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Operation Characteristics of Manfouha Reverse Osmosis Plants

Conference Paper · October 1997

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1
Al-Mutaz, I.S. and Al-Sultan,B., "Operation Characteristics of Manfouha
Reverse Osmosis Plants", The IDA World Congress on Desalination
and Water Reuse, Madrid, Spain, October 6-9,1997

Operation Characteristics of Manfouha Reverse Osmosis

Plants

Ibrahim S. Al-Mutaz and Bander A. Al-Sultan

Chemical Engineering Dept., College of Engineering, King Saud University
P 0 Box 800, Riyadh 11421, Saudi Arabia
Fax: 966 1 4682858 e-mail: F45KOI l@KSU.EDU.SA

Abstract

There are six water treatment plants in Riyadh for producing potable
water. These plants account for about 36% of Riyadh water supply.
Manfouha water treatment and reverse osmosis plant is one ofthese plants.
It consists of two sections, Manfouha -1 and Manfouha -II. Manfouha-II
was commissioned in November 1984 while Manfouha-I started in
December 1985.

Nonnally, feed water flow rate, temperature and pH are recorded.

Product and reject flow rates and pressures of each stages are recorded
too. Conductivity is also measured by portable meters for the pretreated
water, product of each stage, overall product and reject streams. This
paper will present these operating data for two years ( 1414-141 SAH). A
comparison with the design and preferred data will be given. Suggestions
will be drawn to improve the operating conditions of the plant

Design of Manfouha RO Plant

Manfouha water treatment and reverse osmosis plant consists of

two sections, Manfouha-1 and Manfouha-II. They were scheduled to start
in 1978. Manfouha-II was commissioned in November 1984 while
Manfouha-1 started in December 1985 [1]. The basic design parameters
for RO plant are as follows:
- Production rate of each block is nearly 200 m3/hr.
- Flow rate input to each block is 267 m3/hr approximately.
- Overall plant recovery is 75% minimum.
 2

- Temperature ofinput feed is about 25°C.

The membrane used in Manfouha plant are B-9 hollow fine fiber,
HFF, membrane made of aromatic polyamide with 80 micron outside
diameter and a 40 micron inside diameter. Aromatic polyamide has high
chemical and physical stability conducive to longer life. These membranes
are assembled in Permasep modules of model type 0840-150 and
manufactured by DuPont.

Manfouha-I RO plant consists of six RO blocks, four low pressure

and high pressure pumps, eight cartridge filters. About I 00 membranes are
present per block.

Manfouha-II RO plant consists of eight blocks, five low pressure

and high pressure pumps, ten cartridge filters. Each RO blocks comprises
of about 100 membranes.
The modules are arranged in three stages in taper array 4:2:1 so
called "reject-series". In this arrangement, the reject of the first stage
modules is supplied to the second stage modules and the rejects from
module of the second stage are fed into the third stage modules. The rejects
of the third stage are sent to the reject disposal system. An intermediate
pumping is not required since the module reject is under pressure. The
number of modules mounted on the second stage is less than the number of
modules on the first stage and so on.

The aim of this layout is to increase the overall conversion rate of

the plant while maintaining high sweep speeds to improve the quality. of the
water produced and to minimize the precipitation and clogging risks.

Operation ofManfouha RO Plant

Good operation in a reverse osmosis plant depends on several

operating factors which should be maintained. This includes the following:
- Recovery should not be less than 85%.
·- Production rate should be about 180 m3/hr per block.
 3

- Input pressure and output pressure must not exceed 25.5 and 1.5,
respectively.
- Salinity should not exceed 150 ppm.

The operation ofManfouha water treatment plant may be simplified

as fo1Jows[2]. The raw water pumped from deep well is cooled to a
temperature lower than 35°C. Sodium aluminate is then added to reduce
the silica content. Ferric chloride as a coagulant is also added. Then water
is treated in the lime-soda precipitators. Double filtration has been utilized
to eliminate the suspended matter. The softened and filtered water in the
water treatment plant is stored in a filtered water tank so called buffer tank.
In this tank, water is treated with sulphuric acid in order to reduce the
bicarbonates content and avoid CaC03 precipitation. The pH is in the range
5.9 to 6.4. Polyphosphate is also added to avoid CaS04 precipitation.
Typical flow rates and chemical characteristics of the various streams are
displayed on tables 1 and 2. The simplified plant flow diagram are given in
figure 1.

