The brackish water RO system is capable of producing up to half a million (US) gallons of potable water every day
So~Safe recently delivered a brackish water Reverse Osmosis (RO) system, capable of producing up to half a million (US) gallons of potable water every day. The client's name wasn't disclosed. The system is designed to produce 500,000 US gallons per day (GPD) or 1892.70 m3/day of potable water with two trains, each capable of producing 250,000 GPD or 946.35 m3/day. A number of computer-aided models were used to forecast the plant performance to ensure an economical operation and a prolonged service life.
In the pre-filtration stage, Multi-Stage Centrifugal Type feed pumps (Grundfos) were installed to draw water from the storage tank containing ground water. Raw water is first subjected to pre-chlorination using automatic dosing pumps, (Prominent) for the bacteriological treatment, after which it is passed through large Multi-Media filters. Six FRP Media Filters (three for each train) of 48" Diameter (Structural) are used to give a nominal filtration of up to 20 microns, while maintaining the desired flow rates. De-chlorination is achieved by the use of automatic dosing pumps (Prominent). High quality antiscalants from So~Safe, Safe-Chem 250 are injected into the water to reduce scale formation on the membrane surface and prolong its service life. Finally, water is filtered up to 5-micron using high quality 40" wound polypropylene yarn cartridges, WPP405R, manufactured by So~Safe.
For the RO stage, Vertical Multistage Centrifugal Pumps (Grundfos) two in series per train have been installed to maintain the desired parameters for the pre-treated water over RO membranes. Spiral wound Thin Film Composite membranes from Filmtec have been housed in Pressure Vessels (Code Line) made from special FRP material and capable of withstanding operating pressures up to 450 psi.
The plant is designed to carry out automatic flushing every time it starts or stops during automatic operation mode. A cleaning in place (CIP) system is incorporated to perform membrane cleaning as and when required. Multistage Centrifugal pumps were supplied by Grundfos to carry out this process.
Latest Digital George Fischer meters are incorporated in the design of So~Wise Logic Controls, along with a number of Pressure Gauges and Pressure Switches for efficient monitoring and performance. The system is fully automatic and a number of sensors include formulating artificial intelligence to perform years of trouble free service life. All operational buttons are created in soft touch form using an HMI from Siemens, making it easy to operate and control.
The So~Wise Logic controller ensures the system is always operated at an optimal performance and protected from heavy damage in case of emergencies.
A mimic diagram is also incorporated in the interface, which is extremely helpful during both normal operation as well as diagnostic functions, as it gives continuous feedback even during standby or manual mode.
© H2O 2009
