Case History

DOW™ Ultrafiltration
Pretreatment with DOW™ Ultrafiltration Membranes Beats Challenge of High Turbidity

Site Information
Location:
JiangShu, China
Capacity:
360 m3/h
Purpose:
Pretreat feed water to RO
system
Time in Operation:
Since August 2007
Performance:
Over 99% reduction in
turbidity; SDI ≤ 3

Skid 2 at the GuanYinShan cogeneration facility, using DOW™ Ultrafiltration SFP-2860 Modules.
(Photo courtesy of Nantong GuanYinShan Environmental Protection Thermoelectricity Co. Ltd.)

Introduction The GuanYinShan cogeneration facility is located in the JiangShu province of China and
supplies heat and electricity for major industries in the city of GuanYinShan. Because of an
increase in demand for energy, the operating company (Nantong GuanYinShan
Environmental Protection Thermoelectricity Co. Ltd.) invested in a second expansion that
added a 12 MW cogeneration system, resulting in a 40 MW co-gen facility providing reliable
and stable energy for the growing community.

To produce boiler feed water, the GuanYinShan facility uses ground water that has high
turbidity, high iron concentration, and high total suspended solids, which poses a challenge
for reverse osmosis (RO) membrane operation. Pretreatment with DOW™ Ultrafiltration
modules facilitates stable RO membrane performance, resulting in product water with
average turbidity of 0.12 NTU and silt density index (SDI) less than 3.

DOW™ The SFP-2860 module is ideal for systems with capacities greater than 50 m3/h (220 gpm).
Ultrafiltration This 8-inch-diameter module offers a high effective membrane area, which contributes to a
Modules more economical membrane system design. At 60 inches long, the SFP-2860 module offers
high efficiencies over a wide range of feed water conditions.

Page 1 of 5 Trademark of The Dow Chemical Company (“Dow”) or an affiliated company of Dow
®TM Form No. 795-00016-1008
DOW™ Ultrafiltration
DOW™ Ultrafiltration DOW™ Ultrafiltration modules are made with high-strength, hollow-fiber membranes that
Modules, cont. have excellent features and benefits:
• 0.03 μm nominal pore diameter for removal of bacteria, viruses, and particulates
(including colloids) to protect downstream processes such as reverse osmosis
• Polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) polymeric hollow fibers for high strength and chemical
resistance that lead to long membrane life
• Hydrophilic PVDF fibers for easy cleaning and wettability that help maintain long-term
performance
• Outside-in flow configuration for high tolerance to feed solids that helps reduce the
need for pretreatment processes
• Unplasticized polyvinylchloride (U-PVC) housing that helps eliminate the need for
costly pressure vessels

Water Treatment Table 1 indicates the average raw water analysis. Water treatment challenges included high
Process turbidity (11.1 NTU), high iron (0.22 mg/L), and high total suspended solids (31.8 mg/L).

Table 1. Raw water analysis

Parameter Unit Value
Temperature °C 25
Turbidity NTU 11.1
pH — 7.92
Total SiO2 mg/L 11.3
NH3 mg/L 0.46
Fe mg/L 0.22
Chemical oxygen demand (COD) mg/L 7.44
Total suspended solids (TSS) mg/L 31.8

Figure 1 is a diagram of the water treatment process. Sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl) at a

dosage of 2–5 ppm is added to the feed water to oxidize Fe and control biofouling. A self-
cleaning filter (100 µm) removes particles that can damage the UF membranes, and a heater
adjusts feed water temperature to lessen the effect of temperature fluctuation on the UF and
RO system flow and pressure.

Sodium bisulfite (NaHSO3) at a dosage of 2–4 ppm is added after the UF modules to remove
residual NaOCl in the UF permeate water. Other additions include an antiscalant (4–5 ppm)
to prevent RO membrane scaling and HCl to reduce pH. A 5-μm cartridge filter is installed
upstream of the RO system as further protection against particulate fouling in the event of
maintenance or operation mishaps.

Cation and anion beds further reduce ions in the water and operate with a decarbonator to
remove excess CO2. A mixed bed polishes the RO water for boiler make-up requirements.
Ammonia (NH3) at a dosage of 1–2 ppm is added to adjust pH to the range required for boiler
make-up water supply.

Page 2 of 5 Trademark of The Dow Chemical Company (“Dow”) or an affiliated company of Dow
®TM Form No. 795-00016-1008
DOW™ Ultrafiltration
Water Treatment Figure 1. Water treatment process
Process, cont.
NaOCl NaHSO3, antiscalant, HCl

Feed Water Self Cleaning Filter Heater DOWTM Ultrafiltration Cartridge Filter

RO Unit Cation Bed Decarbonator Anion Bed Mixed Bed End User

NH3

Table 2 provides the operating parameters for the ultrafiltration, reverse osmosis, and mixed
bed unit operations. Table 3 further describes the ultrafiltration process.

