ISSN: 0970-020 X

ORIENTAL JOURNAL OF CHEMISTRY CODEN: OJCHEG

An International Open Access, Peer Reviewed Research Journal
2020, Vol. 36, No.(6):
Pg. 1243-1247
www.orientjchem.org

Novel Integrated Ultrafiltration and Reverse Osmosis System

in High Quality Drinking water Production
VINOD KUMAR S2* and R BASKARAN1

Research Scholar, Sathyabama Institute of science and Technology, Chennai,Tamilnadu, India,

2

1
Department of Chemical Engineering, St.Joseph’s College of Engineering, Chennai, Tamilnadu, India.
*Corresponding author E-mail: [email protected]

http://dx.doi.org/10.13005/ojc/360634

(Received: November 16, 2020; Accepted: December 17, 2020)

ABSTRACT

Modernization in water technology plays a major role in ensuring a clean, safe, and feasible
supply of drinking water. Enhancing performance in terms of price and quality, flow ability of the plant,
sustainable development; integrated membrane processes have been developed. The most crucial
issues found in RO applications such as concentration polarization and membranes fouling are reduced
by using this integration of membranes. Conventional reverse osmosis filtration has sand and coke
filters as pre filters. In this work these pre filters have been replaced by ultra-filtration which ensures
undoubtedly the best quality of water despite the quality of feed with low power consumption and
chemicals. These integrated systems are the better thing for complete elimination of microorganism and
water contaminants in their category of selection. The present work also contributes on water quality
analysis for brackish water using both the above desalination membrane technology. This integrated
system can be remotely monitored and self-adapted model-based control.

Keywords: Reverse osmosis, Ultra filtration, Desalination membrane technology,

Membrane fouling, Integrated system, Pre filters.
INTRODUCTION process. Thus the demand for the clean water is
magnificently expanded more and made the current
The scarcity of potable water poses a big scenario scarce. As a result, water consumption
problem where freshwater is becoming very scarce –related deaths in the earth are currently a major
and expensive.1 One of the major international health possible cause of mortality. It is more alarming issue
issues in today’s scenario is clean drinking water. in this existing situation consuming polluted water
Nearly 25 percent of global world has no access and death rate due to water contamination3.
for fresh water2. All the parts of world found to have
abundant fresh water and the main issue is all these One of the development in which required
waters are polluted either directly or indirectly by membrane purifying water that uses the reverse
natural sources or manmade activity. Revolution in osmosis membrane is progressively transferred via
modernization and development in industries and the solvent (typically water) is reverse osmosis4.
their machinery operation need clean water for their Pressure act as a hub for resolving water hydrostatic
This is an Open Access article licensed under a Creative Commons license: Attribution 4.0 International (CC- BY).
Published by Oriental Scientific Publishing Company © 2018
 KUMAR S, BASKARAN., Orient. J. Chem., Vol. 36(6), 1243-1247 (2020) 1244

