| Peer-Reviewed

Performances Analysis of the Reverse Osmosis Desalination Plant of Brackish Water Used for Irrigation: Case Study

Received: 7 August 2013    Accepted:     Published: 30 August 2013
Views:       Downloads:
Abstract

Desalinated brackish water is becoming an important water source for agricultural irrigation. In Brackish water desalination, pretreatment of reverse osmosis is the key step in designing the plants to avoid membrane fouling and scaling. It is enormously important to carry out a study designed at ensuring the optimization of the pretreatment system for brackish desalination plant in order to optimize the quality of the water fed through the reverse osmosis membranes, to guarantee the highest performance and to minimize the number of shutdowns for chemical cleaning. In this paper, performance evaluation carried out for a brackish water reverse osmosis plant for agricultural application, located in Dokkala Region in Morocco. This plant showed poor performances after few months of operating and frequent shutdown. The operating pressure increased significantly and the permeate conductivity decreased surprisingly. To identify the causes for the poor performance, different investigations were carried out. Thus, the pretreatment scheme was thoroughly reviewed to find out the causes of anomalies. The problem was resolved by removing chlorination and sodium bisulfate steps from the pretreatment.

Published in American Journal of Applied Chemistry (Volume 1, Issue 3)
DOI 10.11648/j.ajac.20130103.12
Page(s) 43-48
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Reverse Osmosis, Desalination, Agriculture, Performances, Chemical Pretreatment, Cost

