Reverse Osmosis

BOILING WATER OPERATOR TRAINING Notes
Reverse Osmosis
WHAT IS IT?
Reverse osmosis (RO) is a process which removes 95-98% of all
the ionized dissolved solids from water. It is used to improve the
quality of make-up water for a boiler system.
Both positively charged ions (cations) such as calcium,

magnesium, and sodium, and negatively charged ions (anions)
such as carbonate, bicarbonate, chloride, and sulfate are removed.
Large organic molecules are also removed by RO membranes.
They must be removed by other methods if necessary.
The quality of the feedwater going to the RO is very critical to the

total success of the process. It must be very low in suspended
solids and colloidal material to prevent fouling of the RO
membranes.
©2005 Nalco Company 1 Section 6 – Reverse Osmosis, Book 316 (10-05)

HOW DOES IT WORK?

Reverse osmosis, the reverse of the natural osmosis process, is a
man-made process. By applying a high pressure to a solution, the
natural osmotic flow of water molecules can be reversed, causing
them to flow through a membrane.
The amount of pressure required for RO applications is dependent

on:
1. the type of membrane in use,
2. the differential pressure across the membrane, and
3. the flow of water required.
Pressures for water applications will normally range between 200-400

psig (14-28 barg).

Reverse osmosis membranes are typically one of three types:

1. Spiral Wound
2. Hollow Fiber
3. Tubular
The spiral wound and the hollow fiber type membranes are the
most common types used for water treatment applications. The
membranes are constructed into modules which will contain a
specific amount of membrane area.
The modules are placed into pressure vessels. The pressure

vessels are placed in groups called stages, and the stages make up
arrays. The exact size and configuration for an RO unit is
determined by the flow and water quality requirements.

The diagram can represent one module, one pressure vessel

containing several modules, an entire stage of pressure vessels, or
an entire skid. The diagram illustrates the three important flows:
1. Feed
2. Permeate
3. Concentrate
Two Stage Reverse Osmosis:
In the two stage RO, the concentrate from one stage is used as the
feed to a second stage. This process increases the percent recovery
(gal. permeate/gal. feed) (m3 permeate/m3 feed) obtainable from a
given application.

HOW DOES IT AFFECT MY PLANT?

A properly operated RO unit will result in a clean and efficiently
running boiler system and will minimize condensate system
corrosion.
• Removal of the scale forming ions will provide a cleaner and safer
operating boiler. Prevention of scale will mean a more efficiently
running boiler and no down time for tube failures.
• Removal of the salts will provide less opportunity for corrosion in
the boiler water at very high temperatures and pressure.
• Removal of almost all of the ions in the raw water will provide less
need to blow down the boiler water and a more economical
performance. Also, carryover will be reduced, and this will mean
a more efficient and longer running turbine.
• Removal of the bicarbonate and carbonate in the raw water will
provide a less corrosive condensate, and savings for treatment of
the condensate.
• Removal of most dissolved solids will ease the load on
downstream pretreatment units, resulting in more efficient and
less costly operation of those units.
• Other effects:
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WHAT DO I NEED TO DO TO OPERATE IT?

1. Run regular Silt Density Index (SDI) tests.
The SDI test must be run to prevent fouling of the RO membrane
by silt, dirt, and other colloidal materials. The SDI test results
must be kept below 5.0 to keep most membrane manufacturers’
warranties valid.
2. Monitor flow rates and conductivities, as well as pressures of the
feed, concentrate, and permeate.
This information must be continuously monitored and logged.
Also, feed temperature must be monitored in all systems
along with feed pH in applications where acid addition is
required. An additional pressure monitor located between the
stages of a two stage RO system is necessary for efficient
troubleshooting.
3. Calculate and trend percent rejection, normalized permeate flow
rate, and differential pressure across each stage.
Simply calculating the above is not enough. This information
must be trended over time. Membrane cleaning is required when
a 10% loss in normalized permeate flow or a 10-15% increase in
differential pressure across a stage occurs. Differential pressure
will change with changes in percent recovery and feed flow rate.
The system must be adjusted to the same percent recovery and
feed flow rate whenever differential pressure readings are
obtained.
4. Other controls:
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BOILING WATER OPERATOR TRAINING Notes

Both positively charged ions (cations) such as calcium,

The quality of the feedwater going to the RO is very critical to the

©2005 Nalco Company 1 Section 6 – Reverse Osmosis, Book 316 (10-05)

HOW DOES IT WORK?

The amount of pressure required for RO applications is dependent

Pressures for water applications will normally range between 200-400

©2005 Nalco Company 2 Section 6 – Reverse Osmosis, Book 316 (10-05)

Reverse osmosis membranes are typically one of three types:

The modules are placed into pressure vessels. The pressure

©2005 Nalco Company 3 Section 6 – Reverse Osmosis, Book 316 (10-05)

The diagram can represent one module, one pressure vessel

Two Stage Reverse Osmosis:

©2005 Nalco Company 4 Section 6 – Reverse Osmosis, Book 316 (10-05)

HOW DOES IT AFFECT MY PLANT?

©2005 Nalco Company 5 Section 6 – Reverse Osmosis, Book 316 (10-05)

WHAT DO I NEED TO DO TO OPERATE IT?

©2005 Nalco Company 6 Section 6 – Reverse Osmosis, Book 316 (10-05)

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