Table 1
Typical Flow in Manfouha RO Plant

Flow m3/h
Manf-I Manf-II
Raw water input after cooling 1200 1800
permeated water output 750 1050
Clarified raw water outout (blending). 250 350
Total production output 1000 1400
Reverse Osmosis reject output 120 176
 4

Table 2
Chemical Characteristics of manfouha RO Flows

Item Feed Product BlendinJ;?: Water Reject

mg/L mg/L mg/L ppm rng/L
CaCOJ CaCOJ CaC03
Cations:
ca++ 190.0 3.8 144.66 57.87 160
Mg++ 200.0 22.5 81.66 19.85 468
Na+ 763.3 127.0 244.10 112.29 3511
Total 1003.3 154.0 470.00 190.01 4139
Cations:
Anions:
HC03. 6 7.5 58.32 71.15 73
er 442.5 97 205.5 145.9 3141"
so4- 554,8 49.5 206.6 198.34 5368
Total 1003.3 154.0 470.42 415.39 8582
Anions:
TDS, mg/) 1270.0 200.0 605.4 605.4 12721

Water is then pumped by five low"pressure centrifugal electric

pump sets with a capacity of 500 m3/hr each. It is conveyed to ten 5
micron-mesh cartridge filters fitted with one differential pressure indicator
to eliminate the colloidal matter. The filtered water, passed through the
cartridge filter, can be directed either towards the RO pumping set or back
to the softened and filtered water tank by means of an automatic valve.

The water is then pumped through five high pressure centrifugal

pumps with a capacity of 424 m3/hr each. It is conveyed to the reverse
osmosis modules at a pressure of about 25.6 bar. Membrane specifications
should not be exceeded to avoid membrane deterioration. These include a
pH of 5.9 to 6.4 and a maximum silica and aluminum content of 18 mg.IL
and 0.05 mg/L respectively. Fouling index should be below 3 and
temperature is maintained in the range 35 to 40°C. Membrane should be
cleaned if the pressure drop across the module is increased 1 bar above the
initial pressure drop, the salt passage is about 1.5 times the initial values or
the product flow drop by 10%.
 5

The permeated water is directed to the mixing chamber. It has low

salinity, less than 200 mg/L. During startup, the back pressure on the
osmosed water side must not exceed 3.5 bar and the conversion level must
always be adjusted in an increasing way. This is accomplished by opening
the reject valve and then gradually closing it. In the mixing chamber,
permeated water is mixed with the flocculated and filtered blending stream
to achieve a final water with maximum concentration of about 500 mg/L.

The Manfouha-11 reverse osmosis plant is composed of four reverse

osmosis lines, each line is composed of two packs. Each pack includes
three stages of modules. The first stage has four racks. The second stage
gets two racks. There is one rack only in the third stage. Each rack in any
stage can receive up to twenty modules. Manfouha-I consists ofthree
reverse osmosis lines of identical arrangement found in manfouha-II. At
commissioning the number of perrneators necessary to achieve the
contractual flow was 546 and 768 for Manfouha I and II respectively
compared with 589 and 782 foreseen at the contract time [3].

To each pack is associated one pack monitoring cabinet. Feed water

flow, temperature and pH are recorded. Flow rates of product are
measured for each rack. Pressure of the feedline, product line and reject
stream are obtained. Conductivity is measured by portable meters for the
pretreated water, product of each rack, overall product and reject streams.
Figure 2 illustrates the data collection points.

Data Collection

As mentioned before, data are collected during 1414 AH and 1415

AH for the following parameters: (feed flow rate, product flow rate, reject
flow rate, temperature of feed, pressure of feed, pressure of product,
pressure of reject, conductivity of feed, conductivity of product,
conductivity of reject). As shown in figure 2, data are collected at various
points.
 6

Conductivity was recorded in µSiem. It is then converted into

concentration as TDS measured in mg/L through a calibration experiment
using the following equipment: (Model 44600 Conductivity/IDS Meter for
conductivity measurement and WTB Binder, 7200 Tottlingen/ Germany
Nenn temperature 300°C, 220 Volt, 2.22 KW for measuring the TDS).

For the conductivity measurements, samples were taken from five

points locations of one rack at ManfouhaMII plant as follows: (feed input in
the first stage, feed input in second stage, feed input in the third stage, final
product and reject output in the third stage).

Ten samples have been taken from each point location.

Conductivity was measured by Model 44600 Conductivity/TDS Meter.
Samples then were put in a 300 ml plastic pot and numbered. These
samples were then used to find the TDS in mg/L. Table 3 shows the
obtained linear regression equations for estimating TDS values form the
conductivity data.

