Power plant installs integrated membrane system

Method used to produce ultra-pure water at reduced capital costs and energy use

A heat and power plant in Northeast China has announced that it has recently adopted the integrated membrane system to replace a conventional water treatment process. It has adopted Liqui-Cel Membrane Contactors to reduce operating costs and energy use, while providing superior outlet water quality, the announcement said. The Liqui-Cel Membrane Contactors supply a 1-2 ppm level of CO2 to the EDI, which improves silica removal, it claimed.

An integrated membrane system is an industrial water treatment system that combines multiple membrane-based water treatment processes into a single system.

According to the announcement, the system consists of four major membrane-based water treatment components: Ultrafiltration (UF), Single Pass Reverse Osmosis (RO), Liqui-Cel Membrane Contactors (LMC) and Electrodeionisation (EDI).

Though for many years, double-pass RO+EDI systems have been a widely used water treatment combination to produce ultra-pure water, as pressure has increased for engineers to reduce maintenance and operating costs, alternative system designs are being considered, that utilise Liqui-Cel Membrane Contactors for deaeration with RO and EDI, the announcement added.