IDE Technologies has announced the success of its demo facility in the state of Texas. The facility tested IDE’s proprietary MAXH2O Pulse Flow Reverse Osmosis (PFRO) technology for treating concentrated RO brine discharge, thus maximising the recovery of high-quality water to achieve an overall recovery of 96%.
The demo facility is located at Hargesheimer Water Treatment Plant, which supplies water to the City of Abilene, Texas.
The MAXH2O PFRO technology supports both municipal and industrial applications. Its results show a decrease in the volume of brine to be discharged, and a significant increase in efficiency.
The Hargesheimer Water Treatment Plant uses reverse osmosis to process raw water from Lake O.H. Ivie, which contains high concentrations of Total Dissolved Solids (TDS). The plant’s RO system operates at about 80% recovery and discharges 20% of the feed as brine to the evaporation pond. Due to the lack of pond area, the brine is minimized by spraying, which creates an environmental nuisance to nearby residents. However, further desalination is not possible as contents of the rejected brine – Calcium sulphate, Calcium carbonate, Barium sulfate are at significantly high concentrations, which limit the use of conventional desalination technologies. By utilising high discharge velocity and a short production cycle, MAXH2O PFRO enables reuse of brine stream and allows for increase in overall system recovery to 96%.
As per the company’s statement, MAXH2O PFRO leverages mechanical and chemical ingenuity to overcome typical reverse osmosis challenges such as scaling, fouling and biofouling. Compared to a conventional RO approach where flow conditions are stable, PFRO constantly changes flow regime and the osmotic and gauge pressure. This unique mechanism leads to an increase of 50% more in water recovery and extends membrane lifespan.
“This technology offers ground-breaking benefits, and its versatility means that it can be applied to different types of water facilities to increase the recovery of waste discharge,” said Iris Jancik, CEO, IDE Americas.
Following this successful demonstration, the City of Abilene will explore the use of a commercial unit to process all the brine from Hargesheimer Water Treatment Plant (WTP).
