2009 International Conference on Energy and Environment Technology

The experimental research and analysis of the reverse osmosis technology on the
waste water reusing of the plant cooling water

Shuguo Zhang Dong Li, Guohong Wu, Huawei Jiang

School of Environmental Science and Engineering School of Energy and Power Engineering
North China Electric Power University North China Electric Power University
Baoding, People’s Republic of China Baoding, People’s Republic of China
e-mail:naikoo@126.com e-mail:naikoo@126.com

Abstract—This paper studied the influence of the feed circulating water. And economic analysis was carried out,
water PH value on the reverse osmosis system in the process of the operating parameters were optimized by which.
the sewage reusing of the power plant circulating water. The
utmost recovery rate was made out through experiments, at II. THE INFLUENCE OF FEED WATER PH VALUE ON THE
different feed water PH value, on condition that the RECOVERY RATE OF THE REVERSE OSMOSIS
concentrated water did not scale. The influence of the PH
value on the salt desalting rate of the reverse osmosis system A. Principle of experiment
was investigated, the results show that the highest desalination
Reverse osmosis membrane divides the water into two
rate is up to 99.6%, when the PH value is 8.0~9.0. Comparing
the different operating cost in different operating conditions,
parts, the permeate water and the concentrated water. The
it’s found that when the PH value is 8.0, the reverse osmosis ion concentration of the permeate water is very low, which
systematic recovery rate is 72%, which is the most economical tends to 0. If the insoluble salt in concentrated water does
operating condition. not scale on the membrane, the substances concentration
factor KM is equal to the volume concentration factor KV as
Keywords-reverse osmosis; circulating water of power plant; Formula (1)-(3) show, and when substances concentration
recovery rate; desalting rate; feed water PH value factor of certain insoluble salt KM<KV, the insoluble salt will
scale on the membrane.
I. INTRODUCTION Qf 1
Circulating water system accounts for more than 70% of KV = = (1)
Qf − Qc 1 − R
the water consumption of the power plant, and the drainage
of circulating water is about 20%~30% [1]. Reuseing the
waste water can save water resources, reduce waste water 1
discharge and achieve social and economic benefits [2].
Concentration ratio of circulating water of power plant is Cc Qc Qf
KM = = = (2)
about 3~4, so the salinity of circulating water is comparably Cf 1 Qf − Qc
higher, so desalting treatment is need for the water recycling.
What the process currently use is pre-treatment-reverse
Qf
osmosis system [3-5].
In the Large-scale reverse osmosis system, the water
route is very long and the membrane components are many. 1
So the insoluble salt of the concentrated water scales on the KM = (3)
1− R
surface of the membrane, which is the main factor of the
constraints to improve the recovery rate of reverse osmosis The experiments test the concentration changes of
system [6]. The recovery rate of reverse osmosis system
insoluble salt ions（Ca2+, Mg2+, SO42-and active silica）of
directly relates to the water and energy cost, so the system
design must be based on the quality of raw water and the concentrated water at the range of different PH value,
determine the best recovery of the reverse osmosis system. using the valume concentration factor and chloride ion
Because the solubility of some insoluble salts such as substances concentration factor as the reference
CaCO3, Mg (OH)2, and active silica is related with the PH standard(since the chloride ion does not scale on the
value. Besides, the change of the feed water PH value will membrane), determine the relevant recovery rate as the
affect the desalting rate of reverse osmosis [7], which has limited recovery rate when there is scaling on the membrane.
certain influence on the post-treatment operating cost. B. Water of experiment
In this paper, experiments were carried out targeting the
The drainage of circulating water was from one plant of
influence of the PH value of feed water on the recovery rate
ShanXi , the analysis of the water shown as table 1. The total
and desalination rate of the reverse osmosis system in the circulating water flow of the power plant is 8×104 t/h, the
process of the waste water reusing of the power plant

978-0-7695-3819-8/09 $26.00 © 2009 IEEE 843

DOI 10.1109/ICEET.2009.442
sewage flow is 200 t/h. As can be seen from Table 1 the Figure 1. When PH=6.0 the concentration factor at various recovery
water has the following characteristics: rate
(1)The water contain a certain amount of suspended 5
solids, small particles and turbidity.

