Date of Award

2013-01-01

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Department

Civil Engineering

Advisor(s)

Anthony Tarquin

Abstract

The Concentrate Enhanced Recovery Reverse Osmosis (CERRO) Process is a new method to treat RO concentrate and brackish water with high concentrations of silica and calcium sulfate. Prior investigations have shown that the CERRO process can treat this kind of water without fouling or scaling the membranes, but the main factors that allow the system to operate in such conditions were not studied. The research presented here is an evaluation of the CERRO process as an efficient RO concentrate management system. The parameters of operation of the system were evaluated and improved. The precipitation of calcium sulfate was identified as the main limitation of the system, and the most important operational factors were detected. It was found that the constant decay in the crossflow velocity reduces the concentration polarization at the membrane surface and the capacity of the system to be periodically cleaned were the most important operational factors that allow the process to operate without fouling or scaling the RO membranes. This study will be a very important asset for future projects in the further improvement of the process.

Language

en

Provenance

Received from ProQuest

File Size

155 pages

File Format

application/pdf

Rights Holder

Guillermo Guadalupe Delgado

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