Method and apparatus for recovery of water containing silica
AssigneeCamp Dresser & McKee
InventorsRobert J. Kimball, Kenneth A. Klinko
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Disclosed are embodiments of a method and apparatus for the treatment of water containing silica in order to recover as much treated water from a water source as possible while minimizing the generation of waste products. Other embodiments include removing specific elements from the water source and utilizing those elements. Embodiments of the method and apparatus uses in-line physical and physio-chemical treatment methods to remove potential biological, colloidal and hardness foulants continually so that there is minimal loss of water from the water source stream and minimal addition of chemicals to accomplish removal or reduction of these potential recovery-limiting foulants.
Claims24
A method to remove elements from water, said method comprising the steps of:
- receiving a feed water from a water source, the feed water containing at least silica and hardness ions;
- ensuring the feed water has a Silt Density Index (SDI) of no more than 3 and polyvalent cations less than 5 mg/L as CaCO3;
- introducing the feed water to a high pressure side of a high pressure Reverse Osmosis (RO) membrane system;
- and
- pressurizing the feed water on the high pressure side of the high pressure RO membrane system to produce a permeate stream and a reject stream, the reject stream having a silica concentration of at least 140 mg/L.
An apparatus to remove elements from a water, said apparatus comprising:
- at least one high pressure RO membrane;
- a water source stream from a water source containing at least silica and hardness ions;
- a means to ensure a feed water from the water source stream has a Silt Density Index (SDI) of no more than 3 and polyvalent cations less than 5 mg/L as CaCO3;
- and
- a means to introduce the feed water to the high pressure side of the high pressure RO membrane whereby the RO membrane produces a permeate stream and a reject stream, the reject stream having a silica concentration of at least 140 mg/L.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.