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Reject Pretreatment

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RO REJECT TREATMENT PRIOR TO

MECHANICAL VAPOR COMPRESSION-(MVR)


Typical recycling, reuse and process water systems use Reverse Osmosis (RO) technology as the
method of decreasing the level of ions in process water. RO recovery rates normally range from
85-90%, therefore 10-15% of the RO feed water is discharged as wastewater. With the
increasing cost of water and waste discharge, more companies are looking to recover and reuse
RO reject water.

While it is possible to reuse the reject water from an MVR system to recover condensate water
as product, the pretreatment of RO reject is recommended. Such RO reject water typically
contains very high levels of hardness, ions, organics and silica. The hardness of reject water is
defined as soap settling property of that water. The soap is sediment by the presence of Ca+2
and Mg+2 ions in the water. Ions such as Fe+ 2, Zn+2, and Al+3 also help settling. However, the
presence of high amounts of Ca+ 2 and Mg+ 2 ions in water usually leads to water hardness. This
is the most common type of hardness in reject water. The hardness caused by these materials is
known as total hardness. The part of the total hardness corresponding to carbonate and
bicarbonate ions in the reject water is defined as carbonate hardness. These ions also
determine water alkalinity. The reject is fed to Reaction Tank-1 where chemicals are added to
enhance particle flocculation. The water is then fed to Reaction Tank -2 where additional
chemicals are added to promote the precipitation of hardness and silica.

Waters are classified according to hardness grades as follows.

(mg/L) CaCO3 Degree of Hardness

0-75 Soft

75-150 Middle

150-300 Hard

300 and over Very hard

Hardness removal (chemical softening) is a process that removes all or part of the hardness by
adding various chemical substances into the water. The processes used for water softening are
chemical sedimentation and ion exchange methods. Chemical sedimentation can be carried out
following way
Lime soda process:
In lime-soda process, reject water is treated with lime (CaO or Ca (OH)2) firstly, after that with
soda. In this process, the hardness is removed by sedimentation as calcium carbonate or
magnesium hydroxide. Lime is added either as calcium hydroxide or calcium oxide, and soda is
added as sodium carbonate. The substances form hardness in water and the reactions of lime
and soda can be written as follows.

Reactant Product
Ca(OH)2 + CO2 CaCO3 + H20
Ca(OH)2 + Ca(HCO3)2 2CaCO3 + 2 H20
Mg(HCO3)2 + Ca(OH)2 MgCO3 + CaCO3 + 2 H20
MgCO3 + Ca(OH)2 Mg(OH)2 + CaCO3
MgSO4 + Ca(OH)2 Mg(OH)2 + CaSO4
2NaHCO3 + Ca(OH)2 CaCO3 + Na2CO3 +2H20
CaCl2+ Na2CO3 CaCO3 + NaCl
CaSO4 + Na2CO3 CaCO3 + Na2CO3

The usual method for lime soda processing is treatment by excessive lime amount. The pH
should be greater than 9 for sedimentation of the magnesium hydroxide. Usually pH is between
10-10.5. The process contains lime dosing. A small amount of alum or sodium aluminate is
added to ensure good sedimentation. The recycling of some sediment sludge can also help to
sediment.

If the water contains excessive alkalinity after the softening process has been completed, there
is a possibility that the calcium carbonate will settle in the pipes. The softened water is treated
with H2SO4 or CO2 to remove this from the softened water. This reaction is called re-
carbonization.

In addition to the re-carbonization process, addition small amount of polyphosphate.(0.5-5 mg


/L) may prevent this sedimentation after purification. If it is requested to retain permanent
hardness in water, soda should not be used after softening. This application is defined as partial
softening operation.

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