The elements can operate up to 120 bar due to a distinct element and membrane design which allows increasing the overall efficiency of Minimal Liquid Discharge and Zero Liquid Discharge systems. The ultrahigh feed pressure results in very high solute concentrations thus helping to reduce the size of downstream conventional treatment processes or reuse water and concentrated brine directly. The FILMTEC™ seawater reverse osmosis membrane sheet guarantees excellent rejection and durability at ultra-high pressure and extreme salt concentrations. The products are ideal for the recovery of salts in process streams and concentration of waste streams in various industries. The main reason to specify the normal direction is for applying pressure to the element or specifying surface-to-surface contact. For composites, the normal direction controls which side of the element layer 1 is on.
1 is cylindrical in shape and contains an “O” ring seal 6b to prevent leakage of concentrate into the porous plate 5. To insure sufficient encapsulation of the membrane element 1 it is preferable that the product end cup 9b length be about 6 inches, and about 3 inches in the case of the feed-side end cup 9a. The two ends of the membrane element 1 are potted in the end cups 9a and 9b individually, usually starting with the product end followed by the feed end, often on the following day. During the encapsulation process the element may be placed in a pressure chamber and blanketed with nitrogen, at e.g., 50 psig, to insure a bubble and void free seal. 1 is a cut-away view illustrating the spiral wound RFP membrane element of the invention within an external cylindrical pressure housing.
The evaluation of the peak stress can help to decide if failure is likely to occur due to overload by comparison with the ultimate strength for brittle materials or by comparison of the total strain with the elongation at break for ductile materials. Did you know that the 11 direction of elements can be quite random on a surface? AWC uses an additional analytical technique that is unique in the membrane industry and allows for even more detailed and accurate analysis of membrane foulants. Superimposed Elemental Imaging ™ and Prismatic Elemental Delineation ™ visually distinguish the elemental composition of each compound on the membrane surface by providing elemental maps.
The manufacture of spiral wound membrane elements for reverse osmosis, ultrafiltration and microfiltration applications is well known in the art. Flat sheet membranes, alternately containing, between the membrane sheets, open porous fabric or plastic sheets or webs are attached to and wound about a central porous “core” tube. The open porous sheets between membranes serve primarily to transport the fluid, create turbulence (in the case of a brine spacer, etc.) and prevent the collapse of the flow channel. SUMMARY OF INVENTION A. We have now discovered a spiral wound membrane element device that can operate at high conversions (i.e. greater than 30% and up to but not limited to 90%) while maintaining turbulent or chopped laminar flow conditions.