Case Study: Mitigating Severe Organic Fouling in a Brackish Groundwater Reverse Osmosis System

The Torrance Desalter could not be commissioned after a two year expansion because of increases in interstage feed pressure to the 2nd stage. The initial assumption was that scaling was occurring. However, an autopsy and cleaning study determined that the foulant was entirely organic in nature. The approach was to mitigate the problem by resolving the root cause of the fouling through interference with the fouling mechanisms. This abstract should be included because organic fouling is a common phenomenon that is poorly understood, leaving many plants with operational issues that can go unresolved for years. This paper discusses both the chemistry and hydraulics involved in organic fouling and will be very informative to MTC attendees.