A unified model for the detailed investigation of membrane modules and RO plants performance Original Research Article

In this work a straightforward procedure for the detailed investigation of the performance of the membrane modules and RO plants has been suggested. The analysis is based on analytical equations for a two dimensional flow of two components and determines the permeate flow rate and the quality of the produced water. A software was developed, based in the proposed mathematical model, which can predict the brine and permeate characteristics for every individual membrane module in the pressure vessels in an RO plant, regardless of the type of the membranes. The predictions of the proposed software were verified by experimental data for a 380 m3/d RO plant, with 8ʹʹ membrane module made by FilmTec. An excellent agreement was found between the prediction of the suggested model and the experimental data. The membrane performance predictions of the developed software were also compared and verified with the predictions made by commercial softwares of different membrane producers.