Concentration factor
4
(2)Open cycle cooling water systems is the evaporative
cooling. In continuous production, with the continuous 3
improvement of concentration, the concentration of 2
insoluble salt ions as Ca2+, Mg2+, HCO3-, SO42- and the 1
active silicon became larger.
0
45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80
TABLE I. ANALYSIS OF THE RAW WATER
Rcovery rate/ %
Item Numerical Item Numerical Valume Magnesium Calcium
Values Values Chloride Sulfate Active silica
+ 3-
Na /（mg/ L） 333.98 PO4 /（mg/ L） 1.32

K+/（mg/ L） 6.65 PH 9.0

Ca /（mg/ L） 2+
113.23 Hardness of water 13.9 Figure 2. When PH=7.0 the concentration factor at various recovery
/（mmol/ L） rate
2+
Mg /（mg/ L） 100.24 Total solid content/ 1749.4
（mg/ L）
Ba2+/（mg/ L） 0.32 Total dissolved 1741.4 5
solids/（mg/L） 4.5

Concentration factor
Cl /（mg/ L） -
315 Suspended solids/ 8.2 4
（mg/ L） 3.5
3
SO42-/（mg/ L） 503 Active silica/ 62.3
2.5
（mg/ L） 2
CO32-/（mg/ L） 75 Colloidal silica/ （ 5.52 1.5
mg/L） 1
HCO3-/（mg/ L） 372 CODMn/（mg/ L） 4.91 0.5
0
NO3-/（mg/ L） 0.01 Conductivity/ （ 2255 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80
μS/ cm） Rcovery rate/ %
Valume Magnesium Calcium
Chloride Sulfate Active silica

Figure 3. When PH=8.0 the concentration factor at various recovery

C. Experimental result rate
The change of the substances concentration factor of the
concentrated water ion and volume concentration factor with
3
the recovery rate increases gradually at different PH value
Concentration factor

was measured. 2.5

2
5
1.5
Concentration factor

4
1
3 0.5

2 0
40 45 50 55 60
1
Recovery rate/ %
0 Valume Magnesium Calcium
45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 Chloride Sulfate Active silica
Recovery rate/ %
Valume Magnesium Calcium Figure 4. When PH=9.0 the concentration factor at various recovery rate
Chloride Sulfate Active silica
When PH=6.0, before the recovery rate≤78%, all kinds
of insoluble salt ion concentration factor, the concentration
of chloride ion concentration factor and volume
concentration factor is very close. From78%, the
concentration factor of active silica significantly deviate,
active silica begin scaling in membrane. So when PH=6.0,
the system recovery rate should be controlled as 78%.
When PH=7.0, before the recovery rate≤75%, all kinds
of insoluble salt ion concentration factor, the concentration

