Desalination Activated Carbon

Active Carbon is an essential pre-treatment for desalting systems. It can prevent the RO membrane from being degraded by chlorine, organic pollution and odour – increasing the lifetime of the membrane, lowering the cost of replacing it, and guaranteeing the uniform penetration quality of seawater and salt water desalination.

What Is Desalination Activated Carbon?

Desalinating Active Carbon means that Active Carbon (GAC) and PAC (PAC) are used as pre-treatment phases in Sea Reverse Osmosis (SWRO) and Salt Water Reverse Osmosis (BWRO) Desalinization System. It primarily serves as a protection against chemical degradation, organic pollution, and flavour and odour pollution for sensitive polyamide film films at the core of the RO process.

The RO – the capital intensive and operational part of any desalinization facility – is very sensitive to the common chlorine and chloramines that are often used for the sterilization of drinking water. Even a small amount of chlorine can result in an irreversible oxidation process on the surface of the polyamide membrane, resulting in a permanent reduction in the degree of salt resistance and the loss of water flow and the need for expensive early membrane replacement. Activated carbon dechlorination in front of the RO field removes this risk entirely. Apart from dechlorination, marine and brackish water usually includes natural organic compounds, algae metabolites, flavour and odour molecules, and man-made micro-contaminants which — if not eliminated during pre-treatment — contaminate the film surface, speed up biological degradation, and impair the quality of desalination generated for urban or industrial purposes. Active carbon solves all of these pretreatments at the same time, making it an essential element in the design of a robust desalination pretrain.

Key Advantages of Desalination Activated Carbon

The selection of appropriate active carbon for desalting treatment will influence the lifetime of the membrane, the operation of the plant and the infiltration of the water. Active carbon provides measurable performance benefits across every critical dimension of the desalination pre-treatment challenge:

Complete and Reliable Dechlorination: Both PAC and PAC can quickly and completely remove the free chlorine and chloramines in the sea and salt water supply flow - remove the main reason for the oxidation deterioration of RO membrane and safeguard the money invested by the membrane array during the intended lifetime.
Organic Fouling and Biofouling Precursor Reduction: Active carbon can absorb dissolved organic matter, algar, and humic matter from source water prior to coming into contact with RO membranes, thereby decreasing the amount of organic pollution, prolonging cleanup in place (CIP), and decreasing the frequency and cost of CMA which disturb the continuity of plant production.
Taste, Odor, and Micropollutant Control in Permeate: Through the removal of taste and smell compounds, algae metabolites, and micro-contaminants during the pre-treatment phase, ACV guarantees that the desalination water supplied to a city utility or an industry process system complies with the requirements of regulation as well as the aesthetic expectations of consumers - essential for the public's acceptance of desalination.
Operational Flexibility with PAC Dosing: The PAC dosage offers water stress response flexibility that enables the desalinated plant operator to enhance the removal of organic matter and taste and smell in the season of the algae bloom or the red tide period - with no need for modification of the pre-existing pre-treatment facilities or the design of the membrane system.

These properties enable active carbon to be a necessary pre-treatment for all sea or salt water desalinization operations – to preserve membrane properties, to guarantee permeability, and to maintain the long term reliability of one of the world’s key water-supply technologies.

Industry Challenges About Desalination Activated Carbon

Seasonal Algal Blooms and Red Tide Events Overwhelm Pretreatment

Harmful algae blooms and red tide episodes significantly increase the amount of organic loading, biopolymer concentration, and flavor/odour complex in the sea water intake, which is a challenge for the active carbon pre-treatment system to ensure sufficient organic removal capability in the face of intense, unforeseeable events that may take several weeks.

Desalination Plant Scale Creates Significant Carbon Volume Requirements

Large-scale SWRO installations handling 100,000 cubic metres of sea water per day need a large amount of active carbon in the pre-treatment system, which poses major purchasing, logistical and CCS management problems, which increase the complexity and cost of the installation.

Desalination Plant Scale Creates Significant Carbon Volume Requirements

Specific Use Scenarios — Desalination Activated Carbon

RO Membrane Dechlorination Pretreatment

Besides, when chlorine and chloramines are added to sea or brackish water for biological control, they must be completely removed before the water is supplied to the reverse osmosis (RO) system. Even a small amount of chlorine (CL) can cause irreversible oxidative damage to PC/PE materials, which will permanently reduce their resistance and water flow performance. Placing granular ACCC or PAC ACC directly upstream of the RO array can achieve rapid, complete and reliable dechlorination, thus protecting the investment in RO membranes and ensuring stable long-term operation regardless of seasonal changes in source water quality.

