TY - JOUR
T1 - Developing a protocol to evaluate new-generation membranes for desalinating brackish groundwater
AU - Kumar, Manish
AU - Adham, Samer
AU - Pearce, William
PY - 2006/4
Y1 - 2006/4
N2 - In water-scarce regions, desalinating brackish groundwater can represent an important alternative resource for water utilities High-pressure membranes that use reverse osmosis and nanofiltration are recognized as a viable desalination technology. Although new membranes are being rapidly introduced into the market, there is no general, systematic protocol for evaluating their performance. Developing such a protocol will allow utilities to standardize membrane-screening procedures, ultimately benefiting the manufacturers as well as the utilities. This article pre sents a step-by-step approach to pilot-testing the new-generation membranes. The proposed steps are basic data collection, comparative pilot-testing, optimization pilot-testing, membrane autopsy, and feasibility analysis. The pilot-testing conducted according to this protocol showed clear performance improvements between an established membrane and a new-generation membrane. The testing also demonstrated that the new membranes have greatly improved operating pressures, which could lead to substantial operational cost savings.
AB - In water-scarce regions, desalinating brackish groundwater can represent an important alternative resource for water utilities High-pressure membranes that use reverse osmosis and nanofiltration are recognized as a viable desalination technology. Although new membranes are being rapidly introduced into the market, there is no general, systematic protocol for evaluating their performance. Developing such a protocol will allow utilities to standardize membrane-screening procedures, ultimately benefiting the manufacturers as well as the utilities. This article pre sents a step-by-step approach to pilot-testing the new-generation membranes. The proposed steps are basic data collection, comparative pilot-testing, optimization pilot-testing, membrane autopsy, and feasibility analysis. The pilot-testing conducted according to this protocol showed clear performance improvements between an established membrane and a new-generation membrane. The testing also demonstrated that the new membranes have greatly improved operating pressures, which could lead to substantial operational cost savings.
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U2 - 10.1002/j.1551-8833.2006.tb07640.x
DO - 10.1002/j.1551-8833.2006.tb07640.x
M3 - Review article
AN - SCOPUS:33646748533
SN - 0003-150X
VL - 98
SP - 122-132+12
JO - Journal / American Water Works Association
JF - Journal / American Water Works Association
IS - 4
ER -