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Procesos de membranas para el tratamiento de aguas residuales

Los procesos de membrana son procesos de difusin fsica de partculas en el agua.


Funcionan debido a que determinadas clases de membranas permiten el paso a travs de ellas
de partculas con unas caractersticas particulares, mientras que impiden el paso de aquellas
que no poseen esas mismas caractersticas.

Actualmente existen muy diversas clases de membranas, que permiten el paso de unos
solutos u otros en funcin de su naturaleza, carga inica o tamao. Los principales son:

Electrodilisis
Electrodilisis reversible
smosis inversa

ELECTRODILISIS

Consiste en la eliminacin de iones cargados elctricamente y que se encuentran disueltos en


el agua. Para llevar a cabo esta eliminacin se introduce en el agua alimento un par de
electrodos de distinta carga elctrica de manera que los iones disueltos sern atrados por los
electrodos de distinto signo al suyo propio. Por este procedimiento se logra desplazar los
iones de un lugar a otro de la disolucin.

Es fundamental el empleo de membranas selectivas aninicas y catinicas alternativamente


para que el agua alimento vaya perdiendo iones negativos y positivos tras su paso por la zona
de separacin.

Lo interesante es colocar las membranas alternativamente de tal modo que en unos canales
se concentren los solutos, en un agua que se denomina concentrado, y en otros canales circule
el agua alimento que va perdiendo poco a poco sus contaminantes hasta salir del proceso con
una concentracin de sales muy baja.

ELECTRODILISIS REVERSIBLE

En este caso se alteran peridicamente las polaridades de los electrodos de manera que los
flujos de agua cambian temporalmente de sentido, pasando a recibir agua depurada aquellos
conductos que transportaban el concentrado y al revs.

Este mtodo elimina el riesgo de formacin de precipitados, incrustaciones y obstruccin de


las membranas, ya que el cambio peridico del sentido del flujo del agua colabora en la
limpieza de conducciones y membranas, adems de evitar la aparicin de limos y otros
depsitos en la planta.

OSMOSIS INVERSA

La smosis inversa aprovecha el procedimiento por el cual, a travs de una membrana


semipermeable se tienden a igualar los potenciales qumicos de dos diluciones situadas una
a cada lado de la membrana, y lo hace funcionar al revs.

Consiste en el bombeo del agua cargada con iones disueltos a un tanque en el que se le somete
a una presin contra una membrana. Durante el proceso se transfiere agua de un lado a otro
de la membrana, quedando los iones en el agua alimento de tal modo que se genera un
concentrado en el agua que no ha pasado a travs de la membrana y un caudal depurado con
el agua que si ha pasado a travs de la membrana.

El concentrado que se genera debe ser eliminado del contacto directo con la membrana para
evitar que la concentracin de iones vaya aumentando y llegue a precipitar sales en la
superficie de la membrana, lo que provoca una prdida de efectividad del proceso y un
incremento de los gastos de mantenimiento. Igualmente es importante llevar a cabo
tratamientos previos para evitar obstrucciones.

Como resultado estndar, la smosis inversa devuelve un 80% de agua depurada y un rechazo
del 20%.
Electrodialysis
A Method to deionize water and to recover the salt

English Version Version Francaise Deutsche Version

Electrodialysis

Electrodialysis is used to transport salt from one solution, the diluate, to another solution (concentrate) by applying an
electric current. This is done in an electrodialysis cell providing all necessary elements for this process. The
conentrate and diluate are separated by the membranes, as shown in the figure below. An electric current is applied,
moving the salt over the membranes.

Applications:

Desalination of salt water


Stabilisation of wine
Whey demineralisation
Pharmaceutical application
Pickling bath recycling
Electrodialysis Modules:
Electrodialysis Cells

Laboratory size (up to 1 sqm)


PCCell ED 64 0 02
PCCell ED 64 0 04
PCCell ED 200
Small industrial size (from 1 sqm- 20
sqm)
PCCell ED 1000
Electrodialysis Tools and
Equipment

Bench scale ED pump system


PCCell B-ED 1-2
PCCell B-ED 1-3

Inside an electrodialysis unit, the solutions are separated by alternately arranged anion exchange membranes,
permeable only for anions and cation exchange membranes, permeable only for cations. By this, the two kinds of
compartments are formed, distinguishing in the membrane type facing the cathode's direction. Applying a current,
cations within the diluate (blue compartment set) move toward the cathode passing the cation exchange membrane
facing this side and anions move towards the anode passing the anion exchange membrane. A further transport of
these ions, now being in a chamber of the concentrate (red compartments), is stopped by the respective next
membrane:
Electrodialysis Stack Construction

An electrodialysis cell (left an ED 1000H with 5 m acitve membrane area)


consists of two electrode-end blocks (PP, grey) and the membranes
stacked between them. The end blocks contain the in- and outlet adapters
and the electrical connections. They are pressed together by a steel
frame.

The membrane stack, consisting of alternately arranged membranes and


spacers is located between the plastic end plates. In this picture, the
membranes are dark and the spacers white, resulting in the lamellar
structure.
The general construction principle of an electrodialysis cell is shown in the following sketch:

The membranes are separated by spacers (5) consisting of a fabric in the active area filled with the electrolyte
combined with a sealing around it. The spacer net prevents the membranes from touching each other. The stacked
spacers form with their holes tubes, which are arranged in a way to build two different channel systems. By this way,
the concentrate and diluate circuit is built.

