RO Plant For Industrial Water Recycle & Reuse

The common main process scheme in water reuse includes pretreatment (such as ultrafiltration [UF]), a desalination step (reverse osmosis [RO]) and, in municipal applications, a post treatment step of advanced oxidation, such as ultraviolet/advanced oxidation (UV/AOP), is included with the goal of removing residual organic contaminants. Some industrial applications that require very low saline content in the water, such as high-pressure boiler feed water, go through a second pass of RO.

The water is usually for internal usage but in some cases facilities that are in close proximity can partner where one facility reuses the other’s reclaimed wastewater. Other facilities, reuses municipal wastewater effluent mostly for industrial clients in the petrochemical industry that surround the facility.

System Recovery

One of the key challenges to water reuse becoming more common is the need to increase the recovery of the system. This parameter describes the fraction of the water that is produced from the source water. Water reuse facilities usually operate at an RO recovery of about 75-85 percent, with an overall system recovery of about 67-77 percent. This is mostly important in cases when there is no easy access for brine discharge (i.e., no access to sea discharge), which makes brine discharge very expensive.

The main challenge to increasing the RO recovery is the water chemistry: as the RO recovery increases, the brine concentration rises and there is an increased risk of scaling due to precipitation of salts. Variable feed water quality may also cause similar issues.

Reduce water footprint, lower operating costs and improve operational sustainability

Various methods for recycling or reusing industrial water are available, depending on water quality requirements, space constraints, and budgetary considerations. Benefits can include the reduction of freshwater costs, wastewater flows, and the size of your water footprint. Operational efficiency and sustainability can also be increased along with improved production capacity due to the increase in available clean water.

Industrial Water Recycle & Reuse:

Industrial water reuse and recycling is the process by which wastewater produced from one source is treated to be reused in the same process or recycled for another. Opportunities for wastewater reuse and recycle in an industrial plant may include:

1. General wastewater recycling
2. Cooling tower blowdown
3. Boiler blowdown
4. RO reject
5. Once through cooling water
6. Ion exchange rinse waters
7. Collected rain waters