Reverse osmosis pretreatment techniques, fouling, and control strategies

Abstract

In recent times, many commercial-scale seawater desalination plants have been constructed in water-stressed countries, which are expected to increase in the near future to increase the availability of potable water. In spite of many developments in the desalination technologies, seawater desalination using reverse osmosis (RO) membrane is being considered as the state-of-the-art technology. However, there are also some limitations to the RO membrane desalination such as the unavoidable membrane fouling, which increase the operating cost and transmembrane pressure. Here, we review the potential way to the RO membrane fouling control strategies, which includes the role of advanced materials, surface modification and feed water pretreatment that are emphasized based on the extensive up-to-date literature. © 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.