Table 3
Linear Regression Equations For TDS As Function of Conductivity

Stream Proposed Eauation r2

Feed Line TDS= 588.940 Cond. 0.9858
Stage 1 Reject TDS= 692.483 Cond. 0.9738
Stage 2 Reject TDS= 726.690 Cond. 0.9994
Overall Product TDS= 444.058 Cond. 0.9746
Overall Reject TDS= 755.045 Cond. 0.9997

Measurement Devices

Flow rate were measured by electromagnetic flow meters of sleeve

DEBIMAG BGE type manufactured by Schlumberger. These flow meters
 7

have EUR.ODIGIT model 120 numerical indicators. Feed flow rate of each
block is measure. Overall product and reject is also measured while the
product flow rate each rack inside the block was measured by Rotameter
type manufactured by GEC Elliot Automation.

Pressure is measured for feedline and product line of each block as

well as rejects for each individual stages. Pressure meters of
REGULAUTO make and ZPN 206 SI type manufactured by Schlumberger
were used. The feed and reject pressure gauges have a scale between 0 to
40 bars. Product pressure gauges have scale of 0 to 4. The maximum
pressure reading for product meters is 15 bar while the maximum pressure
in the reject meters is 65 bar. Feed pressure is controlled by a regulation
valve in the range of25 to 35 bar.

Temperature of feedline of each block is displayed on a NE 144

indicator using a sapphire head 1.S0.04 thermometer of 100 ohms/100°C
· resistivity manufactured by Schlumberger.

Conductivity is measured by POLYMETRON of immersion-

type probe with temperature compensator. Measurements are
displayed in microsiemens/cm (µSiem). Potable meters were frequently used
for measuring the conductivity of various samples for the feed and
product water of each rack. Upto 1414, PROLAB conductivity meters of
CD6NG type were used. Since 1415 Radiometer-Copenhagen ofCDM83
type was used.

Results and Discussions

There are four parameters through which the operating data of the
reverse osmosis plant in Manfouha-I and Manfouha-II can be presented.
These include recovery, Y, concentration ratio, CR, pressure drop, Ap
and salt passage, SP. These operating variables showed some changes with
time. Their values and variations with time will be discussed in Manfouha-I
and Manfouha-11 during the years 1414 AH and 1415 .AH.

As shown in figure 3 and figure 4, recovery showed little decrease

with time during the years 1414 and 1415 AH in all stages (stage I, stage II
 8

and stage III as well as in overall plant) in both Manfouha-1 and

Manfouha-Il. The overall recovery is normally controlled through the final
output of each block in both plants so that it can be about 85%.
The average recovery of stages 1, 2 and 3 in Manfouha-1 RO plant
is 52%, 50%, and 37.5% during 1414 and 1415. The corresponding values
for Manfouha-Il are 56%, 48.5% and 42%. The average recovery for the
overall plant are 84. 7% for Manfouha-1 and 85.6% for Manfouha-Il.

Stage 1 is operated at higher pressure than any other stages. So the

recovery of stage 1 is higher. Operating pressure is decreased in a
consecutive order due to pressure drop of each stage. So recovery is lower
in the same order.

The overall concentration ratio is also decreased as time passes in

both plants as shown in figures 5 and 6. This is because of the fact that
final output of each rack decreases as time passes because of the decrease
in the efficiency of membranes. The overall concentration ratio in both
plants ranges between 6.5 and 7.5. The concentration ratios ofindividual
stages (stages I, II and III) show small changes.

There is a noticeable decrease in pressure drop in blocks at

Manfouha-1 and Manfouha-11, as time passes, in all stages as shown in
Figures 7 and 8. This indicates that pressure of reject is constantly
increasing because of the low efficiency of membranes as impurities
increasingly pi1e up pores. Pressure drop , Lip, is evaluated by subtracting
the reject pressure from the feed pressure.

During the years 1414 and 1415 AH, the value of the overall
pressure drop ranges between 8 to 9.5 psi in each plant. Decrease in
pressure drop requires increase in the pressure of feed and therefore an
increase in the operational capacity and continuous cleaning which
consumes a lot of cleaning chemicals. This results in increased costs.

