Investigations of silica scaling on reverse osmosis membranes

In reverse osmosis systems with high silica water severe and irreversible membrane scaling can be observed. But suitable test methods to find an appropriate antiscalant agent and the optimal dosage are missing. Usually only the silicate concentration in the feed water is regarded. In this paper the results of laboratory experiments about the influence of Ca(2+)- and Mg(2+)-ions on the behaviour of supersaturated solutions of silica in different test waters are discussed first. After that the new developed membrane-based test method to determine the effectiveness of antiscalants is presented. The applied different methods of analysis enabled the differentiation of three groups of silicates: 'monomeric', 'polymeric' and 'filterable'. With the test method the strong impact of silicate scaling was proven, even if only small amounts of scale had been formed. It could be shown, that the 'polymeric silica' is mainly responsible for the membrane scaling. The kinetic of the formation of 'polymeric silica' is strongly influenced by the cations and the pH-value. It could be demonstrated that the use of a suitable antiscalant makes it possible to operate the plant at significantly higher recovery rates. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.