Nalco PermaTreat PC-191: RO Membrane Antiscalant

Reverse osmosis is a water purification

technique developed in 1950s by US
government to remove dissolved solids in
saline and brackish water. The principle
involves application of waterline pressure
over
untreated
water
against
a
semipermeable membrane. The separated
H2O molecules pass through the membrane
into a reservoir while contaminants remain
on the other side. Over the years, RO has
been extensively used for treating
industrial feed water. While the primary
method for demineralization is Ion
exchange method, RO systems are adopted when large volumes of water need to be treated economically.
The life, efficiency & productivity of an RO Membrane water treatment system is greatly reduced due to a phenomenon
called RO Membrane Scaling. During RO system operation, as the water moves through the membrane, the
concentration of dissolved and suspended solids keep on increasing at the boundary layer. When the concentration
exceeds saturation value, there occurs a tendency of deposition and crystallization on the membrane surface. Smaller
depositions act as nuclei for more salt accumulation thus decreasing effectiveness of membranes and invoking frequent
cleaning of the system. Scalants mostly include low soluble salts of calcium, barium, strontium as carbonates and
sulfates and fine reactive silica crystals. Their low solubility makes them difficult to remove during cleanup processes.
Scaling can be minimized by pretreatment processes like ion exchange, chemical treatment like lime softening etc. but
these incur higher costs. In some cases, acidification is practiced to remove insoluble carbonates and sulfates and most
commonly Hydrochloric Acid is used. Recently, the popular choice of RO scale treatment is the use of Antiscalants.
Reverse Osmosis Antiscalants are specialized chemical formulations added to the untreated feed water to increase the
solubility of sparingly soluble salts that cause scaling. They mostly comprise of acrylates and phosphonates that greatly
inhibit carbonate and sulfate precipitation. Since they offer an online scale protection advantage, RO Antiscalants have
become an essential part of operations involving reverse osmosis systems. Such systems avoid mineral scaling and
need less frequent cleaning, show greater efficacy with high permeate quality, decreased water and energy
consumptions and longer operation life.
Nalco PermaTreat PC-191 is an RO Membrane Antiscalant manufactured by Nalco Company. It is a highly effective scale
inhibitor engineered specifically for RO systems. It is suitable for treating brackish, highly saline and effluent feed water
in RO filtration, Nanofiltration and Ultrafiltration systems. It is compatible with all types of RO membranes and can
extend membrane life thus cutting down operating and maintenance costs.
Nalco PermaTreat PC-191s characteristics can be ideally summarized as:

Effective against scales of calcium, strontium, barium salts of carbonate, sulfate and oxide origin
Zero scaling in system upto 2.6 LSI
Cleans by dispersing particulate fouling
Effective even at low feed water pH upto 5.9
Can be fed directly or as diluted solution in system
Prevents formation of Iron scales

Nalco PermaTreat PC-191 helps resolve all scaling issues in RO Filtration systems and at all instances, the costs incurred
are lower than would be for Ion exchange hardness removal methods.