Pilot study for the treatment of sodium and fluoride-contaminated groundwater by using high-pressure membrane systems

Abstract

High-pressure membrane process is one of the cost-effective technologies for the treatment of groundwater containing excessive dissolved solids. This paper reports a pilot study in treating a typical groundwater in Huaibei Plain containing excessive sodium, sulfate and fluoride ions. Three membrane systems were set up and two brands of reverse osmosis (RO), four low-pressure RO (LPRO) and one tight nanofiltration (NF) membranes were tested under this pilot study. An apparent recovery rate at about 75% was adopted. Cartridge filtration, in combination with dosing antiscalent, was not sufficient to reduce the fouling potential of the raw water. All RO and LPRO systems (except for the two severely affected by membrane fouling) demonstrated similar rejection ratios of the conductivity (~98.5%), sodium (~98.5%) and fluoride (~99%). Membrane fouling substantially reduced the rejection performance of the fouled membranes. The tight NF membrane also had a good rejection on conductivity (95%), sodium (94%) and fluoride (95%). All membranes rejected sulfate ion almost completely (more than 99%). The electricity consumptions for the RO, LPRO and NF systems were 1.74, 1.10 and 0.72 kWh∙m^-3 treated water, respectively. The estimated treatment costs by using typical RO, LPRO and tight NF membrane systems were 1.21, 0.98 and 0.96 CNY∙m^-3 finished water, respectively. A treatment process consisting of either LPRO or tight NF facilities following multi-media filtration was suggested.

Keywords

reverse osmosis (RO) / nanofiltration (NF) / water quality standards / sodium / fluoride / cost estimation

References

[1] Crittenden J C, Trussell R R, Hand D W, Howe K J. Tchobanoglous G, with contributions by Borchardt J H. MWH’s Water Treatment: Principles and Design. 3rd ed. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, 2012

[2] Xu G Q, Liu L H. The distribution and formation mechanism of the fluorine in shallow groundwater of Huaibei plain in Anhui Province. Xi’an: International Symposium on Water Resource and Environmental Protection (ISWREP), 2011

[3] Sun L H, Gui H R. Chemistry of groundwater from two aquifers in Liuyi coal mine, northern Anhui Province, China: a comparative study. Applied Mechanics and Materials, 2012, 212–213: 362–365

[4] MOH. SAC. Standards for Drinking Water Quality. Ministry of Health, Standardization Administration of the People’s Republic of China. Beijing: Ministry of Health, Standard Administration of China, 2006

[5] Mohapatra M, Anand S, Mishra B K, Giles D E, Singh P. Review of fluoride removal from drinking water. Journal of Environmental Management, 2009, 91(1): 67–77

[6] Li Z J, Deng S B, Zhang X Y, Zhou W, Huang J, Yu G. Removal of fluoride from water using titanium-based adsorbents. Frontiers of Environmental Science & Engineering in China, 2010, 4(4): 414–420

[7] Van der Bruggen B, Vandecasteele C. Removal of pollutants from surface water and groundwater by nanofiltration: overview of possible applications in the drinking water industry. Environmental Pollution, 2003, 122(3): 435–445

[8] Banasiak L J, Kruttschnitt T W, Schaefer A I. Desalination using electrodialysis as a function of voltage and salt concentration. Desalination, 2007, 205(1–3): 38–46

[9] Greenlee L F, Lawler D F, Freeman B D, Marrot B, Moulin P. Reverse osmosis desalination: water sources, technology, and today’s challenges. Water Research, 2009, 43(9): 2317–2348

[10] Kosutic K, Furac L, Sipos L, Kunst B. Removal of arsenic and pesticides from drinking water by nanofiltration membranes. Separation and Purification Technology, 2005, 42(2): 137–144

[11] Wang X W, Liu W J, Li D S, Ma W F. Arsenic (V) removal from groundwater by GE-HL nanofiltration membrane: effects of arsenic concentration, pH, and co-existing ions. Frontiers of Environmental Science & Engineering in China, 2009, 3(4): 428–433

[12] Lee K P, Arnot T C, Mattia D. A review of reverse osmosis membrane materials for desalination–Development to date and future potential. Journal of Membrane Science, 2011, 370(1–2): 1–22

[13] Hilal N, Al-Zoubi H, Darwish N A, Mohammad A W, Abu Arabi M. A comprehensive review of nanofiltration membranes: treatment, pretreatment, modelling, and atomic force microscopy. Desalination, 2004, 170(3): 281–308

[14] WHO. Guidelines for Drinking-water Quality.4th edition. Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization, 2011

[15] Hoek E M V, Elimelech M. Cake-enhanced concentration polarization: a new fouling mechanism for salt-rejecting membranes. Environmental Science & Technology, 2003, 37(24): 5581–5588

[16] Chong T H, Wong F S, Fane A G. Enhanced concentration polarization by unstirred fouling layers in reverse osmosis: detection by sodium chloride tracer response technique. Journal of Membrane Science, 2007, 287(2): 198–210

[17] Brehant A, Bonnelye V, Perez M. Comparison of MF/UF pretreatment with conventional filtration prior to RO membranes for surface seawater desalination. Desalination, 2002, 144(1–3): 353–360

[18] Fritzmann C, Löwenberg J, Wintgens T, Melin T. State-of-the-art of reverse osmosis desalination. Desalination, 2007, 216(1–3): 1–76

[19] Bowen W R, Welfoot J S. Modelling the performance of membrane nanofiltration-critical assessment and model development. Chemical Engineering Science, 2002, 57(7): 1121–1137

[20] Bowen W R, Mohammad A W, Hilal N. Characterisation of nanofiltration membranes for predictive purposes—Use of salts, uncharged solutes and atomic force microscopy. Journal of Membrane Science, 1997, 126(1): 91–105

[21] Buffle J, Zhang Z, Startchev K. Metal flux and dynamic speciation at (bio)interfaces. Part I: Critical evaluation and compilation of physicochemical parameters for complexes with simple ligands and fulvic/humic substances. Environmental Science & Technology, 2007, 41(22): 7609–7620

[22] Bandini S, Vezzani D. Nanofiltration modeling: the role of dielectric exclusion in membrane characterization. Chemical Engineering Science, 2003, 58(15): 3303–3326

RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS

Higher Education Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg