Pilot study of seawater nanofiltration softening technology based on integrated membrane system

A pilot-scale ultrafiltration (UF)-nanofiltration (NF) integrated membrane system (IMS) which included a self-cleaning crossflow UF filtration process and a dual-stage NF process with a capacity of 100 m3·d− 1 NF permeation water was established for seawater softening investigation. The separation performance of the dual-stage NF process under different conditions, such as operating pressure, recovery rate, and inlet flowrate, was extensively investigated; long-term performance and energy consumption of the dual-stage NF process were analyzed as well. The results showed that during the long-term operation, UF could provide qualified filtrate for NF. The dual-stage NF process achieved high separation performance with good permeate quality, especially high rejection of Ca2 + and Mg2 + (> 90%). In addition, the dual-stage NF process showed good anti-fouling characteristics, with the normalized NF permeate flux maintaining at an essential constant value of about 14 L·m− 2·h− 1 at 3.5 MPa, and DOC rejection around 90% during the long-term experiment. Energy consumption of the dual-stage NF process increased with the increase of the operating pressure and the decrease of the raw seawater temperature, which was about 1.8 kWh·m− 3 at 3.5 MPa and 25 °C.