Reverse Osmosis and Deionization Systems for Aquaria

Thoram Charanda Sr. Chemist Walt Disney World Co. Life Support Lake Buena Vista, FL

Reverse Osmosis and Desalination

1. Theory of Osmosis 2. Typical Industry Applications of Reverse Osmosis (RO), Desalination 3. Practical Considerations for RO in Aquaria 4. Designing an RO System for a Salt Water Exhibit

1st AQUALITY Symposium, April 2 - 7, 2004, Oceanario de Lisboa, Portugal

Semipermeable Membrane

Theory of Osmosis
Pressure

Fresh Water
Fresh Water H2O Sea Water

Sea Water (diluted)

Fresh Water

Sea Water

H2O

H2O

H2O

Initial Condition Equilibrium Reverse Osmosis The Osmotic Pressure, , is defined as: = MRT For sea water at 35 ppt, is about 350 psi.
1st AQUALITY Symposium, April 2 - 7, 2004, Oceanario de Lisboa, Portugal

1st AQUALITY Symposium, April 2 - 7, 2004, Oceanario de Lisboa, Portugal

Key Terms in RO Systems

Permeate The purified product water exiting the system. Concentrate The concentrated salt solution exiting the system. In some system designs this outflow is returned to the aquarium for salt recovery. Feed Flow The total flow rate of the source water pumped in the system. Recovery - The percentage of permeate achieved in a system, % Recovery = permeate flow/feed flow x 100. Rejection The percentage of dissolved solids removed from the source water by the membrane.
1st AQUALITY Symposium, April 2 - 7, 2004, Oceanario de Lisboa, Portugal

RO Membrane Filter Detail

1st AQUALITY Symposium, April 2 - 7, 2004, Oceanario de Lisboa, Portugal

Industrial Applications of RO Systems

Purification of potable or fresh water sources: Purified, very low Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) water is produced for various uses. In the aquarium industry it can be used for: - Make up water in fresh and salt water aquariums - As a pure water base for artificial salt water systems - As a non-scaling/spotting wash or rinse water for aquarium exhibit windows.
Desalination of Sea Water: - Production of potable drinking - Source water for combustible turbine power plants - Irrigation and non-potable utility water uses - It can also be used as a salt recovery system for closed-filtration sea water aquaria
1st AQUALITY Symposium, April 2 - 7, 2004, Oceanario de Lisboa, Portugal

RO System for Fresh Water

300 to 1,000 gallon per day RO System Requires a reservoir tank, high level shut-off switch and delivery pump Pre-Filtration: Requires a 5micron sediment filter and a GAC filter to remove any chlorine residual and organics
1st AQUALITY Symposium, April 2 - 7, 2004, Oceanario de Lisboa, Portugal

Desalination RO Systems

1st AQUALITY Symposium, April 2 - 7, 2004, Oceanario de Lisboa, Portugal

Design Considerations for a Salt Recovery RO System

Consider your feed water source: Natural or Artificial Sea Water. Identify the typical range of the water chemistry parameters. pH Temperature Salinity Silt Density Index (SDI) Silica Level of Particulates Presence of Organics or Residual Oxidizers What is the desired rate of permeate (fresh water) removal from your system? This will dictate the required feed flow rate for the RO system.

1st AQUALITY Symposium, April 2 - 7, 2004, Oceanario de Lisboa, Portugal

Design Considerations for a Salt Recovery RO System

Consider any future requirements for system upgrade in fresh water removal capacity, e.g. system can accept an additional membrane, high pressure pump is slightly oversized. Identify the best location in the aquarium filtration pathway to connect the feed source. Consider connecting the return filtration line post ozonation. Identify pre-filtration requirements: GAC filter to removal residual oxidants, e.g. bromine, ozone Additional particulate filters for highly loaded systems

1st AQUALITY Symposium, April 2 - 7, 2004, Oceanario de Lisboa, Portugal

ROSA 5.4 Reverse Osmosis Design Software

Specialized software can be used to assist in the initial design and membrane performance parameters required for a successful salt recovery system.

A freeware program is offered by DOW Chemical called ROSA 5.4, that offers the ability to calculate the required feed, permeate and concentrate rates based on the feed water chemistry and a given sea water RO membrane type.
The URL for this program is www.filmtec.com.