gradient. Integrated membrane module may be MATERIALS AND METHODS

severely affected by RO Membrane pore size,
concentration factors, membrane roughness, Collection of Samples: The water sample
chemical stability and other factors, such as fouling, from different parts of Chennai were collected and
scaling and premature membrane deteriorartion. classified based on TDS of water sample.
This can result in reduced of flux, lesser rejection
Physico-chemical Analysis
rate higher pressure drops, shorter membrane life
The collected water samples were tested
and high operating costs. Ultrafiltration (UF) is tested
by using physical and chemical analysis method.
to be competitive compared to standard treatments. The physical analysis includes the determination
UF is used to supplement the approval process, of Total suspended solids, Total dissolved solids,
i.e; co-precipitation, sedimentation and filtration, in PH, conductivity, salinity, turbidity and the chemical
standard desalination plants and can be described analysis are shown below:
as the clarification and disinfection of the membrane
activity. UF membranes are normally permeable and Estimation of Suspended Solids (Non-Filterable
all impurities microbes, particularly macromolecules, Solids)
such as microorganisms are refused. Compared to The Cauldron is washed with a filter
other traditional clarification and disinfection (post paper that is ignited in the oven at a watch glass
(W1).Then the sample weighs 25 mL and via the
chlorination) methods, the primary characteristics
cauldron, filtered. The dried crucible is kept at 103oC
of low pressure UF membrane processes are the
for 24 h, allowed to cool in the desiccators and
necessity of negligible chemicals, girth filtration
weighed (W2).The value of the suspended solids
as opposed to media depth filtration, strong and is calculated as follows:
constant consistency of treated water in terms of
particle and microorganism reduction regardless
of water quality process and plate filtration. Source
quality of water greatly impacts UF membrane Where : W1 = Weight of empty cauldron along with
performance. In an external flow configuration with filter paper in mg
a relatively modest pore diameter, ultra filtration W2 = Weight of the cauldron in addition with
PVDF flat sheet membrane make it a great choice to filter paper after drying in mg
safeguard all downstream such as reverse osmosis. V = Volume of the sample taken in mL.
With an industry leading ultra filtration membrane
Estimation of Total dissolved solids
region of low energy and chemical utilization, the Total dissolved solid was evaluated by
modules retain the optimum showing, accurately simple method based on evaporating the water
reducing the amount of configuration for the design. samples to dryness. The 50 mL of given sample
The pore size range between 0.01 to 0.1 µm, the were taken in evaporating dish by heating for drying
pore sizes of ultra filtration membrane pore size fall at 180oC to a constant mass for 1 to 2 hours. Total
between that of nanofiltration and microfiltration. The dissolved solids were calculated as follows:
main advantage of UF is that specified given trans-
membrane pressure, the membrane flux is much
greater for UF than RO. The energy required is less
Estimation of pH of the water sample
for specified flow rate of UF membrane than to RO
The pH of the sample is measured by the
membrane of same surface area. For low pressure
theory of ionization of water due to formation of
application, UF has made us apractical alternative.
hydrogen ion (H+) and hydroxyl ion (OH-). The pH
The success of membrane lies in the following pre- scale is used to calculate the pH of the medium, i.e.
treatment processes(1) Application areas influence the acidity or alkalinity of the medium. The pH meter is
desalination of seawater, treatment of wastewater, set to level surface. The electrode calibration was done
separation in the biotechnology and food industries using the suitable buffer solution. After calibration,
and chemical production. the pH meter, the electrode is washed by dipping
 KUMAR S, BASKARAN., Orient. J. Chem., Vol. 36(6), 1243-1247 (2020) 1245

into deionised water to remove any adhering buffer. in Table 1.The collected water samples were tested
The sample solution is collected and the electrode is by using chemical analysis method. The chemical
immersed in it and its reading is noted. Once again pH analysis values for raw water samples are shown
of the sample is measured by washing the electrode in Table 2.
by dipping it in distilled water. Table 1: Physical Analysis of water

EXPERIMENTAL Parameter Raw water samples

at room temperature

The sample water treatment process in this Samples 1 2 3

system includes following phases. During the first Total dissolved solids ppm 500 1000 1500
phase, the sample ground water passes through a Total suspended solids 3 4 8
sediment filter. All of the pollutants and retained solid pH value at 25OC 6.81 6.71 7.23
Conductivity 1250 1460 1700
are removed in this first stage. Then water sample
Salinity ppm 450 730 810
send to UF membrane chamber where the removal Odour NIL NIL NIL
of macromolecules of the given treated water sample. Turbidity (NTU)A 1 1 1
Then this sample is sent to main chamber where
Table 2: Chemical Analysis of water
the water is passed through a semi permeable filter
at pressure of 30-40psi thus the RO purification Parameter Raw Water Samples
process is done. The suspended impurities including at Room Temperature
lead, pesticides, sulphates and nitrates, passes with
a very narrow pore diameter of 0.01micron.The final Samples 1 2 3
Total Hardness as CaCo3 320 421 541
chamber process uses UV lamp pf 11 watts to put the
Calcium Hardness as CaCO3 251 327 421
water UV filtration. The water is made of free of germs Chlorides as Cl 250 451 1100
and safe for drinking by removing all microorganism. Sulfates as SO4 280 320 540
The advantage of ultraviolet rays, extremely deadly Total Iron as Fe 0.31 0.42 0.48
to microorganism, is that attack them completely so Calcium as Ca 104 202 284
Magnesium as Mg 21 45 49
that they cannot replicate. This process is more unique
Manganese (mg/L) 0.1 0.12 0.15
that without addition of any chemicals, 99.9% of all Zinc 1.0 1.0 1.0
microorganisms are killed. Finally the treated water COD 3 2.4 2.1
is collected in pure water tank.
DISCUSSIONS