References
[1] A. Ben-Gal, U. Yermiyahu, S. Cohen, Fertilization and blending alternatives for irrigation with desalinated water, J. Environ. Qual. 38 (2009) 529–536.
[2] L.F. Greenlee, D.F. Lawler, B.D. Freeman, B. Marrot, P. Moulin, Reverse osmosis desalination: water sources, technology, and today's challenges, Water Res. 43 (4) (2009) 2317–2348.
[3] J.M. Beltran, S. Koo-Oshima, FAO expert consultation on water desalination for agricultural applications, Rome (Italy), FAO Land and Water Discussion Paper, no.5, 2006, 60 pp.
[4] G.R. Lashkaripour, M. Zivdar, Desalination of brackish groundwater in Zahedan city in Iran, Desalination 177 (1-3) (2005) 1–5.
[5] P. Glueckstern, M. Priel, E. Kotzer, Blending brackish water with desalted seawater as an alternative to brackish water desalination, Desalination 178 (1-3) (2005) 227–232.
[6] Y. Zhou, R.S.J. Tol, Evaluating the costs of desalination and water transport, Water Resour. Res. 41 (3) (2005) 3003/1–3003/10.
[7] A. Ghermandi, R. Messalem, Solar-driven desalination with reverse osmosis: the state of the art, Desalination Water Treat. 7 (2009) 285–296.
[8] Z. Shimron, Economics of brackish and desalination water reuse for irrigation, Desalination 98 (1–3) (1994) 471–478
[9] UNEP 2002, Vital Water Graphics World Resources 2000-01,People and Ecosystems. The Fraying Web of Life, WorldResources Institute (ERI), Washington DC, 2000.
[10] A. Saadi, N. Ouazzani, Perspectives of desalination of brackish water for valorization in arid regions of Morocco. Desalination 165 (2004) 81)
[11] N. Prihasto, Q. Liu, S. Kim, Pre-treatment strategies for seawater desalination by reverse osmosis system. Desalination 249 (2009) 308-316.
[12] S. El malki, R.El Habbani, M. Tahaikt, M.Zeraouli and A. Elmidaoui, The desalination of salt water destine to irrigation by electrodialysis and its effects on the germination, growth and seed yield of wheat (Triticum durum Desf. Var. Karim). African Journal of Agricultural Research Vol.2. 041-046 (2007).
[13] A. Elmidaoui, Desalination and wastewater reuse, resources to be considered, Nato Security through Science Series, E: Human and Societal Dynamics, 12, IOS Press, 2006, pp. 185–187
[14] F. Elazhar, N. El Harrak, A. Zdeg, M.El Amrani, M.Taky, A. Elmidaoui., Technical and economical comparison of the nanofiltration and reverse osmosis membranes in the brackish water desalination, Chemical technology An Indian Journal 7(2012), pp 29-33.
[15] Hyun-Je Oh, Tae-Mun Hwang, Sangho Lee, A simplified simulation model of RO systems for seawater desalination. Desalination 238 (2009) 128–139.
[16] B. Nigel, G. Russell, J. Taylor , Z. Xie , Y. Gozukara , A. Clements, A feasibility study of municipal wastewater desalination using electrodialysis reversal to provide recycled water for horticultural irrigation. Desalination 317 (2013) 77–83.
[17] D. Soliz, E. P. Glenn, R. Seaman, M. Yoklic, S. G. Nelson, P. Brown, Water consumption, irrigation efficiency and nutritional value ofAtriplex lentiformis grown on reverse osmosis brine in a desert irrigation district. Journal of Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment 140, (2011) 473–483.
[18] L. Shaffer, N.Y. Yip, J. Gilron, M. Elimelech, Seawater desalination for agriculture by integrated forward and reverse osmosis: Improved product water quality for potentially less energy, Journal of Membrane Science 415–416 (2012).
[19] S.M. Mrayed, P. Sanciolob, L. Zou, G. Leslie An alternative membrane treatment process to produce low-salt and high-nutrient recycled water suitable for irrigation purposes. Desalination 274 (2011)144–149
[20] Y.A. Le Gouellec, M. Elimelech, Calcium sulfate (gypsum) scaling in nanofiltration of agricultural drainage water Journal of Membrane Science 205 (2002) 279–291
[21] A. Munoz Elguera, S. O. Pérez Bàez. Development of the most adequate pre-treatment for high capacity seawater desalination plants with open intake. Desalination 184 (2005) 173–183.
[22] L. Birnhack, N. Voutchkov, O. Lahav. Desalination, Volume 273, Issue 1, 1 June 2011, Pages 6-22. Fundamental chemistry and engineering aspects of post-treatment processes for desalinated water—A review.
[23] F. Elazhar, M.Tahaikt, A.Achatei, F. Elmidaoui, M.Taky, F. El hannouni,I. Laaziz, S.Jariri, M. El Amrani, A.Elmidaoui. Economical evaluation of the fluoride removal by nanofiltration. Desalination 249 (2009) 154-157.
[24] S.A. Avlonitis, Operational water cost and productivity improvements for small-size RO desalination plants. Desalination, 142 (2002) 295–304.
[25] Young M. Kim , Seung J. Kim , Yong S. Kim , Sangho Lee, In S. Kim,Joon Ha Kim. Overview of systems engineering approaches for a large-scale seawater desalination plant with a reverse osmosis network. Desalination 238 (2009) 312–332.
Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Nada. El Harrak, Fatima. Elazhar, Abdel ali. Zdeg, Nourdine. Zouhri, Maryem. Elazhar, et al. (2013). Performances Analysis of the Reverse Osmosis Desalination Plant of Brackish Water Used for Irrigation: Case Study. American Journal of Applied Chemistry, 1(3), 43-48. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajac.20130103.12

    Copy | Download

    ACS Style

    Nada. El Harrak; Fatima. Elazhar; Abdel ali. Zdeg; Nourdine. Zouhri; Maryem. Elazhar, et al. Performances Analysis of the Reverse Osmosis Desalination Plant of Brackish Water Used for Irrigation: Case Study. Am. J. Appl. Chem. 2013, 1(3), 43-48. doi: 10.11648/j.ajac.20130103.12

    Copy | Download

    AMA Style

    Nada. El Harrak, Fatima. Elazhar, Abdel ali. Zdeg, Nourdine. Zouhri, Maryem. Elazhar, et al. Performances Analysis of the Reverse Osmosis Desalination Plant of Brackish Water Used for Irrigation: Case Study. Am J Appl Chem. 2013;1(3):43-48. doi: 10.11648/j.ajac.20130103.12

