Jordan University of Science & technology JUST

Chemical Eng. Dept.

Summer 2023
Introduction:
CONCENTRATION
POLARIZATION

Concentration polarization is the accumulation of salts (ions) at the

membrane surface. As water flows through a membrane and salts are
rejected by the membrane, the retained salts can accumulate at the
membrane surface where their concentration will gradually increase.

This increase in salt concentration at the

membrane surface is called concentration
polarization.
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CONCENTRATION POLARIZATION
The concentration build-up at the membrane will generate a diffusive flow of salts
back to the bulk of the feed, but after a given period of time steady state conditions
will be established. Steady-state conditions are reached when:

At steady-state the convective transport of salt to the membrane is equal to the sum
of the permeate salt flow plus the diffusive back transport of salt:

Cb = Concentration in the bulk / feed

Cp = Concentration in the permeate
Cm = Concentration at the membrane

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 The ratio of the diffusion coefficient
(D) and the thickness of the
boundary layer (δ) is called the
mass transfer coefficient (k).

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The intrinsic retention (Rint) of the membrane is the salt concentration at the
membrane minus the concentration of salt in permeate over the salt concentration
at the membrane

The ratio Cm / Cb is called:

The concentration polarization factor

Cm / Cb increase :

1. With increasing flux (J).

2. With increasing retention (Rint)
3. With decreasing mass transfer coefficient (k).

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 When the salt is completely retained by the membrane (Rint = 1 and Cp = 0), then

o This is the basic equation for concentration polarization which demonstrates the
two factors (the flux J and the mass transfer coefficient k) and their origin
(membrane part J, hydrodynamics k) responsible for concentration polarization.

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Concentration polarization has several negative effects on the performance of
reverse osmosis systems.

1. Higher osmotic pressure at membrane surface than in bulk feed water,

resulting in lower Net Driving Pressure. Consequently, higher feed pressure is
required to maintain same flux (capacity).
2. Increase salt transport (Qs) due to higher salt concentration at membrane
surface. As a result, a lower salt rejection (higher salt passage). Higher Cp.
3. Due to higher concentration of sparingly soluble salts (e.g., calcium carbonate,
calcium sulphate) at the membrane surface, possibility of precipitation (scaling)
will increase.
4. Reduced water transport through the membrane (Qw).
5. Higher rate of fouling due to suspended and colloidal matter, organic polymers,
due to accumulation at membrane surface.
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 In practice, the formula is simplified to:

Where: Kp is a proportionality constant depending on the module geometry.

This simplification is justified by the fact that:
1. Qp is proportional to J.
2. Qfavg is the average feed flow and is proportional to k and k is almost
proportional to the cross flow velocity (v).

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Using the arithmetic average of feed and concentrate flow as average feed flow,
the concentration polarization factor can be expressed as a function of the
permeate recovery rate of a membrane element Ri.

Where:
β : CPF = concentration polarization factor
Kp : Constant depending on type (manufacturer) membrane (usually 0.99)
Qp : Permeate flow of an element (m3/h)
Qc : Concentrate flow in an element (m3/h)
Ri : Recovery of a membrane element

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Dupont FILMTEC (2020) applies for their elements the formula:

Where:
β : CPF = concentration polarization factor
R: Recovery

The recommended recovery (by Dupont) per RO element varies with the quality
of the feed water e.g.:
• Seawater 10-12 %
• Filtered treated domestic wastewater 10-12 %
• Pre-treated surface water 15-18 %
• Softened well water 19-25 %

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Example (1)

Example (2)

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12

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