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The benefits of reverse osmosis in industrial processes

  • The benefits of reverse osmosis in industrial processes

The application of membrane technologies for water and wastewater treatment is growing due to tighter regulations for water quality.

It’s important to understand the benefits reverse osmosis can provide to industrial processes and why it’s one of the best water filtration systems. Focusing on environmental, cost, health and safety and maintenance benefits.

What is Reverse Osmosis (RO)?

It’s a process in which raw water passes through a system that removes impurities. Raw water has not been treated or had any elements removed.

The water comes into the system via a break tank or mains feed. The quality of the incoming water differs with geographic location.

A high-pressure pump drives the water through a set of membranes. A membrane is a selective barrier. As water passes through it, impurities such as salt or solids are removed.

This process improves the purity and quality of the incoming water supply, by reducing the
micro-Siemens and total dissolved solids (TDS).

Membracon offer a wide range of RO systems and replacement membranes. They also provide
pre-treatment equipment including softeners, activated carbon filters, and multimedia filters; that remove a wide range of Impurities.

Environmental Benefits

One of the main environmental benefits of using a Reverse osmosis system is less hazardous wastewater. This is due to not requiring any harmful chemicals within the process of producing the permeate (pure water).

Reverse osmosis is one of the greenest solutions for industrial wastewater.

Another environmental benefit of RO is the capture and correct disposal of impurities within the mains water feed. This is without the discharge of harmful chemically saturated water going to effluent or drain.

Our cutting edge design of the membranes removes the impurities from the water feed without the use of chemicals, resins, or ion exchange beds.

At the end of the life of chemical-based systems, the removal and disposal of the resins and ion exchange beds have a huge environmental impact in comparison to a membrane system.

Concentrated impurities from an RO System can then be discharged directly to drain without the need for a further costly effluent treatment process.

Cost Benefits​

Prices for acid and caustic solutions continue to rise while the costs of using reverse osmosis and membrane elements are decreasing.

The primary cost of reverse-osmosis systems is electricity. Modern water filtration systems consume little energy so operating costs are relatively low.

An RO system can be installed into the process and feed directly into the production line or to a holding tank for storage and then use as required.

Wastewater streams can run through an RO system aiding in a reduction of disposal costs via reuse back into the process.

Health and Safety Benefits​

The main health and safety benefits of using a reverse osmosis system to produce high-quality water is there are no hazardous chemicals required.

Traditional resin-based ion exchange systems use highly dangerous acids and alkalis.

Reverse osmosis replaces conventional processes like chemical treatment with smaller and more efficient equipment.

By doing this it eliminates the opposing risks of manual handling and the possession of hazardous chemicals on-site, providing a safer working environment for the personnel.

Maintenance Benefits

The RO system is extremely maintenance-friendly as it is a self-contained unit.

It self-cleans and requires minimal operator interaction. It only requires daily monitoring from on-site personnel rather than being actively maintained.

This maintains productivity with limited downtime needed.

Changing the pre-filters is ergonomically friendly and can be completed within minutes.

The membranes can last 2-3 years, depending on varying factors such as the quality and quantity of feed water.

100% of membranes within a given system could be replaced within hours, compared to a resin-based system which could take days.

Membracon can provide comprehensive service & maintenance package along with a finance solution to suit you.

Conclusion​

With such advantages and benefits, the use of reverse osmosis across industry sectors is set to increase. It opposes less risk to staff, is more efficient, cost-effective, environmentally friendly and requires low maintenance.

Reverse osmosis can also be used commercially as well as in industrial processes.

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