When acid is used with an A/S, the LSI value (of the reject stream) of 1.0 is acceptable (see Table 2.6) although some A/S manufacturers claim an LSI of 2.7 is acceptable when using their recommended product. A RO/NF system that uses A/S must be designed with automatic flush cycle after shutdown to prevent scaling by concentrated salts in the feed–reject channel above the membrane surface.Īntiscalants can be used alone, but are usually used with acid feeds. The effectiveness of scale inhibition is approximately 30 min. Although antiscalants are very effective in preventing carbonate and sulphate scaling of membranes, they do not prevent scaling from occurring rather they delay the formation of large crystals that form scales. 14, 33Īntiscalants are preferred to IX softening when the feed water hardness is less than 100 ppm because of cost and ease of operation. Many scale inhibitors also contain dispersants that keep the precipitates suspended in solution. Since A/S inhibit the growth of crystal, it does not grow to a size or a concentration large enough to precipitate out of the suspension. Antiscalants prevent mineral scaling by getting absorbed on the scale, forming salt crystals thereby preventing the attraction of the supersaturated salt to the crystal surfaces. In addition, chelating agents such as EDTA (tetra sodium salt of ethylene diamine tetra acetic acid) are used to control hardness (at pH > 6.0) and metallic ion deposits. The majority of scale inhibitors can be classified as threshold inhibitors. Scale inhibitors or antiscalants (A/S) are generally organic compounds containing sulphonate, phosphonate, or carboxylic acid functional groups and chelating agents such as carbon, alum, and zeolites that sequester and neutralise a particular ion which may be formed. Rajindar Singh, in Hybrid Membrane Systems for Water Purification, 2005 Antiscalant threshold treatment When a cationic-based coagulant or filtering aid is used in the pretreatment, a very viscous, sticky foulant can be produced that will increase feed pressure requirements, and it can be very difficult to clean off.Īn antiscalant that was popular in the early days of RO was sodium hexametaphosphate (SHMP), but its use has been greatly reduced with the advent of proprietary antiscalants because of a number of limitations. (ii)Īntiscalants are anionic in nature (e.g., polyacrylic acids). This foulant will increase feed pressure requirements, but typically can be cleaned using a low pH cleaning. They are susceptible to the formation of a foulant that settles on the membrane surface if there are high levels of iron. (i)Īntiscalants made of polyacrylic acid. However, they have to be used with caution. It should be duly noted that the large number of different antiscalant chemistries that have evolved have produced a wide variety of results and efficacy depending on the application and organic polymer used. Antiscalant technology for RO systems was initially derived from chemistries used in cooling water and boiler water applications.
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