Anti-scalant
Antiscalant is a chemical substance, which is known in reverse osmosis (RO) water purification devices as a necessity and an integral component in maintaining and increasing the life of industrial water purification membrane filters. Most natural waters have high concentrations of calcium, bicarbonate and sulfate ions. In membrane water purification systems such as RO, which have a high percentage of recovery or recycling, if the solubility of these compounds in water exceeds the saturation value, they appear crystallized and crystalline on the surface of the membrane. This phenomenon is called membrane filter fouling. In the process of water purification, it is very important to pay attention to this phenomenon, because if this problem is not solved in the early stages, after a short period of time, the production capacity of the system will face a sharp drop. The basic solution to prevent clogging of membrane filters is to use anti-scalant with a certain dose at the time of starting the system.
The solution provided to solve the problem of membrane clogging is the use of anti-fouling agent for anti-scalant in the system. Antiscalant is called membrane antifouling, because it is widely injected into industrial water treatment to prevent clogging of membrane filter openings. The use of these antifouling materials requires special attention, because if they are injected into the system in excess of the allowed amount, not only will they not be effective in removing membrane blockages, but they will cause more problems in the industrial water treatment system.
When using anti-scalant, we must be careful about the quality of the product; Among the famous anti-scalant brands, we can mention anti-scalant Floken 260, anti-scalant Avista, anti-scalant Genesis, and anti-scalant.
The necessity of using antiscalant
Anti-scalant is actually anti-scaling with effective compounds, which prevent the formation of mineral salts in water. This antifouling membrane is widely used in the water and wastewater treatment industry, but it is most widely used in industrial water treatment to prevent sedimentation on the membrane filter. Although antiscalants have different types in terms of their constituent materials, they all prevent the formation of calcium carbonate deposits on the surface of the membrane with high power.
The importance of using antiscalant in the reverse osmosis system is very high, otherwise the membrane filter will get clogged and fouled in a short period of time and lose its efficiency in water purification. The sedimentation on the membrane membrane in all reverse osmosis water purification devices with different feed water (such as brackish or well water, sea water, water containing silica or high sulfate) prevents. Therefore, the use of antiscalant in the reverse osmosis water purification system is very necessary.
Natural waters usually contain high concentrations of calcium, bicarbonate and sulfate ions, which can easily form sediment in the water purification process. Common mineral salts that usually contribute to the deposition on the membrane surface include calcium carbonate (CaCo3), calcium sulfate (CaSo4), barium sulfate (BaSo4) and strontium sulfate (SrSo4). Other uncommon descaling substances that can cause fouling or clogging of filter membranes are compounds such as calcium phosphate (CaPo4) and calcium fluoride (CaF2). When these compounds reach their saturation level in water, they cause crystallized particles and crystals on the surface of the industrial membrane filter membrane. If this problem is not solved in the initial stages, after a short period of time, it will reduce the flux and flow rate, reduce the efficiency and increase the operating costs of the system. This time can be different depending on the type of sedimentary compounds and their saturation level. For example, in a water treatment system that has drinking water with high amounts of calcium sulfate, after 8 days and in another water treatment system that has significant amounts of calcium carbonate after 2 days, the production flow will face a sharp drop. Therefore, calcium carbonate can cause more serious problems for the water treatment system. The preventive solution that is usually offered for this problem is the continuous use of anti-scalant. It is safe to say that antiscalant is the most essential chemical used in the process of industrial water purification. It is obvious that preventing the formation of deposits in this way will increase the life of the device and reduce its maintenance costs.
Industrial water purification membrane filter mechanism
Membrane filter in reverse osmosis method works based on pressure difference and concentration difference. The necessary pressure in this method is provided by the device’s pump, which is necessary for better passage of solutions and molecules through the filter. In this way, the pure water passes through the membrane filter layers and the separated pollutants enter the sewer. In fact, the membrane filter has two channels, one for passing water and the other for directing impurities to the sewer.
The membrane filter with membrane layers with an accuracy of 0.0001 micron (one ten-thousandth of a micron) that cannot be seen even with the eye, has the ability to remove 98% of the dissolved substances in water. It should be noted that although this water purification method is capable of removing water pollutants up to 99%, if the impurities are smaller than the membrane holes, they will pass through the filter membrane. For example, some viruses that have nanometer dimensions and some chemical pollutants with very low molecular weight pass through the membrane filter layers. Therefore, in addition to the membrane filter, there are 5 to 7 other filters in the water purifier, each of which has its own duties. For example