1st AQUALITY Symposium, April 2 - 7, 2004, Oceanario de Lisboa, Portugal

1st AQUALITY Symposium, April 2 - 7, 2004, Oceanario de Lisboa, Portugal

5,000 gpd RO System at Shark Reef, Typhoon Lagoon

1st AQUALITY Symposium, April 2 - 7, 2004, Oceanario de Lisboa, Portugal

Shark Reef Salinity Recovery: RO System

32
Initial Salinity = 30.4
525,000

31
500,000

30
Salinity

29 28 27

475,000

Recovered Salinity = 30.3

450,000

425,000

26 25
0 2 4 6 8 Salinity 10
Days
400,000

12

14

16

18

20

Volume (gal)

1st AQUALITY Symposium, April 2 - 7, 2004, Oceanario de Lisboa, Portugal

System Volume (gal)

Deionization Water Filtration Systems

1. 2. 3.

Principles of Deionization (DI) Applications for DI Water Water Chemistry Parameters and Considerations for a DI System

1st AQUALITY Symposium, April 2 - 7, 2004, Oceanario de Lisboa, Portugal

Ion Exchange Beads

Ion exchange beads are typically constructed of a polymeric resin or gel with an average diameter of 0.3 to 1.2 millimeters. The beads can have either cationic or anionic functional groups attached to the surface.

1st AQUALITY Symposium, April 2 - 7, 2004, Oceanario de Lisboa, Portugal

Types of Ionic Exchange Resins

Strong Acid Resins - contain functional groups of R-SO3H on the polymeric resin Weak Acid Resins - contain functional groups of R-COOH
Strong Base Resins - contain functional groups of R-OH Weak Base Resins - contain functional groups of R-NH3
1st AQUALITY Symposium, April 2 - 7, 2004, Oceanario de Lisboa, Portugal

Strong Acid Cationic Resin

Typical Cations
Na+ Ca2+ Mg2+ Polymeric Resin
R-SO3-H

K+

Metals Cu2+ Fe2+ Zn2+

1st AQUALITY Symposium, April 2 - 7, 2004, Oceanario de Lisboa, Portugal

Applications for DI Water

Analytical grade water for laboratory use Essentially salt and micro nutrient free water that can be used to make artificial sea water Replenish system water loss due to evaporation Makeup of specialized water quality environments, ie. natural waters with very low TDS and specific concentrations of cations

1st AQUALITY Symposium, April 2 - 7, 2004, Oceanario de Lisboa, Portugal

Design Engineering of DI Systems

Identify the source water for the DI system Analyze for the key water chemistry parameters: pH Free and Total Chlorine Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) Identify the intended volume of DI required per day A GAC prefilter is required to remove residual chlorine and dissolved organics -typically sized from 0.0283 to 0.057 m3 (or 1 to 2 ft3) Plan for a reputable company to provide an exchange service for the mixed resin beds and GAC filter
1st AQUALITY Symposium, April 2 - 7, 2004, Oceanario de Lisboa, Portugal

Design Engineering of DI Systems

Mixed bed ion exchange capacity = 353,357 grains per m3 10,000 grains per ft3 Example: Your source water is potable city water and you require up to 400 liters per day of DI water.
Source water TDS: 200 ppm Equivalent grains per gallon = 11.7 gpg (divide TDS by 17.1) Planned DI resin exchange frequency = 30 days Minimum required amount of mixed bed resin = 0.105 m3 3.71 ft3
1st AQUALITY Symposium, April 2 - 7, 2004, Oceanario de Lisboa, Portugal

Summary

Reverse osmosis systems are a good design choice where: - Moderate (2,000 liters) to large (+18 m3) volumes of water are required per event and there is sufficient space for the purified water reservoir - Desalinated water source for utilities and as a purified water source for DI analytical laboratory grade water - Desalination system for salt recovery
Deionization systems are a good design choice where: - A relatively fast flow rate (> 35 Lpm) of pure water is required - Only cost effective for relatively small exhibits, < 2,000 liters - Analytical laboratory grade water

1st AQUALITY Symposium, April 2 - 7, 2004, Oceanario de Lisboa, Portugal

Acknowledgements
Dow Chemical Company GE Water Technologies Reverse Osmosis of South Florida US Filter Corporation David Cohrs, National Aquarium in Baltimore

Kent Semmen, Brooksville Zoo

Eric Kingsley, Monterey Bay Aquarium

1st AQUALITY Symposium, April 2 - 7, 2004, Oceanario de Lisboa, Portugal