Thursday, March 5, 2015

An Overview Of Membrane Systems

By Leslie Ball


Recently, development in technology have given rise to breakthroughs in treatment of wastewater and reclamation of water for reuse. Membrane systems is included in this progress. It has risen up as an important innovation for reclamation and treatment in addition to being a leading in upgrade and expansion of the wastewater plants.

The initial usage of membrane wastewater treatments was put into practice around thirty years ago. In this past decade, however a rapid rise in volumes of wastewater that get treated has been observed to be of very high standard and it is of typical for reuse purpose. In factual sense, most of the municipal wastewater facilities have adopted to this technology to a very large extent since the technology is able to provide abilities that are unparalleled in meeting vigorous requirements.

This membranes processes is able to meet the requirements of large amounts of separation owning to its ability to separate at molecular levels to a point that particles can vividly be seen without any external aid. At most times, this technology rarely requires phase changes in a bid to make separations. This consequently leads to low requirements of energy not unless a need for much more amounts of energy arises in order to boost up the steam pressure much required to drive the infusing components through the membranes.

Membranes uniquely stand out being the best option as they are able to get rid of contaminants that other technologies have struggled to remove. They come very pocket friendly in cost compared to other alternatives. Less area in relation to land is also required compared to the competing brands. Their ability in replacing various units of processes of treatment with single unit has made this possible.

In application to wastewater treatment, membranes are currently getting used as tertiary advanced treatments in the removal of some dissolved species. This species are usually comprised of; phosphorous, nitrogen species, organic compounds, human pathogens, and various others. Technologies which have adopted to the use of membranes include; high and low pressure membranes and the membrane bioreactors.

The major technical challenge in using membranes for treatment of wastewater is the fouling potential which is high. Membrane fouling is usually caused by colloids, microorganisms which are not well removed using conventional pretreatment method, and the soluble organic compounds. This fouling increases the feed pressure and there is need for frequent cleaning of the membrane.

The above results to reduction in efficiency plus shorter membrane life span. Extra technical barriers likely to result comprise of complexity and increased costs for residual or concentrate disposal from high pressured membranes. To add on to this, membranes are likely to have chemical incompatibilities with certain process solution which can result to weak systems that may extend to making their lifespan turning out unacceptably short.

Adaptation of wastewater treatment by the use of membranes is on the increase. The option is not only viable but in most cases also a smart move especially when considering to upgrade plants and expanding capacity. This approach is beneficial in land lock situations such as agriculture, urban or industrial reuse; recharge of groundwater and salinity barriers; and also in the augmentation of mobile water supplies that meet low effluent nutrients.




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