• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.33 no.6
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• pp.413-420
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• 2019

Pretreatment system of desalination process using seawater reverse osmosis(SWRO) membrane is the most critical step in order to prevent membrane fouling. One of the methods is coagulation-UF membrane process. Coagulation-UF membrane systems have been shown to be very efficient in removing turbidity and non-soluble and colloidal organics contained in the source water for SWRO pretreatment. Ferric salt coagulants are commonly applied in coagulation-UF process for pretreatment of SWRO process. But aluminum salts have not been applied in coagulation-UF pretreatment of SWRO process due to the SWRO membrane fouling by residual aluminum. This study was carried out to see the effect of residual matal salt on SWRO membrane followed by coagulation-UF pretreatment process. Experimental results showed that increased residual aluminum salts by coagulation-UF pretreatment process by using alum lead to the decreased SWRO membrane salt rejection and flux. As the salt rejection and flux of SWRO membrane decreased, the concentration of silica and residual aluminum decreased. However, when adjusting coagulation pH for coagulation-UF pretreatment process, the residual aluminum salt concentration was decreased and SWRO membrane flux was increased.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.317-324
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• 2018

SWRO-PRO hybrid desalination technology is recently getting more attention especially in large desalination markets such as USA, Middle East, Japan, Singapore, etc. because of its promising potential to recover a considerable amount of osmotic energy from brine (a high-concentration solution of salt, 60,000 - 80,000 mg/L) and also to minimize the impact of the discharged brine into a marine ecosystem. By the research and development of the core technologies of the SWRO-PRO desalination system in a national desalination research project (Global MVP) supported by Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport (MOLIT) and Korea Agency for Infrastructure Technology Advancement (KAIA), it is anticipated that around 25% of total energy consumption rate (generally 3 to $4kWh/m^3$) of the SWRO desalination can be reduced by recovering the brine's osmotic energy utilizing wastewater treatment effluent as a PRO feed solution and an isobaric pressure exchanger (PX, ERI) as a PRO energy converter. However, there are still several challenges needed to be overcome in order to ultimately commercialize the novel SWRO-PRO process. They include system optimization and integration, development of efficient PRO membrane and module, development of PRO membrane fouling control technology, development of design and operation technology for the system scaling-up, development of diverse business models, and so on. In this paper, the current status and progress of the pilot study of the newly developed SWRO-PRO hybrid desalination technology is discussed.

• Proceedings of the KAIS Fall Conference
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• 2009.12a
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• pp.1042-1045
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• 2009

역삼투식 해수담수화 (Sea Water Reverse Osmosis, SWRO) 공정에 의한 생산수는 pH가 낮고, 해수 내 존재하는 경도성분인 Ca, Mg 이온이 대부분 제거되기 때문에 상대적으로 매우 강한 부식성을 지니고 있다. 이를 음용수 및 공업용수로 이용 시 설비 및 배관계통에 심각한 부식문제를 유발할 수 있으며, 이를 방지하기 위한 처리공정과 부식성 제어 기술의 지속적인 개발이 요구되는 실정이다. SWRO 1단으로 처리 시 생산수의 전기전도도는 $150{\mu}S/cm$ 정도의 범위를 보이며, 2단 SWRO 과정을 거칠 시 전기전도도는 $100{\mu}S/cm$ 이하의 범위를 나타내는 것으로 알려져 있다. 본 연구에서는 SWRO 2단 처리수를 가정한 $20{\mu}S/cm{\sim}25{\mu}S/cm$ 범위의 전기전도도를 지닌 물을 실험 원수로 사용하여, 기존 방식제의 성분과 생산수의 특성을 고려한 효율적인 알칼리성 수처리제를 적용하고 그에 대한 부식성 제어 연구를 수행하였다. SWRO 생산수를 대상으로 부식방지기술을 개발하기 위해서는 부식제어와 관련된 수질 인자인 pH, 칼슘경도, 알칼리도의 조절과 LSI(Langelier Saturation Index)를 설정하는 것이 무엇보다도 중요하다. 본 연구에서는 해수담수화 공정의 생산수를 음용수 및 공업용수로 이용하기 위한 목표 수질을 pH 7.5~7.8, LSI 0 이상, 부가적으로 전기전도도는 $250{\mu}S/cm$ 이하로 설정하였으며, 연구목표 수질을 달성할 수 있는 부식억제제 및 알칼리성 수처리제의 적용을 통해 목표 수질에 대한 설정 근거를 마련하고자 하였다.

• Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.99-104
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• 2015

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the performance of forward osmosis (FO) system for harvesting microalgae cultivated in secondary sewage effluent. Microalgae species used in this study were chlorella sp. ADE4. The drawing agents used for forward osmosis system were seawater and concentrate of sea water reverse osmosis (SWRO) system. Chlorella sp. ADE4 cultured in secondary sewage effluent illustrated moderate efficiency in removal of total nitrogen (TN) (68%) and superior performance in total phosphorus (TP) removal (99%). Comparison of seawater and SWRO concentrate as drawing agent were made in FO membrane separation of the microalgae. The result from this study depicts that SWRO concentrate is strong drawing agent in FO membrane system providing an average dewatering rate of $4.8L/(m^2{\cdot}hr)$ compared to seawater with average dewatering of $2.9L/(m^2{\cdot}hr)$. Results obtained from this study indicated that FO system could be viable option for harvesting the microalgae for further biodiesel production. SWRO concentrate as a drawing agent could be very important finding in field of membrane technology for disposal of SWRO concentrate.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.343-350
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• 2008

Many reports have warned of insufficient water supply in most countries in future and prospected providing safe and clean water become more difficult by lack of access to sustainable drinking water resources. Several facts and figures explained the impact by natural climate change and human activity results in the water scarcity and deterioration. Among many scientific solutions, the seawater desalination using a reverse osmosis membrane, so called SWRO (Seawater Reverse Osmosis) process, has been recognized as one of the most promising alternatives because of its stability and efficiency in producing large amount of drinking water from seawater through desalination by membrane filtration. Recently, in Korea, numerous researches are conducted to develop more productive and cost effective SWRO process for its wide implementation. The objective of this paper is to review the patents concerning SWRO technologies involving the plant engineering, maintenance including pretreatment of seawater and fouling control, module design, and mechanical units development for energy saving. The patents in Korea, U.S., Japan, Europe, and PCT were intensively researched and analyzed to provide the state of the art as well as leading edge technology on SWRO. This information can hopefully suggest meaningful guidelines on future research and development.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.34-41
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• 2016

Using UF-SWRO hybrid process, pre-blending tests of seawater and brackish water were performed to investigate the effects on removal of boron and humic acid (HA). Feedwater pre-blending was set based on TDS concentration from 15,000 mg/L to 27,000 mg/L and analyzed for boron removal characteristics. Also organics rejection at same TDS concentration range was investigated by injecting HA. Boron concentration appeared to be high as TDS concentration was high ranging from 76.60% to 83.27%, but boron concentration in final produced water was increased up to 0.69 mg/L from 0.48 mg/L. In cases of HA tests at 10 mg/L, 22,500 mg/L TDS appeared to be higher removal rate of 17.59% than a very poor result of 8.43% in 27,000 mg/L. But high HA removal rate of 57.14% was obtained in produced water with 22,500 mg/L TDS containing 10 mg/L of HA and 27,000 mg/L TDS yielded lower boron removal rate of 54.49%. Meanwhile it was found that a relatively high flux and recovery rate were obtained following process when feedwater was injected with HA. It is considered that most of fouling substances were eliminated by binding between HA and $Ca^{2+}$. Thus, when desalination using UF-SWRO with respect to boron and HA, TDS concentration is determined to be advantageous as lower.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.529-536
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• 2011

