DRINKING WATER FROM DESALINATION OF SEAWATER: OPTIMIZATION OF REVERSE OSMOSIS SYSTEM OPERATING PARAMETERS

This paper reports on the use of pilot scale membrane separation system coupled with another pilot scale plate heat exchanger to investigate the possibilities of sweetening seawater from Telok Kalong Beach, Terengganu, Malaysia. Reverse osmosis (RO) membrane of a surface area of 0.5 m2 was used during the experimental runs. Experiments were conducted at different transmembrane pressures (TMP) ranged from 40 to 55 bars, operation temperature ranged from 35 to 45oC, feed concentration (TDS) ranged from 34900 to 52500 ppm and cross flow velocities ranged from 1.4 to 2.1 m/s. The result show that the flux values increased linearly with TMP as well as sodium ion rejection. Permeate flux values increased proportionally with the temperature and the later effect was more significant at high pressures. The temperature changing has also influenced the rejection of sodium ion. The minerals content especially NaCl and total dissolved solid (TDS) in the drinking water produced in this research are conforming to the standards of World Health Organization (WHO).