Table 2. Operating parameters for unit operations

Parameter Unit UF RO Mixed Bed
Component — SFP-2860 FILMTEC™ BW30-400 —
Capacity m3/h 360 270 120
Number of skids — 3 3 —
Number of modules per skid — 40 — —
Total number of modules — 120 — —
Capacity per skid m3/h 120 90 —
Recovery % 90 — —
Flux L/m2h 52.4 — —

Table 3. Ultrafiltration operating process

Parameter Frequency Duration Chemical Consumption
Filtration — 56 min —
Air Scour Every 56 min 30 s —
Backwash Every 56 min 40 s 10-15 ppm NaOCl
Forward flush Every 56 min 60 s —
CEBa None None —
CIPb — — Alkaline: 0.05% NaOH, 0.2% NaOCl
Acid: 2% citric acid
aChemically Enhanced Backwash
bClean-in-Place

UF System Figure 2 shows the dramatic decrease in turbidity through the DOW™ Ultrafiltration
Performance membranes, with turbidity being reduced 99% from 11.1 NTU to an average of 0.12 NTU.
Minor turbidity spikes shown in the graph were caused by system maintenance. However,
none of the spikes exceeded 0.2 NTU.

Figure 3 shows the expected rise in transmembrane pressure (TMP) values between
cleanings. Off-line Clean In Place (CIP) was performed in November 2007 and in January
2008, as indicated by the sudden drop in transmembrane pressure. Other TMP spikes were
caused by system maintenance and changes in the raw water source. Implementing a CIP
effectively restores the operating TMP. The feed water iron concentration has not affected
the performance of the UF membranes, and no fouling has been observed.

Page 3 of 5 Trademark of The Dow Chemical Company (“Dow”) or an affiliated company of Dow
®TM Form No. 795-00016-1008
DOW™ Ultrafiltration
UF System Figure 2. Product water turbidity versus time.
Performance, cont.
0.2

0.18

0.16

Turbidity (NTU)
0.14

0.12

0.1

0.08

0.06

0.04

0.02

0
07/10/10
07/10/22

07/11/15
07/11/27

07/12/21
08/1/2

08/5/5
07/11/3

07/12/9

08/1/14
08/1/26
08/2/17
08/2/29
08/3/12
08/3/24
08/4/05
08/4/17

08/5/17
08/7/20
Date

Figure 3. Ultrafiltration transmembrane pressure versus

time.
0.25
CIP Skid #1
Skid #2
0.2 Skid #3
CIP
Pressure (MPa)

0.15

0.1

0.05

0
07/8/1
07/8/19
07/9/4
07/9/19
07/10/4
07/10/19
07/11/3
07/11/18
07/12/3
07/12/18
08/1/2
08/1/17
08/2/3
08/2/26
08/3/12
08/3/27
08/4/11
08/5/2
08/5/17
08/8/5

Date

Page 4 of 5 Trademark of The Dow Chemical Company (“Dow”) or an affiliated company of Dow
®TM Form No. 795-00016-1008
DOW™ Ultrafiltration
UF System The UF permeate SDI has an average value of 2.6 and meets the requirement of SDI less
Performance, cont. than 3 for optimal RO feed water. Higher SDI values shown in Figure 4 occurred as a result
of downtime and maintenance of other facility unit operations.

Figure 4. Ultrafiltration product water SDI value versus time.

5.0
4.5
4.0
3.5

SDI
3.0
2.5
2.0
1.5
1.0
07/8/5

07/8/11

07/8/17

07/8/23

07/7/29

07/9/4

07/9/10

07/9/16

07/9/22

07/9/28

07/10/4

07/10/10

07/10/16
Summary Using a ground water source with high turbidity, high iron, and high suspended solids has not
prevented GuanYinShan from producing desirable RO feed water. DOW™ Ultrafiltration
membranes have successfully treated this water without other pretreatment processes. The
UF product water has an average turbidity of 0.12 NTU and SDI less than 3. DOW™
Ultrafiltration provides an economic and reliable water treatment system for this ground water
source.

DOW™ Ultrafiltration Notice: The use of this product in and of itself does not necessarily guarantee the removal of cysts and pathogens from water.
For more information about DOW™ Effective cyst and pathogen reduction is dependent on the complete system design and on the operation and maintenance of
Ultrafiltration, call the Dow Water the system.
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Page 5 of 5 ®TM Trademark of The Dow Chemical Company (“Dow”) or an affiliated company of Dow Form No. 795-00016-1008