PT.

ECOLAB INTERNATIONAL INDONESIA

CHEMICAL CLEANING OF REVERSE

OSMOSIS SYSTEM FOR
PT PETROKIMIA GRESIK PLANT 1B

PT. ECOLAB INTERNATIONAL INDONESIA

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I. REVERSE OSMOSIS SYSTEM

I.1. Introduction

The surface of a Reverse Osmosis (RO) membrane is subject to fouling by foreign

materials that may be present in the feed water, such as hydrates of metal oxides,
calcium precipitates, organics and biological matter. The term “fouling” includes the
build up of all kind of layers on the membrane surface, including scaling.

Pretreatment of the feed water prior to the RO process is basically designed to

reduce contamination of the membrane surfaces as much as possible. This is
accomplished by installing an adequate pretreatment system and selecting optimum
operating conditions, such as permeate flow rate, pressure and permeate water
recovery ratio.

In normal operation, the membrane in RO elements can become fouled by mineral

scale, biological matter, colloidal particles and insoluble organic constituents.
Deposits built up on the membrane surfaces during operation until they cause loss in
normalized permeate flow, loss of normalized salt rejection, or both.

Element should be cleaned when one or more the below mentioned parameters are
applicable:

 The normalized permeate flow drops 10 – 15 %

 The normalized salt passage increases 10 – 15 %
 The normalized pressure drop (feed pressure minus concentrates pressure)
increases 10-15%

If you wait too long, cleaning may not restore the membrane element performance
successfully. In addition, the time between cleanings becomes shorter as the
membrane elements will foul or scale more rapidly.

Effect of common foulants on system performance:

Foulants Normalized Salt passage Pressure drop

permeate flow
Scaling Decrease Unchanged Increase
Colloidal Fouling Decrease Increase Increase
Bio-fouling Decrease Unchanged Increase
Organic Fouling Decrease Unchanged Unchanged

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I.2. Cleaning preparation

Cleaning tips:

I. Please check all cleaning system component, make sure all in good condition
(hose/pipe, valve, manifold, pressure control valve, flow meter, sample point, etc).

 Product & reject flow should be returned to the CIP Tank.

 Reject return line should be submerged below cleaning solution level to reduce
foaming.

 Rinse membrane thoroughly between cleaning steps.

 Before returning system to the service, ensure that all residual cleaning products
are removed from the membrane surfaces by thorough flushing.

 Cleaning solution volume of 40-55 liter is recommended per 8” x 40 “ membrane

element; this excludes pipe volumes.

Holding Volume calculation:

1 train: 9 vessel, 1 vessel: 6 membranes, total membranes for 1 train: 63

membranes, size of membrane: 8” x 40”.

 Volume in vessel:

(1 inches = 0.0254 m, V1 = volume per membrane, V2 = volume per vessel, V3 =

volume per train).
V1 = r2 x L.
= 3.14 x 0.10162 x 1.016
= 0.0329 m3
= 32.9 liter
V2 = 197.4 liter
V3 = 1776.6 liter

Or,

Rule of thumb for 8” x 40” element = 40-55 liter/membrane element

1 train = 63 membrane element x 40 - 55 liter = 2520 – 3150 liter

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 Volume in pipe: V = r2 x L.

Volume in pipe (assume 20 % from Membrane Volume) = 630 Liter

 Total Volume = Volume in vessel + Volume in pipe.

= 3150 liter + 630 liter
= 3780 liter

I.3. Cleaning Procedure & Step

If there is uncertainty of the type of fouling, always start with an alkaline cleaning
product.

Cleaning step:

Step 1 – Surfactant + booster clean to remove organics and biofilm

Step 2 – An Acidic wash to remove iron and inorganic scale deposits
Step 3 – Fast acting non-oxidizing biocide to kill bacteria, yeasts and fungi

If a cleaning solution shows heavy discoloration, discard and make up new solution
and repeat cleaning stage.

Step 1:

 Flush system with permeate water.

 Prepare a 4% v/v solution of PermaClean PC-98 and maintain pH at 10.5 – 12
(adjust with caustic if necessary)
 Add 0.5 % (by weight) PermaClean PC-40 (powder form).
 Adjust pH with NaOH, the pH for Alkaline Cleaning should be 11 – 11.5.
 Flush 20% of solution through membranes to drain.
 Circulate & soak remaining solutions for 15 minutes intervals for 4 hours.
 Discard and flush thoroughly with good quality, chlorine free water.

Step 2:

 Prepare a 4% v/v solution of PermaClean PC-77 (adjust the pH to 2-3 with

Hydrochloric acid)
 Adjust pH with HCl, the pH for Acid Cleaning should be 2 – 3.
 Flush 20% of solution through membranes to drain.
 Circulate for 2 hours, soak for 30 minutes and then circulate for 1 hour (Pressure
max. 4 bar).
 Discard and flush thoroughly with good quality, chlorine free water.

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Step 3:

 Prepare a 200 ppm (0.02%) solution of PermaClean PC-11 at 25 oC.

 Maintain temperature at or below 25 oC and pH at 6-7.
 Flush 20 % of solution through membranes to drain.
 Circulate the solution for 60 minutes.
 Discard and flush thoroughly with good quality, chlorine free water.

Chemicals consumption:

Basic calculation:

Total Volume = Volume in vessel + Volume in pipe.

Total Volume = 3780 Liter

Consumption,
Step Product % Solution Liter Density Kg
1 PC 98 4 151 1.02 154
PC 40 (in Kg) 0.5 - - 106.5
2 PC 77 4 151 1.18 178
3 PC 11 0.02 0.756 1.24 0.93

The above chemicals consumption is for 1 train.

I.4. Commercial

No. Product Packing Consumption

Kg/Pail for 1 train, Kg
1 Nalco PC 98 19 874
2 Nalco PC 40 19 114
3 Nalco PC 77 22 1,012
4 Nalco PC 11 23 23

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