Nanofiltration for Surface Water Treatment – Hydrodynamics and System Configuration

Nanofiltration (NF) membranes represent a technology that is well suited for high-quality drinking water production from source waters with high concentrations of natural organic matter (NOM) or other contaminants. However, the application of these membranes is limited, mainly because of the challenges related to system complexity and cost. The aim of the present study was to address these issues and to enable a more widespread application of this technology. A framework was developed to compare the performance of NF membranes of different configurations (i.e., spiral wound and hollow fiber), and identify the optimal operating set-points that maximize the permeate flux that can be sustained and minimizes the capital and operating costs.