Reverse osmosis seawater desalination membrane module maintains a continuous flow of salt water over the membrane drawn from reservoir

摘要

A reverse osmosis desalination process has a membrane module in which esp. a flow of salt water is maintained over the membrane under all conditions. The water flow is maintained using salt water drawn from a reservoir. Also claimed is a continually-operated reverse osmosis seawater (10) desalination assembly which receives salt water (10) from a pump (1) at an initial pressure (p1). The water is surrendered to a pressure equalization unit (2) from which it is discharged at a second pressure (p2) into a membrane (6) module (3) where desalinated water (12) is separated from concentrated salt water (13).The concentrated salt water (13) is continually fed at about p2 to the pressure equalization unit (2) and mixed with incoming sea water (10) and introduced to the module (3). A continual flow of salt water (11) is maintained over the membrane (6) using water drawn from a holding tank (20). The supplementary supply of sea water is triggered by a pressure change and associated detector.