Advantages obtained through the elimination of chemical products in the pre-treatment process of large desalination plants for the control of fouling, biofouling and scaling in reverse osmosis membranes

Abstract

This paper presents the results of research work conducted as part of a doctoral thesis and undertaken with the aim of resolving the problem of accelerated fouling of reverse osmosis membranes (made from spiral-wound polyamide), as a result of the deposition of colloidal particles (particulate fouling), the precipitation of inorganic salts (scaling) and the accumulation of living and/or dead biological matter (biofouling). The reverse osmosis modules affected form part of the Las Palmas III (LP3) desalination plant run by the company EMALSA (Spanish initials: Empresa Mixta de Aguas de Las Palmas). This plant is located on the island of Gran Canaria (Spain) and supplies potable water to around half a million people.