Separation properties of high temperature reverse osmosis membranes for silica removal and boric acid recovery

The separation system containing thin-film polyamide reverse osmosis membrane (tf-PA RO) of high temperature was studied. In performed laboratory tests, RO silica rejection percentage was over 97%, and boron passage was about 60–65% (molecular weight cut off of 200 or 250 Da) of the solution which contained silica in the range of 1–90 ppm and boron in the range of 7500–15,000 ppm. The separation factor (SF) between boron and silica related to boron concentration could be expressed as the relation, SF = k[boron]0.7. The separation process could be described by a mass balance model. The modeling calculation fitted the experimental results very well, within the acceptable parameters’ errors. It was proposed that the boric acid in a boric acid storage tank (BAST) of one studied pressurized water reactor (PWR) plant could be treated with such tf-PA RO. In the prediction, the silica concentration in it would be removed to about 1 ppm, and that the boron could be reused. The waste amou