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of chloride ion concentration factor and volume
concentration factor is very close. From75%, the
concentration factor of active silica significantly deviates,
active silica begin scaling in membrane. So when PH=7.0
the system recovery rate should be controlled as 75%.
When PH=8.0, before the recovery rate≤72%,all kinds
of insoluble salt ion concentration factor, the concentration
of chloride ion concentration factor and volume
concentration factor is very close. From 72%, the
concentration factor of Ca2+ begin significantly deviate, Ca2+
begin scaling in membrane. So when PH=8.0the system
recovery rate should be controlled as 72%.
When PH=9.0, before the recovery rate≤50%, all kinds
of insoluble salt ion concentration factor, the concentration
of chloride ion concentration factor and volume
concentration factor is very close. From 50%,the
concentration factor of Ca2+ begin significantly deviate, Ca2+
begin scaling in membrane. So when PH=9.0, the system
recovery rate should be controlled as 50%.
III. THE INFLUENCE OF FEED WATER PH VALUE ON THE
DESALINATION RATE OF THE REVERSE OSMOSIS
A. Method of experiment
Removal of salt is the central purpose of reverse osmosis
system, desalination rate is one of the main technical
parameters of system design and operation. Different PH
values have certain effects on the single film desalinization
rate of reverse osmosis. In addition,the improving of the
recovery rate would mean reducing consumption of water,
so the improvement of the recovery rate would lead to a
lower level of system desalination [6], so PH changes in
water supply system caused a more complex impact on
reverse osmosis desalination rate. This thesis research the
influence of the feed water PH on the reverse osmosis
desalination rate through the following two different
experiments.
(1)Test the desalination rate of various ions in water
samples when the recovery rate of the single film is 15%.
(2)Test the desalination rate of the water in the following
4 operating conditions: When PH=6.0, the recovery rate is
78%; PH=7.0, recovery rate is 75%; PH=8.0 recovery rate is
75%; PH=9.0, recovery rate is 50%.
B. Experimental Result
100
Desalination ratio/ %
99
98
97
96
95
94
93
92
91
5 6 7 8
PH
Potassium Sodium
Chloride Sulfate
Figure 5. The desalination rate of the various ions of the single film at
different feed water PH.
Desaling rate/ %
120 99
Produced water TDS Desalting rate
100 98
TDS/ (mg/ L)
80 97
60 96
40 95
20 94
0 93
1 2 3 4
Figure 6. The TDS and total water desalination rate at four operating
conditions
Fig5 shows the desalination rate of the various ions of
the single film at different feed water PH. Before the
PH<8.0, along with gradually increasing of the PH, the
desalination rate of various ions increase; When PH stays
between 8.0 to 9.0, various ions get the highest desalination
rates, among which the lowest is K+, 96.8%, the highest is
SO42-, 99%; When the PH>9.0, various ions’ desalination
rate decreases along with the PH increases.
Fig6 shows the the TDS and total water desalination rate
at four operating conditions. With the increase of feed water
PH, the recovery rate decreases, so in four operating
conditions, desalination rate of various ions increases along
with the PH much more obviously than single-rate
system.When the water PH=6.0, recovery rate is 78%, the
desalination system is 94.7%,when the water PH=7.0, the
recovery rate is 75%,the desalination system is 95.9%.
When the water PH=8.0, the recovery rate is 72%, the
desalination rate is 96.7%, when the water PH=9.0, the
recovery rate is 50%, the desalination rate is 98.0%.
IV. ECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF DIFFERENT OPERATING
CONDITIONS
A. Running costs
Economic analysis compares the running cost of the 4
operating conditions in 1hour, When PH=6.0, the recovery
rate is 78%; PH=7.0, recovery is 75%;PH=8.0, the recovery
rate is 72%; PH=9.0, the recovery rate is 50%, including the
cost of water, acid costs,energy cost,and post-processing
cost.
1)Water cost. The water resource of the plant is
industrial water. Therefore, the improvement of recovery
rate of reverse osmosis system will save the cost of
industrial water supply. Price of industrial water is 2.7
9 10
yuan/t, the cost of water, when the PH=9.0, the recovery rate
is 50%, is set to 0.
Magnesium Calcium 2)Acid cost.Reverse osmosis pretreatment use 31% HCl
Active silica adjust the water PH. Acid price is 600 yuan/t.
3)Energy cost. Electricity cost is 0.7 yuan/KWh,
electricity consumption is calculated as formula (5) [8].
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 Pe=ρ gqvH (5) SYMBOLS
KV --- Volume concentration factor
4)Regeneration of resin in the post-processing
cost.Formulas (6) quote from document [9]. KM --- Substances concentration factor

ECH • b Qf --- Feed water flow rate

GHCL= (6)
1000ε Qc --- Concentrated water flow rate

B. Economic contrast CC --- Feed water consistency，mg/L

The comparision of the the four different operating
conditions cost in 1 hour shows in Table3. Cf --- Concentrated water consistency，mg/L

TABLE II. THE COMPARISION OF THE COST OF DIFFERENT OPERATING R --- Recovery rate
CONDITIONS

Item Operating Operating Operating Operating Pe ---Effective power of the high pressure pump ，W
Water
condition 1
-29.4
condition 2
-26.3
condition 3
-22.1
condition 4
0 ρ --- Fluid density，取 kg/m3
cost/yuan
Acid 1.1 —— —— 0 qv --- Flow Capacity，m3/h
cost/yuan
Energy 35.2 31.4 31.4 25.2
cost /yuan H --- Pumping head of the high pressure pump，m
Total 137.7 74.5 69.3 79.3
cost/yuan
ECH --- Cation bed capacity，mol
The operating condition 3 is the most economic
operation. Therefore, the best option for the plant is
b --- Consumption of reagent
controling the PH at 8.0 to get the 72% recovery rate, so that ε --- Consistency of HCL，%
the system could run in the most economic condition.
V. CONCLUSION REFERENCES
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increasing of the PH value, the desalination rate of various [4] M. Okazaki, “Water recycling using sequential membrane treatment
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