineering , reverse osmosis , crystallinity , thermogravimetry , scanning electron microscope , fourier transform infrared spectroscopy , composite material , salinity , chemistry , ecology , biochemistry , engineering , biology
Abstract Sodium alginate coated polyamide thin film composite (SA/PA‐TFC) membranes were synthesized for the desalination of brackish water through reverse osmosis. Membranes were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, x‐ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, AFM, thermogravimetry, and universal testing machine for structural analysis, crystallinity, morphological, compositional, thermal, and mechanical properties, respectively. The effect of feed pressure on water flux and % salt rejection was quantified. Simulation results generated using the commercial process simulator PRO/II were in good agreement with the experimental data. Case studies using simulator were performed for brackish water with different salinity to optimize operating pressure based on product unit cost (PUC) by varying the feed pressure and membrane area. The calculated PUCs were found to be 0.9 and 0.3 $/m 3 for corresponding feed total dissolved solids (TDS) concentrations of 5000 and 500 mg/L at an optimum pressure of 10 bar, to achieve a salt rejection of 98% using a membrane area of 335 m 2 . We believe these membranes are a prospective solution for brackish water desalination.