Executive Summary : | Objective: Development of antifouling single stage membrane for seawater desalination Development of antifouling single stage membrane module for seawater desalination. Rejuvenation of Used RO modules for further applications. Summary: 1. CSIR-CSMCRI developed and commercialized technology for brackish water RO membranes for water desalination. The indigenously developed brackish water membrane performance is highly competitive with the commercially available membranes in the market. So far the seawater RO desalination plants installed by the CSIR- CSMCRI were operated in two stages. In the first stage, salinity of high saline water or seawater is reduced to 90-94% and in the second stage the product water of the first stage is further desalinated to obtain water suitable for drinking. Commercially seawater desalination membrane modules operate in single stage. Therefore, through this proposed work, work will be done to prepare seawater membranes capable of desalinating seawater in single stage. As per present status, the indigenously prepared seawater membrane in the institute could desalinate water more than 97%, which is an encouraging figure. Test was carried out at small scale. Therefore, scaling up the production scale and further improvement of salt rejection so that in single stage, seawater can be desalinated to obtain safe drinking water is aimed in this proposed work.Discarded RO modules at the end of life for specific application, can be seen as an emerging waste. To address the issue in advance, efforts have been put to enhance the life time of the membrane modules. Following membrane rejuvenation process developed in CSIR-CSMCRI, the discarded RO modules could be rejuvenated. However, the salt rejection under standard test condition, decreased by 4-5% and the water flux increased compared to the same module performance at its pristine state. These rejuvenated modules are suitable for applications where module performance demand is relatively less in terms of salt rejection and flux. Two such target application areas are in consideration, one is water pretreatment and the otherone is low saline water desalination. Standardization of life time of the rejuvenated membrane modules is another target of this proposed project. |