1: Polypropylene end plate 8: Inlet anode cell


2: Electrode 9: Inlet concentrate cell
3: Electrode chamber 10: cation exchange membrane
4: spacer-sealing PVC 11: AAM
5: Spacer fabric 12: Inlet diluate cell
6: Screws 13: Inlet cathode chamber
7: Steel frame
The cells differ in the size of used membranes, the shape and thickness: An ED 64 has a square basis of 11 x 11 cm
with an active membrane window of 8 x 8 cm (the rest covered by sealing (4) and inlet/outlet areas). Other common
sizes are summarised in the datasheet .
Shape and length of the cells are process determining as shown below . Thin spacers are good for desalination
applications (low energy consumption for low target conductivities) and thick spacers are well suited for applications
with higher turbidity and higher concentration of the feed solution.

Application of Electrodialysis

Electrodialysis makes it possible to transport ionic compounds from one solution to another. Therefore, its application
covers the transfer of salts and acids from one solution to another. One common example is sea water desalination.

Not only salt solutions can be desalted and concentrated, but also acids. Examples illustrating this important application
field are given in the recovery of pickling acid (German) and the recycling of rinsing solution (German) from the
hot dip galvanizing (English review )

One important feature of electrodialysis is the capability to desalinate non-charged solutions, e.g. sugar solutions. As
non-charged molecules are not transported, salt can be selectively removed. One example is the removement of e.g.
NaI from an reactand solution or the desalination of polyalcohol-water mixtures.

Finally, membrane properties determine the process results: Beside the permselectivity (current efficiency), mainly
water transfer (EOP, electroosmotic cotranfer) and ionic selectivities (preference of e.g. monovalent ions against
divalent ions) determine the results. Using those effects, also lime containing water can be concentrated without
relevant scaling problems.

Different Types of ED Processes


The electrodialysis process takes place inside the cell
(stack). The solutions are circulated through the cells from
a storage vessel. Each circuit needs a pump, a storage
vessel and piping. By passing the stack one time, the
solution is usually not finally treated (desalted from the
initial value to the target value). The solution needs to pass
the stack several times.
The simplest case, a batch desalination process, is carried out by circulating the solution through the stack until the
conductivity of the tank solution has its target conductivity. As a result, the power consumption rises also within the
process because the voltage drop over the cell increases.

It is also possible to run an ED process continuously (see Figure above) or in the feed and bleed mode. Both
process schemes are shown below. To decide whether a batch or a continuous process should be performed, the stack
design has to be taken into account. To run in a continuous mode, the module has to treat the solution in one go.
Because you need a certain time and a certain velocity of solution, this corresponds with a certain process length.
Process Conditions of an Electrodialysis Process
A running ED process means that the ions within the cell are moved over the membrane which determines what type of
ion is blocked and what is transferred (see for more details: Transport in Ionenaustauschermembranen (DE) ). This
key process has to be hold up by all the other tools around the membrane: the stack, the feed flow, the current and the
temperature.

One important effect is the polarization of the ions on the membrane surface: Within the solution, all ions move in the
extent of their concentration and mobility. On the membrane's surface, both mobiltiy and concentration change
dramatically. This means that there is a boundary layer of ions depletion or concentration. An important point is ionic
depletion, which has to be prevented because it leads to a high ohms resistance and to water splitting and it may burn
the membranes.

Application Examples

Figure 3 shows an example of a batch desalination (conductivity of diluate against time). The effect of a single pass
desalination at the start and stop time result in a conductivity jump. It depends on the current, flowing and other factors.
The plot shows, that it is - more ore less - proportional to the current.
The next diagram shows the salt (calculated as NaCl) removal in dependence of the current at theoretical current
efficiency (ce) and at 85% ce. With the PCCell ED 200 you can expect for sodium chloride ce's in the range between
90 and 95 %. It depends on current denity, concentration and other factors. The amount is given per cell pair. A 25 cell
pair- unit will make 25 times of this.
PAGINAS WEB

http://www.tedagua.com/View/page/desalacion-de-agua-de-mar-y-salobre/

https://www.rwlwater.com/tecnologica-de-membranas/?lang=es

http://blog.condorchem.com/tag/electrodialisis/

https://prezi.com/lh_tidvob-4d/osmosis-inversa-y-electrodialisis/

https://www.gewater.com/es/products/equipment/ed_edr_edi/ed.jsp

http://www.pca-gmbh.com/appli/ed.htm

https://www.gewater.com/products/electrodialysis-reversal-water-treatment

https://www.gewater.mx/products/electrodialysis-reversal-water-treatment

http://www.grupomaimex.mx/soluciones/plantas-desaladoras-de-agua-de-mar.html

https://www.imta.gob.mx/gaceta/anteriores/g06-10-2007/desalacion.html

VIDEOS

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXzIpS5nX0I

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvS7jsIhGBQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NYVn1o7abQU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oR_AFvFaKLk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3E7zmcguNg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_kFXc4Azo0

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