    Copy | Download

  • @article{10.11648/j.ajac.20130103.12,
      author = {Nada. El Harrak and Fatima. Elazhar and Abdel ali. Zdeg and Nourdine. Zouhri and Maryem. Elazhar and Azzeddine. Elmidaoui.},
      title = {Performances Analysis of the Reverse Osmosis Desalination Plant of Brackish Water Used for Irrigation: Case Study},
      journal = {American Journal of Applied Chemistry},
      volume = {1},
      number = {3},
      pages = {43-48},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ajac.20130103.12},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajac.20130103.12},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajac.20130103.12},
      abstract = {Desalinated brackish water is becoming an important water source for agricultural irrigation. In Brackish water desalination, pretreatment of reverse osmosis is the key step in designing the plants to avoid membrane fouling and scaling. It is enormously important to carry out a study designed at ensuring the optimization of the pretreatment system for brackish desalination plant in order to optimize the quality of the water fed through the reverse osmosis membranes, to guarantee the highest performance and to minimize the number of shutdowns for chemical cleaning. In this paper, performance evaluation carried out for a brackish water reverse osmosis plant for agricultural application, located in Dokkala Region in Morocco. This plant showed poor performances after few months of operating and frequent shutdown. The operating pressure increased significantly and the permeate conductivity decreased surprisingly. To identify the causes for the poor performance, different investigations were carried out. Thus, the pretreatment scheme was thoroughly reviewed to find out the causes of anomalies. The problem was resolved by removing chlorination and sodium bisulfate steps from the pretreatment.},
     year = {2013}
    }
    

    Copy | Download

  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Performances Analysis of the Reverse Osmosis Desalination Plant of Brackish Water Used for Irrigation: Case Study
    AU  - Nada. El Harrak
    AU  - Fatima. Elazhar
    AU  - Abdel ali. Zdeg
    AU  - Nourdine. Zouhri
    AU  - Maryem. Elazhar
    AU  - Azzeddine. Elmidaoui.
    Y1  - 2013/08/30
    PY  - 2013
    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajac.20130103.12
    DO  - 10.11648/j.ajac.20130103.12
    T2  - American Journal of Applied Chemistry
    JF  - American Journal of Applied Chemistry
    JO  - American Journal of Applied Chemistry
    SP  - 43
    EP  - 48
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2330-8745
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajac.20130103.12
    AB  - Desalinated brackish water is becoming an important water source for agricultural irrigation. In Brackish water desalination, pretreatment of reverse osmosis is the key step in designing the plants to avoid membrane fouling and scaling. It is enormously important to carry out a study designed at ensuring the optimization of the pretreatment system for brackish desalination plant in order to optimize the quality of the water fed through the reverse osmosis membranes, to guarantee the highest performance and to minimize the number of shutdowns for chemical cleaning. In this paper, performance evaluation carried out for a brackish water reverse osmosis plant for agricultural application, located in Dokkala Region in Morocco. This plant showed poor performances after few months of operating and frequent shutdown. The operating pressure increased significantly and the permeate conductivity decreased surprisingly. To identify the causes for the poor performance, different investigations were carried out. Thus, the pretreatment scheme was thoroughly reviewed to find out the causes of anomalies. The problem was resolved by removing chlorination and sodium bisulfate steps from the pretreatment.
    VL  - 1
    IS  - 3
    ER  - 

    Copy | Download

Author Information
  • Laboratory of Separation Processes, Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Sciences, Ibn Tofail University, Kenitra, Morocco

  • Laboratory of Separation Processes, Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Sciences, Ibn Tofail University, Kenitra, Morocco

  • Laboratory of Separation Processes, Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Sciences, Ibn Tofail University, Kenitra, Morocco

  • Laboratory of Separation Processes, Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Sciences, Ibn Tofail University, Kenitra, Morocco

  • Laboratory of Separation Processes, Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Sciences, Ibn Tofail University, Kenitra, Morocco

  • Laboratory of Separation Processes, Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Sciences, Ibn Tofail University, Kenitra, Morocco

  • Sections