Reverse Osmosis (RO) is a separation technique that is suitable for a wide range of applications,

especially when salt and/or dissolved solids need to be removed from a solution. RO is currently
considered one of the most economic and effective process for water desalination. Accordingly, it is often
the appropriate technique to treat solutions having salt concentrations from 100 to over 50,000 mg/ liter.
Solutions with salinity from surface water to sea water, and even brines, can be treated by RO membrane
[1].

The feed water stream flows tangentially to the membrane surface. A fraction of the water in this feed
stream passes through the membrane, whereas the majority of the feed flow travels along the surface.
Reverse osmosis is a process which occurs when pressure, greater than the osmotic pressure, is applied to
the concentrated solution. Water is forced to flow from the concentrated to the diluted side, and solutes are
retained by the membrane

Key terms to be understood when designing a reverse osmosis unit

Permeate Flux
Permeate flux describes the quantity of permeate produced during membrane separation per unit of time
and RO membrane area. The flux is defined by: permeate flow rate divided by membrane surface area.
Salt rejection
Salt rejection is a percentage which describes the amount of solute retained by the RO membrane. The
retention is given by:
Recovery Rate
The recovery rate is defined as the fraction of the feed flow which passes through the membrane. It is
usually expressed in percentage.

Differential Pressure (Pressure Drop)

The pressure drop is the difference between the feed and concentrate pressure during water flow through
one or more RO membrane elements. The pressure drop (dp) is defined by:

Transmembrane Pressure
Transmembrane pressure (TMP or ΔP) is defined as the difference in pressure between the feed side and
the permeate side of the membrane. This pressure is usually measured in bar or psi, and is the driving
force for membrane separation and permeate production. In general, an increase in the transmembrane
pressure increases the flux across the membrane.
The transmembrane pressure
A membrane is a discrete, thin interface that moderates the permeation of chemical species
in contact with it. This is interface may be molecularly homogenous, that is, completely
uniform in composition and structure, or it may be chemically or physically heterogenous,
for example, containing holes or pores of finite dimensions. A normal filter meets this
definition of a membrane, but, by convention, the term membrane is usually limited to
structures that permeates dissolved or collodial species, whereas the term filter is used to
designate structures that separate particulate suspensions. The principal types of
membrane are shown schematically in

OBJECTIVE minimize capital expanses versus minimize long term operational expanses whilst meeting
the required quality.

Designing a reverse osmosis is principally an exercise on selecting the most efficient membrane for a
specific function and determining the size and quantity of membrane elements required to produce the
desired volume of permeate and arranging the elements to optimize flow and recovery for the system.

METHOD
1. Collection of feed water samples and feed water analysis
2. Select the flow configuration and the number of passes
3. Select the membrane and element type
4. Select average membrane flux
5. Calculate number of elements required
6. Calculate the number of elements required
7. Select the number of stages
8. Select staging ratio
9. Balance permeate flow rate
10. Cost analysis for the design project.

SOLUTION
1. Feed quality

Water samples where send to SIRDC for a feed water analysis.Parameters obtained where as follows;

Conductivity=

pH =

Temperature=

Ionics

Iron=

Chloride

Turbidity

P alkalinity=

M alkalinity=

Feed and product flow

Target is to produce……

Feed pump is at 65 psi

Expected recovery =
From the calculator estimated water loss based on design information is 7.57 cubic meters per hour.

Therefore per day estimated water required if there are no leaks is 181 cubic meters per day. Therefore
the aim is to produce 200 cubic meters of water per day.

368 cubic metres per hour

2. Flow configuration and number of passes

Plug flow with no concentration recirculation with a once through system. This is because our goal is not
to produce ultra-pure water and our feed source is not very saline.

3. Select membrane element type.

Types of membranes