Experimental investigation of the performance of a seawater Reverse Osmosis spiral wound membrane under variable feed water temperature
Desalination is a process to produce fresh water for human consumption, industrial and agricultural purposes, which is increasing worldwide due to climate change. Reverse Osmosis (RO) is today the most utilized method for desalting seawater. Since 2000, RO plants have increased their capacity accoun...
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Elsevier
2025-04-01
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| Series: | Desalination and Water Treatment |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1944398625001730 |
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| author | Jorge Camacho-Espino Evangelos Dimitriou George Papadakis G. Nicolás Marichal Plasencia |
| author_facet | Jorge Camacho-Espino Evangelos Dimitriou George Papadakis G. Nicolás Marichal Plasencia |
| author_sort | Jorge Camacho-Espino |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Desalination is a process to produce fresh water for human consumption, industrial and agricultural purposes, which is increasing worldwide due to climate change. Reverse Osmosis (RO) is today the most utilized method for desalting seawater. Since 2000, RO plants have increased their capacity accounting nowadays approximately 70 % of the total desalination systems. Several parameters influence the performance of RO desalination. Feed water temperature (seawater temperature varies from −2–36 °C) and salt concentration are key parameters for the RO process performance and efficiency. This research presents the response of a seawater RO spiral wound membrane to the variation of the feed water temperature from 5 to 45 ºC. Several experiments were carried out in a small-scale seawater reverse osmosis desalination unit with a capacity of 150 L/h installed at the Agricultural University of Athens. The behaviour of different variables of interest in the desalination process was studied, such as membrane inlet pressure, permeate flow rate, membrane flux, salt rejection, permeate conductivity, power consumption and Specific Energy Consumption (SEC). The results indicated a significant decrease in SEC from 10.5 to 6.7 kWh/m3 as the temperature increased from 5 to 18 ºC. However, in the range between 18 and 45 ºC, SEC varied only between 6 and 6.5 kWh/m3, while the minimum SEC was observed between 28 and 31 ºC. Additionally, membrane flux increased considerably with temperature ranging from 5 to 20 ºC, from about 15.7 to about 17.1 L/m2 h, respectively. In the range of 20–45 ºC, it increased at a lower rate and reached a maximum value of approximately 17.5 L/m2 h. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-b9e2d88b4af24775b3e29d391f331a9f |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 1944-3986 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-04-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Desalination and Water Treatment |
| spelling | doaj-art-b9e2d88b4af24775b3e29d391f331a9f2025-08-20T02:32:04ZengElsevierDesalination and Water Treatment1944-39862025-04-0132210115710.1016/j.dwt.2025.101157Experimental investigation of the performance of a seawater Reverse Osmosis spiral wound membrane under variable feed water temperatureJorge Camacho-Espino0Evangelos Dimitriou1George Papadakis2G. Nicolás Marichal Plasencia3Higher Polytechnic School of Engineering (EPSI), Universidad de La Laguna (ULL), Avda. Francisco Larroche s/n, Santa Cruz de Tenerife 38071, SpainDepartment of Natural Resources & Agricultural Engineering, Agricultural University of Athens, Lera Odos 75, Athens 11855, GreeceDepartment of Natural Resources & Agricultural Engineering, Agricultural University of Athens, Lera Odos 75, Athens 11855, GreeceHigher Polytechnic School of Engineering (EPSI), Universidad de La Laguna (ULL), Avda. Francisco Larroche s/n, Santa Cruz de Tenerife 38071, Spain; Corresponding author.Desalination is a process to produce fresh water for human consumption, industrial and agricultural purposes, which is increasing worldwide due to climate change. Reverse Osmosis (RO) is today the most utilized method for desalting seawater. Since 2000, RO plants have increased their capacity accounting nowadays approximately 70 % of the total desalination systems. Several parameters influence the performance of RO desalination. Feed water temperature (seawater temperature varies from −2–36 °C) and salt concentration are key parameters for the RO process performance and efficiency. This research presents the response of a seawater RO spiral wound membrane to the variation of the feed water temperature from 5 to 45 ºC. Several experiments were carried out in a small-scale seawater reverse osmosis desalination unit with a capacity of 150 L/h installed at the Agricultural University of Athens. The behaviour of different variables of interest in the desalination process was studied, such as membrane inlet pressure, permeate flow rate, membrane flux, salt rejection, permeate conductivity, power consumption and Specific Energy Consumption (SEC). The results indicated a significant decrease in SEC from 10.5 to 6.7 kWh/m3 as the temperature increased from 5 to 18 ºC. However, in the range between 18 and 45 ºC, SEC varied only between 6 and 6.5 kWh/m3, while the minimum SEC was observed between 28 and 31 ºC. Additionally, membrane flux increased considerably with temperature ranging from 5 to 20 ºC, from about 15.7 to about 17.1 L/m2 h, respectively. In the range of 20–45 ºC, it increased at a lower rate and reached a maximum value of approximately 17.5 L/m2 h.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1944398625001730DesalinationSeawater Reverse OsmosisFeed water temperatureSpiral wound membraneSpecific energy consumptionMembrane flux |
| spellingShingle | Jorge Camacho-Espino Evangelos Dimitriou George Papadakis G. Nicolás Marichal Plasencia Experimental investigation of the performance of a seawater Reverse Osmosis spiral wound membrane under variable feed water temperature Desalination and Water Treatment Desalination Seawater Reverse Osmosis Feed water temperature Spiral wound membrane Specific energy consumption Membrane flux |
| title | Experimental investigation of the performance of a seawater Reverse Osmosis spiral wound membrane under variable feed water temperature |
| title_full | Experimental investigation of the performance of a seawater Reverse Osmosis spiral wound membrane under variable feed water temperature |
| title_fullStr | Experimental investigation of the performance of a seawater Reverse Osmosis spiral wound membrane under variable feed water temperature |
| title_full_unstemmed | Experimental investigation of the performance of a seawater Reverse Osmosis spiral wound membrane under variable feed water temperature |
| title_short | Experimental investigation of the performance of a seawater Reverse Osmosis spiral wound membrane under variable feed water temperature |
| title_sort | experimental investigation of the performance of a seawater reverse osmosis spiral wound membrane under variable feed water temperature |
| topic | Desalination Seawater Reverse Osmosis Feed water temperature Spiral wound membrane Specific energy consumption Membrane flux |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1944398625001730 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT jorgecamachoespino experimentalinvestigationoftheperformanceofaseawaterreverseosmosisspiralwoundmembraneundervariablefeedwatertemperature AT evangelosdimitriou experimentalinvestigationoftheperformanceofaseawaterreverseosmosisspiralwoundmembraneundervariablefeedwatertemperature AT georgepapadakis experimentalinvestigationoftheperformanceofaseawaterreverseosmosisspiralwoundmembraneundervariablefeedwatertemperature AT gnicolasmarichalplasencia experimentalinvestigationoftheperformanceofaseawaterreverseosmosisspiralwoundmembraneundervariablefeedwatertemperature |