Comparison Between Nanofilters and Reverse Osmosis Membrane In Desalination Iraqi Surface Water

Abstract

Nanofiltration (NF) has received increased attention as a possible treatmentprocess providing high rejection of solutes and high water flux rate. Using NF as adesalination process for Iraqi surface water is considered in this research. A smallsystem with one membrane of 4 inch diameter and 1 meter long was used toevaluate the performance of NF membrane for the desalination of Tigris Riverwater in Baghdad, and compare it with a reverse osmosis (RO) membrane. Theresults showed that one could get double the permeate flow rate and spend about20% less electric power when using NF membranes instead of RO membranes.Permeated water TDS values for NF membrane are low enough to allow for furtheradjustment for drinking water quality. NF rejection capacity for monovalent ions islower than that of the divalent ions, and in general the salt rejection capacity isabove 88%.