GE Water & Process Technologies

Technology Showcase

Reverse
Osmosis
Market demand for water purification is
driving reverse osmosis forward

Robert McIlvaine
McIlvaine Co.

ncreasingly, water has become one

of the hottest topics of the decade.
Estimates indicate that water
usage has increased tenfold in the
last ten years. A recent United Nations report noted that one third of
the worlds population lives in areas
suffering from water shortages. Furthermore, industrial demands for
water are increasing, putting additional stress on water supplies.
In many parts of the world, water
resources are not meeting water demand. Worldwide, there is concern
that freshwater sources are at risk,
both in terms of replenishment and
water quality. Whether water is for
human consumption, pharmaceutical
manufacturing, semiconductor fabrication or steam generation, adequate
purity is essential.
Currently among the standard technologies for water purification, reverse
osmosis (RO) systems (such as the
systems seen in Figures 1 and 2) are
widely used for removing ionic salts,
organic compounds, and other impurities from water. These crossflow systems allow continuous filtration and
are used in conjunction with various
pre- and post-treatment steps. These
treatment steps depend upon the specific application and relative purity of
the source water.
In 2007, according to market research conducted by the McIlvaine
Co., the size of the market for industrial and municipal RO systems was
estimated at $3.4 billion worldwide.
20

Figure 1. Reverse osmosis (RO) filtration skids at

the Hamma Seawater Desalination Plant in Algiers,
Algeria enable this newly commissioned,
53-million gal/d, seawater-desalination plant
to provide water for up to 2 million people

By the year 2012, McIlvaine forecasts

that the world market will reach $5.6
billion, growing by about 60% over the
next five years due in no small part
to growth in the following areas.

Desalination

Desalination represents the worlds

largest market for large-scale RO systems with applications including desalination of both seawater and brackish water. In 2007, worldwide sales
of RO systems for desalination have
been estimated to be approximately
$1.7 billion. By 2012, this market is
expected to reach $2.1 billion.
In the Middle East, for example, the
market for RO systems in desalination
applications grew from $434 million in
2005 to $535 million in 2007. By 2012,
this market is expected to grow to over
$900 million representing 68% growth
over the next five years.
Ongoing industrialization and urbanization in China and South Korea
continue to press water demands.
There, the RO markets for desalination
applications are forecast to reach $473
million and $248 million, respectively.
The U.S. market for RO installations
is expected to grow to $881 million by
the year 2012. New RO desalination
plants have been planned in Carlsbad
and Huntington Beach, Calif., each
with a capacity of 50 million gal/d. To
increase local supplies of fresh water
in California, as many as 20 new RO
desalination facilities have been proposed. In Florida, the Tampa Bay Seawater Desalination Plant went into
full operation in January after redesign. This facility utilizes RO filtration

Chemical Engineering www.che.com August 2008

and has a 35-million gal/d capacity.

Figure 3 outlines forecasts for sales of
RO systems for desalination.

Coal-fired power plants

Reverse osmosis is a key step in purifying the water for use in the steam
cycle of coal-fired power plants. Today,
many of the boilers used in coal-fired
plants are designed to operate at supercritical temperatures and pressures. Supercritical and ultra-supercritical boilers have increased thermal
efficiencies of up to 46% and 50%, respectively, and have reduced CO2 and
other fuel-related emissions.
Today, some 200 supercritical units
are operating worldwide, with steam
temperatures of 1,0001,050F and
pressures of 3,3504,200 psi. Older
coal-fired plants operate at a temperature of 982F and a pressure of 2,422
psi. According to the World Coal Institute (London; www.worldcoal.org),
the future will revolve around ultrasupercritical systems that operate
at temperatures above 1,100F and
steam pressures above 3,500 psi.
At these temperatures and pressures,
residual salts and organics become
more problematic, causing corrosion
and other undesirable complications
in the system. RO is among the steps
used to remove salts and organics from
boiler feedwater.
Around the world, a number of supercritical boilers are in planning and
construction. The market for coalfired boilers and accompanying RO
systems is booming in Asia. China,
for example, is currently the leading
purchaser of supercritical boilers.

Technology Showcase
GE Water & Process Technologies

Figure 2. These RO filtration skids at the Sulaibya Wastewater Treatment and Reclamation Plant support a 100-million gal/d water-reuse facility in Kuwait City, Kuwait

World coal-fired power generation is

projected to grow to 2,500 GW by 2020,
an increase of nearly 60% from 2008.
The majority of this growth (50%) is
fueled by China, with an increase of
452 GW during this time period. Table
1 (p. 24) ranks the 12 countries with
the greatest coal-fired power-plant capacity. Note that these projections include plants that have been captured
in McIlvaines World Power Generation database. Projections do not include additional capacities that have
not yet been identified.
From 2008 forward, worldwide new
construction for power plants is projected to be as follows:
Coal-fired 574 GW
Gas-fired 340 GW
Nuclear 180 GW
Figure 4 highlights comparative
growth forecasts for China, Asia, and
the rest of the world.

Co-location

As new RO desalination plants are

being built, they are often co-located
with both nuclear and coal-fired
power plants. This practice maximizes efficiencies, reduces costs, and
minimizes the environmental impact
of construction and operation. For example, shared intake and discharge
facilities reduce construction costs
and environmental impact.