The ultra filtration process is the solution

separation process in which there is the variation in
pressure between two sides of the membrane as the
guiding factor, and the mechanical separation5. The
pore size of sieve is 0.01-0.1μm.6 UF may remove
particles such as colloidal particle, bacteria, virus,
macromolecule organics, etc., but it may not reduce
low molecular organics or ionic pollutants7. Based
on total dissolved solids of samples, other physical
parameters are varying. Permeate volume and
permeate flux has been given in Table 4. Individual
Fig. 1. Experimental set up (RO-UF set up) treatment with UF membrane and integration
RESULTS membrane has been given separately in Table 5.
Table 3: Specifications of Integrated portable
The collected water samples were tested UF and RO system
Specifications Ultra filtration Reverse osmosis
by using physical and chemical analysis method.
The physical analysis includes the determination of Material Hollow fiber PTFE
Flow 500litres /hr 500 litres/h
Total suspended Solids, Total dissolved solids, pH, Automation automatic Automatic
conductivity, salinity, turbidity and odour are shown Pore size 0.1 microns 0.0001 microns
 KUMAR S, BASKARAN., Orient. J. Chem., Vol. 36(6), 1243-1247 (2020) 1246

Table 4: Permeate Volume & Permeate Flux from data observation higher the Total dissolved
solids of water, higher the electrical conductivity of
Permeate Volume Permeate Flux x10-3
water sample8.The carbonate, bicarbonate and CO2
Time (min) (mL) l/m2h
1 2 3 1 2 3 concentration as a part of Total dissolved solids can
affect on the values of pH. The total dissolved solids
1 0.84 concentration is the total charged ions present in
65 80 82 0.8 0.82 the water sample (sum of cations and anions)9.The
2 0.79
conductivity increases as salinity increases because
140 142 148 0.76 0.77
3 0.76 of the conduction of electric current due to dissolved
200 210 215 0.74 0.75 salts and other inorganic chemicals. Permeate
4 0.75
volume increases with increase in time shown in
240 268 280 0.72 0.73
5 0.73 Fig. 2. Permeate flux decreases slowly with time
343 358 395 0.72 0.72 shown in Fig. 3, with the increase in the concentration.
6 0.73 In constant concentration case complete reuse of
425 480 490 0.72 0.72
7 0.74
permeate and retentate is maintained. The ultra
485 490 495 0.72 0.73 filtration membrane has remarkable role on removal
8 0.74 of iron. The water present in the iron is in the form
520 540 555 0.71 0.72
of flocs or complexes and few of iron are in Free
9 0.72
624 680 710 0.71 0.71 State. Small molecule organic contaminants are
not removed by ultra filtration10, experiments show
The parameter like pH, conductivity, salinity that ultra filtration does not have separation effect
increases with increase in Total dissolved solids on COD and Mn.
Table 5: After Treatment with Ultra filtration and Reverse osmosis

After UF treatment after Treatment with integrated

UF, RO, UV

Samples 1 2 3 1 2 3
Total Hardness as CaCo3 320 421 541 9.0 9.5 9.8
Turbidity 0.5 0.5 0.5 2 3 4
Total hardness 250 300 320 122 124 136
Sulfates as SO4 180 220 240 10 12 13
Total Iron as Fe 0.10 0.11 0.13 0.1 0.1 0.1
Calcium as Ca 100 102 184 52 56 58
Magnesium as Mg 21 45 49 10 12 14
Manganese (mg/L) 0.09 0.1 0.15 0.01 0.02 003
Zinc 0.9 1.0 1.0 1 1 1
COD 2.8 2.4 2.1 1 1 1
TDS 400 890 1260 82 88 92

Fig. 2. Permeate volume vs Time of different samples water Fig. 3. Permeate flux vs Time of different sample water
 KUMAR S, BASKARAN., Orient. J. Chem., Vol. 36(6), 1243-1247 (2020) 1247

CONCLUSION for the water treatment purifying process, with the

efficiency of low water efficiency standards, superior
This integrated system is a great choice water value, high recovery etc.The RO membrane
for virus, pathogens, dissolved particles, colloidal effectively discards pollutants and maintains a
particles and water contaminants to be highly sufficient sum of life saving elements, meeting
removable. Ultrafiltartion (UF) has been shown to norms for high quality potable water thus, the UF-RO
be efficient in treatment compared with traditional integrated combined process is best suited for the
treatment. UF is used to remove the clarification step design of direct drinking water system.
in conventional RO water treatment plant. Ultra filtrate
water is effectively free of particles, colloidal particle ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
and dissolved solids. Therefore, slotting of RO feed
channels is reduced and the RO cleaning intensity The author would like to cknowledge the
can be notably minimized with this integration Chairman of St. Joseph’s college of engineering,
method. The operating pressure decreases with Chennai, India for his professional advice and
rate of removal of most pollutants and increases comments.
with system membrane flux. The integrated system
(UF-RO combined process) observation shows that Conflicts of interest
the dual-membrane process is an excellent option The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
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