AL-BIRK SWRO PLANT OPERATION WITH TOYOBO MEMBRANE IN TRAIN 200 INSTEAD OF DUPONT B-10 MEMBRANE 1

Lower than expected plant performance had been observed at Al-Birk SWRO plant, capacity 2270 m 3 /d, since its start-up in 1983. Initially, the plant was operated on DuPont B-10 6840 and presently is being operated on B-10 6835 and B-9 polyamide hollow fine fiber membrane in the 1st and second stages, respectively. Though the initial performance of the B-10 membrane (1983) was acceptable, but within three months of operation, due to membrane fouling, the differential pressure across membranes (Δp) exceeded its maximum limit value of 4 bar, along with a considerable drop in both salt rejection as well as plant productivity. The intensity of fouling became so alarming that it necessitated frequent membrane cleaning, cartridge filter (CF) replacement, at nearly 10 days interval, with a considerable loss in production. To overcome this fouling problem, believed to be membrane bio-fouling, one alternative approach is to operate the plant by the replacement of the B-10 membrane, which does not tolerate chlorine, with the chlorine tolerant Toyobo HB 9155 HFF cellulose triacetate (CTA) membrane. The latter membrane is characterized by its ability to repulse the organic foulants, Added advantage to this alternative selection is that DuPont no longer produces B-10 membrane. Moreover, the Toyobo membrane is the only membrane now available as replacement of B -10 membrane without system