Electrodialysis process for concentrating SWRO brine

The utilization of reverse osmosis membranes has become a popular choice for the desalination of brackish water due to substantial enhancements in energy recovery systems and pre-treatment processes over the past decades. However, the disposal of rejected brine produced by the desalination procedure possesses significant environmental concerns. Therefore, a method is essentially required for managing the seawater reverse osmosis rejected brine via a sustainable approach.

Electrodialysis is known to be a promising technology that uses ion-selective membranes and can be used to concentrate the rejected seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) brine. This concentrated brine as a product of the electrodialysis process can further be used as a feed for chlor-alkali process.

This research focuses on developing the electrodialysis system for concentrating the SWRO brine, analyzing its concentration and energy optimization during the whole process to make the product with high purity as a feed for chlor-alkali process.