Boron removal with UTC-series reverse osmosis filtration

Abstract

This study compared performance on boron rejection in seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) membrane filtration in a high pressure cross-flow cell. Real seawaters were sampled at the north, east and south coast of Taiwan and the intake ports of SWRO plants in Penghu and Matsu islands. Four types of flat-sheet RO membranes (SG from GE Osmonics and UTC80, UTC80A, and UTC80S from Toray Industries) were tested. Permeate flux, feed flow rate and boron concentrations at room temperature were recorded over testing time. The UTC-series membranes have better performance on both boron and sodium rejection than SG membrane at all tested pH's. Test data sets were available for the first time using SWRO membrane for boron rejection from seawaters in Taiwan. (c) 2012 Taiwan Institute of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.