Water reclamation and reuse

Circle 17 on p. 70 or go to adlinks.che.com/7375-17

22

Across all industries, the practice of

water reclamation and reuse is gaining momentum. This practice has
a two-fold impact. Not only is total

Chemical Engineering www.che.com August 2008

water usage dramatically reduced,

but potential pollutants are prevented from being released via the
wastewater stream. Water recycling
has become one of the key factors in
moving toward zero discharge.
In the public sector, new wastewater
reclamation and reuse programs are
turning municipal wastewater into
potable water. One shining example of
RO wastewater reclamation is Orange
County Water Districts reclamation
plant in Fountain Valley California.
There, up to 70-million gal of treated
effluent from Orange County Sanitation District are purified each day and
returned to the aquifers.

Microelectronics fabrication

The microelectronics industry depends

heavily upon ultrapure water (UPW)
for fabrication of semiconductors, flat
panel displays, and disk drives. Processes such as chemical vapor deposition and immersion optical lithography require UPW. Many UPW systems
include RO units for removal of ions,
organics, and other low molecular
weight impurities. Worldwide sales
of RO units into the semiconductor
industry are expected to reach $564
million compared to $258 million in
2007 more than a twofold increase,
as can be seen in Figure 5.

Pharmaceutical, biotech,
and fine chemicals

Many pharmaceutical, biotech, and

fine-chemical manufacturing applications require UPW water. For example,
the U.S. Food and Drud Administra-

World RO System Market for Desalination Applications

Millions of U.S. dollars

2,500
2,000

Africa

1,500

Europe
Asia

1,500

America

500
0
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

2011

2012

Figure 3. Worldwide sales of RO systems for desalination is expected to reach

$2.1 billion by 2012.

Worldwide Demand: Coal Fired Power

2,500,000
2,250,000

MW of power

2,000,000

Rest of
World

1,750,000

Other
Asia

1,500,000
1,250,000

China

1,000,000
750,000
500,000
250,000
0
2008

ZIEMANN THERMIPACK

2010

2012

2014

2016

2018

2030

Figure 4. World coal-fired power generation, an area where reverse osmosis plays
a key water purification role, is expected to increase nearly 60% between 2008 and
2020, the majority of growth being fueled by demand in China

2008 Market Forcast for UPW System Sales

U.S. dollars, thousands

2,000

Everything for
the Chemical
Industry

1,500
Rest of
world

1,000

Asia

500
0
Semiconductor
Flat panel display
Other
Pharmaceutical
Power generation

Figure 5. RO filtration often is among the purification steps in ultra pure water
(UPW) systems. Relative market sizes for UPW applications are shown above

tions Water for Injection guidelines

require that water used in humaninjectable drugs be purified either by
distillation or double-pass RO. Which
system is used generally depends upon
the scale, application, and cost considerations. The world market for ROsystem sales into the pharmaceutical
market is expected to grow from 2007
sales of $189 to $302 million in 2012,
representing growth of about 60%.

Steel mills to corn syrup plants

The possibilities for RO water purification are many and varied. RO is used
in food processing plants, metal refineries, and ethanol plants to name just a
few. Applications generally fall into one
of two categories: pretreatment of processing waters or clean up of wastewaters. One company has even used RO
membranes to concentrate sugars from
a dilute solution of sugar cane water.

Design, implementation, support of

turn-key plants and complete components

Columns
Reactors
Condensation Towers
Heat exchangers
Storage Tanks and Process Tanks

In any size, also laser-welded and

made from the most different materials.
Decades of experience, state-of-the-art
manufacturing methods, flawless quality.

ZIEMANN FRANCE S.A.S.

Tel.: +33 (0)3 88 00 39 40
sales@ziemann-france.com
www.ziemann-france.com

Taking care of processing

Circle 18 on p. 70 or go to adlinks.che.com/7375-18

Technology Showcase
Reverse osmosis into the future

Membrane manufacturers are continually developing new thin-film

composite materials that reduce pressure requirements, improve energy efficiency, and are less prone to fouling
and scaling. At the same time, new
pre-treatment options are under development, as are more efficient pumping

systems. Together, these efforts are

improving the cost efficiencies of operating large-scale RO systems.
The use of membrane bioreactors
(MBR) in combination with RO is one
example of new pre-treatment options.
Used upstream of the RO system, MBR
are providing an efficient, cost-effective tool for removing biological con-

TABLE 1. Countries with the

greatest coal-fired power
plant capacity
(2007 year-end data)

Country

Capacity, MW

China

535,846

United States

320,620

Germany

75,420

India

60,852

Russia

48,495

Japan

42,994

United Kingdom

41,516

South Africa

39,507

Poland

34,661

Australia

30,080

South Korea

29,160

Ukraine

22,820

taminants from wastewater streams.

In Germany, Albert Khler GmbH will
soon commission a novel wastewatertreatment plant in its paper mill. The
plant will use MBR for biological clarification followed by RO. This system
will allow 90% of the wastewater to be
reused in processing.
Researchers at Yale University have
been working on a system theyve
named forward osmosis. The system
is designed to require lower operating
pressure by increasing the salt concentration on the permeate side of the
membrane with NH3 and CO2. When
the draw solution is heated to 58C,
the NH3 and CO2 evaporate, leaving
behind clean water. While still in the
early stages of development, this is one
example of an attempt to reduce the
energy requirements of RO filtration.
Water has become a precious commodity. Both suppliers and customers
are finding new ways to purify water.
RO plays a key role in desalination,
water reclamation, and process-stream
purification. Expanding markets and
new developments are assuring a place
for RO systems well into the future.
Edited by Matthew Phelan

Author
Robert McIlvaine has been
producing market information reports for the environmental, energy, contamination control and process
industries for over 30 years.
Visit his website at: www.
mcilvainecompany.com
for
more information.

24

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Chemical Engineering www.che.com August 2008