Smart Membrane Based Water Treatment and RO Desalination

Yoram Cohen, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, USA
Anditya Rahardianto, Chemical And Biomolecular Engineering, University Of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, Usa
Larry Gao, Chemical And Biomolecular Engineering, University Of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, Usa
Han Gu, Chemical And Biomolecular Engineering, University Of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, Usa
Tae Lee, Chemical And Biomolecular Engineering, University Of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, Usa
Panagiotis Christofides, Chemical And Biomolecular Engineering, University Of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, Usa

Membrane based water treatment and desalination technologies are core elements of potable water production from seawater and brackish groundwater, in municipal and industrial water reuse, as well as for management and reuse of agricultural drainage water. Given the increased level of water scarcity in various regions of the world and impairment of groundwater resources, efforts are growing to expand the upgrade and use of otherwise unutilized groundwater resources and lower the cost of seawater desalination. Some of the major challenges to reducing the cost of membrane-based water treatment and desalination include: membrane fouling and mineral scaling, reducing energy consumption, decreasing plant footprint, and reducing operational costs. In order to establish the potential process areas for membrane based water treatment/desalination cost reduction, fundamental analysis was undertaken of process energy consumption that considers the thermodynamic limit of membrane based separation. Various options for optimal process configuration were evaluated with a particular emphasis on effective deployment of distributed water systems. In addressing the above, a multi-pronged approach will be described considering the following elements and their development from fundamental research to field deployment: (a) energy optimal operation of RO desalination and its relevance to membrane performance, (b) self-adaptive RO feed pretreatment that integrates model-based process control and dynamic optimization, (c) fault detection and isolation, and (d) real time monitoring of membrane integrity and early detection of the onset of fouling/mineral scaling and integration with plant control. Various potential options to reducing the cost of RO desalination will be presented with a focus on flexible and robust operation that considers the path to high recovery and handling the variability