Water
Advanced Reverse Osmosis and Nanofiltration Technologies
An advanced programme in reverse osmosis and nanofiltration technologies and their application in desalination and water treatment: membrane science, performance monitoring and data normalisation, fouling and scaling control, chemical cleaning, nanofiltration applications, and recent technologies that raise recovery and reduce energy use.
Overview
About the programme
Duration
5 days
Training hours
25 hours
Delivery
Training hall · Virtual · At your premises
Language
Arabic or English
Objectives
Training outcomes
- Understand how water and salts are transported through membranes, and the structure of thin-film composite membranes and spiral-wound elements.
- Normalise operating data and interpret trends in flow, salt passage and differential pressure.
- Diagnose types of fouling and scaling and prevent them through pretreatment and antiscalants.
- Plan chemical cleaning, select cleaning solutions and evaluate how effective cleaning has been.
- Identify nanofiltration applications in softening and in removing sulfate and organic matter.
- Evaluate recent technologies: closed-circuit reverse osmosis, hybrid systems, and high-recovery and brine minimisation systems.
Content
What the programme covers
Day 1: membrane science
- Solution-diffusion transport, osmotic pressure and concentration polarisation.
- Types of membrane: seawater and brackish water reverse osmosis, nanofiltration, low-energy and high-rejection membranes, and the sensitivity of polyamide membranes to chlorine.
Day 2: performance monitoring
- The operating data needed and how to record it, and normalising flow, salt passage and differential pressure according to ASTM D4516.
- Reading trends and deciding when to clean, membrane integrity tests, and locating a faulty vessel or element.
Day 3: fouling and scaling
- Types of fouling: particulate, colloidal, organic and biological, and the SDI according to ASTM D4189.
- Scaling: calcium carbonate, calcium and barium sulfate, and silica; the Langelier index and saturation calculations; and selecting antiscalants and their doses.
Day 4: chemical cleaning and membrane autopsy
- Clean-in-place (CIP): low-pH and high-pH solutions, temperature and contact time, and evaluating performance recovery.
- Membrane autopsy and what it reveals, and preserving membranes during shutdowns.
Day 5: nanofiltration and recent technologies
- Nanofiltration applications: softening, sulfate removal from injection water, removal of colour and organic matter, and seawater pretreatment.
- Recent technologies: closed-circuit reverse osmosis, hybrid nanofiltration and reverse osmosis systems, and high-recovery and brine minimisation systems.
- A case study on real operating data, followed by the assessment.
Who it is for
Target audience
Process and operations engineers and chemists in desalination plants and industrial water treatment plants that use membranes, and supervisors of reverse osmosis systems.
Method
Delivery method
Lectures and exercises on real operating data: data normalisation, fouling diagnosis and cleaning planning. Operating data from one of the organisation’s systems can be used if it is shared with the centre before the programme. In Arabic or English.
Questions
FAQ
Can our own system’s operating data be analysed during the programme?
Yes. If the organisation shares its operating data and feed water analyses with the centre before the programme, they are used in the normalisation and diagnosis exercises.
Do participants need prior experience?
Yes. It is an advanced programme that assumes knowledge of, or work on, reverse osmosis systems. Those who need the basics of plant design can take Desalination Plant Design.
A programme tailored to your organisation
The duration and topics of the programme are adjusted to the organisation's needs, and it is delivered at its site, in a training hall arranged by the Center, or virtually.