Tutorial 11: 07-04-2019

1. Reverse osmosis is to be used to perform the desalination of the sea-water. Thee RO

units are typically arranged in multiple “trains.” These are parallel processes, each
containing multiple RO units. The parameters for one such train are as follows (Taken
from a case study by DOW):
a. Desalinated water to be produced at about 4700 𝑚3 /𝑑𝑎𝑦
b. Feed flow: 11,190 𝑚3 /𝑑𝑎𝑦
c. Feed pressure: 75 𝑏𝑎𝑟
d. Temperature: 22.4𝑜 𝐶
e. Feed water salinity: 0.6𝑀
f. Targeted rejection: 99.75%

Each train contains multiple “permeators.” Each permeator is actually a separate

module used for membrane-based separation (See the image below). The permeator can
be spiral-wound or hollow-fibre based. We decided to use hollow-fibre modules.
Following are the characteristics of each module available from the manufacturer:

16𝑙
a. Flux of water through the membrane: 𝑚2 ℎ
b. Inner diameter of the fibre: 200𝜇𝑚
c. Outer diameter: 300𝜇𝑚
d. Length of each fibre: 3m
e. The active area for each module: 37𝑚2
f. Fibres are closed at one end
Determine the following:
a. Flowrate and salinity of the retentate
b. Is concentration polarization significant if the dimensions of the permeator
are such that the superficial velocity of the feed solution normal to the fibres
is 0.5 𝑐𝑚/𝑠?
c. Is the pressure drop on the permeate side significant for the given
dimensions of the fibres?
d. How many permeators are required for the given operation?

Additional information:
1. For a flow normal to the fibres in a bundle, 𝑆ℎ = 1.28 𝑅𝑒 0.4 𝑆𝑐 0.33
𝜌𝑉𝑑𝑜
a. 𝑅𝑒 = 𝜇
𝜇
b. 𝑆𝑐 = 𝜌𝐷
𝑘𝑐 𝑑𝑜
c. 𝑆ℎ = 𝐷
d. 𝐷 = 1.6 × 10−5 𝑐𝑚2 /𝑠
0.01 𝑔
e. 𝜇 = 𝑐𝑚.𝑠

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(Wikipedia)