As shown in figures 9 and 10, the salt passage in all stages is

constantly increasing during the years 1414 and 1415 AH in both plants.
This indicates that conductivity of product increases as time passes. The
salt passage can be obtained by dividing conductivity of product by the
feed conductivity.
 9

The output salt ratio is continuously increasing due to the decreased

efficiency of membrane performance. The value of the overall salt passage
at Manfouha-II ranges from 8% to about 20% while its value at Manfouha-
Il ranges from 10% to 14.5%. This shows that the output salt ratio in
Manfouha-II is more than that ofManfouha-I especially in 1415 AH. This
means that the efficiency ofManfouha-II membranes is lower than that of
Manfouha-I during that period.

References

1. Ghulaigah, A. and B.Ericsson. "Riyadh's Reverse Osmosis Water

Treatment Plants- The Largest Demineralization Complex in the
World", Desalination 30, 301, 1979.

2. Al-Mutaz,l.S. And B. A. Al-Sultan, "Prediction of Performance of RO

Desalination Plants'', The Third Gulf Water Conference, Muscat, Oman,
March 8-13, 1997.

3. Rovel,L.M. and L. Daniel, "Start-Up of RO Models After a Very Long

Storage Time: A Case History, Desalination 65, 373-379, 1987.
Figure 1 - The Simplified Plant Flow Diagram.
Figure 2 - The Data Collection Points.
Figure 3 - Plot ofRecovery vs. Time in MF-I for 1414-1415
Figure 4 - Plot of Recovery vs. Time in :MF-IT for 1414-1415
Figure 5 - Plot of Cone. Ratio vs. Time in MF-I for 1414-1415
Figure 6 -Plot of Cone. Ratio vs. Time in MF-II for 1414-1415
Figure 7 - Plot of Pressure Drop vs. Time in :MF-I for 1414-1415
Figure 8 - Plot of Pressure Drop vs. Time in MF-II for 1414-1415
Figure 9 - Plot of Salt Passage vs. Time in MF-I for 1414-1415
Figure 10 - Plot of Salt Passage vs. Time in :MF-II for 1414-1415
 REVERSE OR
OSMOSIS

RAW WATER QES

INLET
I

SOFTENED AND FU..TERl:.0

WATER

BUFFER
- - - - - TANK m----'

FILTERS

QB

MIXING CHAMBER

Figure 1 Simplified Flow Diagram of Manfouha Water Treatment Plant.

 PRODUCTION

I'-r: --tt--o=:x:J----+
c:J REJECT

0
v CR ll.P SP
Pressure 0
GLOBAL Conductivity c::J

l-STAGE
lY v Tpmp.
D
tr IY

2- STAGE JV lj/
Flow
9
3- STAGE lY'

Figure 2 Data Collection Points.

120.00
-1- Overan
<>
c:J
s''"" .. 1
Stag.a 2
0 stnge 3

80.00

40.00 d e 0 e 0 Q 0 ° Q a 0 Q
0

0.00 --+----,-------.---.-------,.----.-----,

0.00 10.00 20.00 30.00

Time, months

Figure 3 Plot of Recovery vs. Time in MF-I For 1414-1415

120.00 --!- Overall

<> Stea• 1
c::i S.t•a• 2
0 ZStaa• 3

80.00

0
rll ..... • 4 , ,,,. a • , 1
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40.00 cr--Ooe oo9ooOoo

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0.00 --+--~--.....----....-------.,.....---

0.00 10.00 20.00 30.00

Time, months

Figure 4 Plot of Recovery vs. Time in MF-II for 1414-1415

 8.00

+
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., +

'#. +
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overall
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Time, months

Figure 5 Plot of Cone. Ratio vs. Time in

MF-I For 1414-1415
8.00
+
+
+ + + +
+
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Time, Months

Figure 6 Plot of Cone. Ratio vs. Time in

MF-II For 1414-1415
 12.00

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Time, months
Figure 7 Plot of Pressure Drop vs. Time in
MF-I For 1414-1415
 12.00
-+- ~r--••
~ &'1.•c:t•"I
c::J
c::;,
•"'-a- ::z:
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0 0 0 0 0

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0.00 10.00 20.00 30.00

Time, months

Figure 8 Plot of Pressure Drop vs. Time in MF-II For 1414-1415

 16.00 -+- o. ........... , +
<> •-t•a•-.
c:::i S-tllillge ~

= S't:lllllliill• 3
+
+

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Time, months
Figure 9 Plot of Salt Passage vs. Time in
MF-I For 1414-1415
 30.00
+ Overall
¢ Stag., 1
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Time, months

Figure 1 O Plot of Salt Passage vs. Time in

MF-11for1414-1415

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