Organic Fouling Precursor Removal

The main causes of the organic pollution and biological degradation on the RO membrane are the reduction of the flow rate, the higher the working pressure, and the shorter the lifetime of the film. Active carbon pretreatments absorb the contamination precursors from the feed flow prior to their arrival in the RO field, prolong the time period between Chemical Cleanup in Place (CIP) cycles, decrease the amount and frequency of washing chemical use, and keep a higher MFR over the operating lifetime of the desalinization plant.

Taste and Odor Control in Desalinated Water

Sea and brackish water – especially in coastal regions where algae blooms, industry releases, and seasonal changes in water quality – is composed of Geosmin, 2-Methyl Borneol (MIB), Dimethyl sulphide, and other flavour and odour compounds which penetrate the desalination system and pollute the percolation of salt water, rendering them organoleptic unacceptable for consumers despite their microbiological and chemical safety. Active carbon pretreatments adsorb such flavour and odour compounds prior to the RO system, making sure that the final desalination water supplied to the urban grid complies with the requirements of the regulation and the aesthetic expectations of the consumer, which is essential for the public’s acceptance of the desalination.

Micropollutant and Emerging Contaminant Removal

Offshore sea inlet and brackish water aquifers of industrial and urban areas are under increasing pressure from drug residues, endocrine disruptors, pesticides, and industrial chemicals from waste water, agriculture run-off, and storm water – and the fact that RO membranes on their own are not always sufficiently efficient to achieve the potable water quality standards of the desalinated permeate. Active carbon pre-treatment offers an extra barrier to those micro-pollutants upstream from the RO system, supplementing membrane rejection and ensuring uniform penetration quality across VWP profiles and evolving regulatory requirements.

Algal Bloom and Red Tide Event Management

Harmful algae blooms and red tides – which are becoming more common in the global warming of coastal waters – have significantly increased the amount of organic loading, the concentration of algae toxins, as well as the taste and smell compounds at sea salt water intake, generating an acute pre-treatment problem which cannot be solved by a fixed GAC bed on its own with adequate rapidity or strength. PAC ACCC offers a flexible, quick-response preconditioning ability that can be triggered and scaled as soon as a bloom occurs, enabling the desalter operator to continuously produce satisfactory penetration quality throughout the bloom period, while not stopping the pumping activity or endangering the treated water quality.

Brackish Water Desalination Feed Water Polishing

Salt water sources employed in the inland desalinization plant — such as the aquifer, the farm drain, and the industrial process water cycle flow — often contain elevated concentrations of Fe, Mn, Hydrogen sulphide, Ammonia, and Organic Compounds that affect RO membrane performance and finished water quality. Active carbon processing phases that are incorporated in brine desalinated pre-treatment trains deal with the organic and taste and smell constituents of such complicated source water substrates, supplementing the upstream iron-removing, softening, and micro-filtering phases to provide a continuously conditioned supply of feed that meets the requirements for a stable, long term RO membrane operation.

Our Desalination Activated Carbon Advantages

Complete Dechlorination That Protects Membrane Capital Investment

Active carbon provides quick, total removal of free chlorine and chloramines from desalinated feedwater – removing the main reason for irreversible oxidation of RO membrane and preserving the significant capital investment that the membrane array represents during its entire designed operating life.

Organic Fouling Reduction That Extends Membrane Service Life

Active carbon decreases membrane fouling rates, increases clean-out times, and decreases chemical washing frequency by adsorption of dissolved organic compounds, algae biopolymers, and humus in front of an RO array – direct reduction in operating costs and maximum lifetime for a complete desalination plant.

Flexible Response to Seasonal Source Water Quality Variations

The PAC dosage offers an immediate scaling of the pre-treatment strength at the time of the algae bloom, the red tide, and the season of the organic loading peak - allowing the desalter operator to keep the infiltration quality constant and uninterrupted in the case of rapid and unpredictable deterioration of the source water quality.g.

Find All Activated Carbon Categories

Reliable desalinization pretreatments begin by choosing an active carbon class that is exactly compatible with the chemical composition of your source water, the organic loading profile, and the membrane system. Our active carbon portfolio includes both Granular (GAC) and Powdery (PAC) classes designed to reduce the number of pollutants, reduce the organic pollution, and regulate the flavor and smell of the sea and salt water. Look through our full catalogue to compare specs and determine the correct product for your preconditioning system.

Find All Industrial Solutions

Desalination is among the many challenges in water security and industrial treatment where advanced chemical materials play a crucial role in delivering critical performance. No matter whether your operations cover drinking water purification, wastewater reuse, industrial process water treatment, air emission control, or environmental remediation, our industrial solutions portfolio leverages activated carbon, alumina, titanium dioxide, and other high-performance materials to address the entire treatment spectrum. You can explore our industrial solutions to find the most suitable approach for your specific sector and operational needs.

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