In this study, we confirmed that the SWRO(Sea Water Reverse Osmosis) production water has more hard corrosiveness than the tap water by fundamental experiment. According to the result, the target of this study was aimed at developing maintenance and anti-corrosion method. In the early stages of the research, batch tests using mild steel coupons and electrochemical experiments were applied to compare the corrosiveness between SWRO production water and the tap water. After then, two corrosion control methods for SWRO production water were applied. Liquid lime($Ca(OH)_2$) and Carbon Dioxide($CO_2$) were inserted and compared with the combination of liquid lime with phosphate corrosion inhibitor and carbon dioxide. The water qualities were evaluated through LSI(Langelier Saturation Index) and proper injection ratio was deduced by the result. Since then, simulated loop system test were performed to evaluate anti-corrosion effect depending on corrosion inhibitors. Subsequently, carbon steel pipes equipped at the loop system were detached for SEM, EDX and XRD analysis to acquire quantitative and qualitative data of the major corrosion products inside the pipes. In conclusion, the controled groups with anti-corrosion techniques applied were effective by appearing 97.4% and 90.9% of improvements in both case of liquid lime and the liquid lime with a phosphate corrosion Inhibitor. furthermore, major components of scale were iron oxides, on the other hand, protective effect of film formation by calcium carbonate($CaCO_3$) could be confirmed.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.15-29
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• 2014

Reverse Osmosis (RO) desalination has gained wide and increasing acceptance around the world as a straightforward undertaking to alleviate the alarming water crisis. An enhanced monitoring of the quality of the water feeding in seawater RO (SWRO) plant through the application of an effective pretreatment option is one of the keys to the success of RO technology in desalination plants. Over the past 10 years, advances in ultrafiltration (UF) membrane technologies in application for water and wastewater treatment have prompted an impetus for using membrane pretreatment in seawater desalination plants. By integrating SWRO plant with UF pretreatment, the rate of membrane fouling can be significantly reduced and thus extend the life of RO membrane. With the growing importance and significant advances attained in UF pretreatment, this review presents an overview of UF pretreatment in SWRO plants. The advantages offered by UF as an alternative of pretreatment option are compared to the existing conventionally used technologies. The current progress made in the integration of SWRO with UF pretreatment is also highlighted. Finally, the recent advances pursued in UF technology is reviewed in order to provide an insight and hence path the way for the future development of this technology.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.42 no.3
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• pp.351-357
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• 2022

A conventional seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) and a forward osmosis (FO) and reverse osmosis (RO) hybrid process to produce 1,000 m³/d of fresh water, were designed and compared in terms of carbon emission. When FO was adapted for the osmotic dilution, the required pressure for RO decreases, and thus energy consumption decreases. The decrease in carbon emission by decreased energy consumption (up to -0.73 kgCO₂/m³ using coal as the energy source) was compared with the increase in carbon emission by the FO system (+0.16 kgCO₂/m³), which is a function of various factors such as the number of FO modules and energy consumption. The comparison revealed that the FO-RO process causes less carbon emission compared with the SWRO process when the energy sources are coal and oil. However, if energy sources with low carbon emission such as solar, wind, and nuclear energy are selected, the carbon emission of the FO-RO process becomes higher than that of the SWRO process. This implies that the type of energy source is a key factor to determine the necessity of the FO-RO process from the aspect of carbon emission.

• Journal of the Korea Society for Simulation
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.1-10
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• 2019

The Sea Water Reverse Osmosis (SWRO) plant should take into account the availability of the plant from the design stage for long-term and continuous fresh water production. As it occurs, it is necessary to establish a corrective maintenance plan and preventive maintenance plan to maintain availability. In the field of complex engineering structures such as seawater desalination plants, it is difficult to estimate the reliability or availability of the system in a mathematical way. This study develops RAM analysis framework and model, and proposes discrete event simulation model as a application sowtware specialized for seawater desalination plant. Considering the characteristics of the plant maintenance, in case of corrective maintenance, we propose a preventive maintenance policy that not only repairs or replaces a single-broken part, but also simultaneously maintains all accessible parts according to the level of overhaul. A case study was conducted to estimate the availability of the system based on the field data of the seawater desalination plant in Korea and Saudi Arabia. The result was close to the expected availability of the plant.