Spiral wound module assembly including integrated permeate monitoring

A spiral wound module assembly (39) comprising:

• a pressure vessel (40) comprising:
• a chamber (41) extending along an axis (X) between a first end (38) and a second end (38′), at least one feed inlet port (42), concentrate outlet port (42′) and permeate outlet port (44), and a removable end plate (54) located at the first end (38) of the vessel, wherein the permeate outlet port (44) extends axially through the removable end plate (54);
• a plurality of spiral wound modules (2, 2′) axially aligned in serial arrangement within the chamber (41) with a first module (2) located adjacent the first end (38) and a second module (2′) located adjacent the second end (38′), wherein each spiral wound module (2, 2′) comprises at least one membrane envelope (4) wound about a permeate collection tube (8) and wherein the permeate collection tubes (8) of each spiral wound module (2, 2′) are in sealed fluid communication with each other;
• a permeate adaptor tube (52) in sealed fluid communication with the permeate collection tube (8) of the first spiral wound module (2) and the permeate outlet port (44), wherein the permeate adaptor tube (52) defines an inner periphery (58) adapted to contain permeate;
• and
• a gap space (56) located between the first spiral wound module (2) and the first end (38);
• wherein the assembly is characterized by including a monitoring system comprising:
• a first set of sensors (60) in contact with the inner periphery (58) of the permeate adaptor tube (52);
• and
• a micro-processing unit (62) located in the gap space (56) and connected to the first set of sensors (60) by a first set of wires (64).