Reverse Osmosis Membrane Cleaning

Advanced Reverse Osmosis Technology

RO membrane cleaning is an important part of any reverse osmosis maintenance program. Effective cleaning usually requires some knowledge of the type of foulant and the cleaning options available.

Membrane fouling

Foulants on the membrane surface can cause flux loss (permeate flow), an increase in differential pressure, higher product water conductivity, a need for increased feed pressure to maintain output or a combination of these effects.

When to clean?

It is essential to clean membranes at an early stage of fouling. It is often difficult to clean excessively fouled membranes and irreversible damage may occur during the cleaning process. Cleaning is recommended when on or more of the following parameters change by 10 – 15% after data normalization:

• An increase in product water conductivity or salt passage.
• An increase in ?P across the plant.
• An increase in feed pressure.
• A decrease in normalized permeate flow (NPF) output or flux.

If any of the above performance parameters deteriorates by more than 30%, it may be impossible to recover plant performance by routine cleaning practices.

For further information or assistance please contact Reverse Osmosis Chemicals International on +44 (0) 161 877 2334 or e-mail info@rochemicals.com.