Designing a System that will Prevent Membrane Fouling in the Event of a Power Outage
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Abstract
This project focuses on finding a solution to prevent membrane fouling in the CERRO units located at the lower valley plants in the event of a power outage. Power outages are common in the 79907 area of El Paso, Texas especially during the summer season. In the event of a power outage, the CERRO unit, which is a second RO (Reverse Osmosis) system for highly concentrated water to be treated for human consumption, would stop functioning due to a lack of backup power outage generator at the facility. Due to this highly concentrated water being treated at the CERRO unit, the membrane (water filter), has to be flushed for 30 minutes to prevent the membrane from fouling. Due to a lack of power during a power outage, the system cannot produce the PSI needed to push water through the membranes to prevent them from fouling. Finding a solution in which we will be able to generate a flow of water with enough PSI from a backup bladder tank that will flush water through the membranes three times with 30 minute intervals, is the engineering goal that we are trying to accomplish for the client. This will prevent the membrane from fouling without the use of electricity. Most importantly, this will leave the CERRO unit system clean and once the power comes back on, it will be able to resume work with clean membranes.
Sponsored by
University of Texas - El Paso, Nano-Enabled Water Treatment National Science Foundation (NSF) award #EEC-1449500
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Submitter
Office of STEM Engagement, Rice University, Houston, TX