Thermal desalination technology especially, multi-effect distillation MED is of great
importance to oil producing countries such as those in the gulf region owing to its
efficacy in processing seawater with the minimum pre-treatment of the feed and
cheap energy input available from waste heat. One of the main drawback of the
current MED processes is the susceptibility of scaling when operate above 70 ºC. This
limitation deprives the technology to be energy efficient and reduce its optimal
productivity. An optimized pre-treatment of the seawater feed by NF membranes can
enhance its efficiency significantly.
In this work, the possibility of applying a tailored feed quality using thermodynamic
speciation chemistry of the feed water and prediction of the scale propensity based
on the Saturation Index of the scale minerals was investigated. Different NF
membranes with different properties were used and compared experimentally with
each other and theoretically with predictions that are based the saturation index.
Moreover, new generation of the polymeric antiscalants promoted by the main
manufacturers of the inhibitors industry to control scale formation has been
investigated. In addition, as part of planned work for future studies, design and
construction of a pilot scale based on NF membrane process was carried out and
meant to be a potential extension of this work.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:kaust.edu.sa/oai:repository.kaust.edu.sa:10754/666032 |
| Date | 11 1900 |
| Creators | Alharthi, Khalid |
| Contributors | Ng, Kim Choon, Biological and Environmental Sciences and Engineering (BESE) Division, Ghaffour, NorEddine, Lai, Zhiping |
| Source Sets | King Abdullah University of Science and Technology |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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