(11b) Specific Energy Consumption in Spiral Wound Reverse Osmosis Water Desalination

Several theorems are presented and proved analytically or numerically for specific energy consumption (SEC) in spiral-wound reverse osmosis (RO) desalination. I will first start with an ideal, thermodynamically reversible RO process and explain why its SEC is significantly lower than those observed in industrial seawater and brackish RO processes. Discussions are then made on design and operating parameters (e.g., membrane configuration, energy recovery device, fractional recovery and brine recirculation etc.) on SEC and how they can be optimized to reduce SEC. Finally, thoughts on design of energy-efficient high-recovery RO processes are presented.  

References:
[1] Li, M. Energy Consumption in Spiral Wound Seawater Reverse Osmosis at the Thermodynamic Limit, Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, 53, 3293-3299, 2014.
[2] Li, M. A Unified Model-Based Analysis and Optimization of Specific Energy Consumption in BWRO and SWRO, Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, 52, 17241-17248, 2013.