Characterization and development of low salt rejection RO membranes for brine concentration

Low salt rejection reverse osmosis (LSRRO) is a technology to treat brine solution properly so that freshwater as well as products such as crystalline salt can be produced. A significant key factor of this technique is the LSRRO membrane, which is also known as a loose membrane. One way to produce these membranes is to chemically modify them. The focus of this master thesis is to characterize different kinds of reverse osmosis and nanofiltration membranes under different salinities, pressures, and impurity levels with a lab-scale setup. Furthermore, RO membrane modification takes place and is going to be optimized and compared to non-modified membranes. The performance of the membranes will be mainly evaluated by measuring the water flux and solute retention.

Contact info:

Lena Riechers - l.s.riechers@utwente.nl