See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.

net/publication/275251989

Desalination of Red Sea water using both electrodialysis and reverse osmosis
as complementary methods

Article in Egyptian Journal of Petroleum · April 2015

DOI: 10.1016/j.ejpe.2015.02.007

CITATIONS READS

26 6,205

4 authors, including:

Fatma Hassan
Aswan University
69 PUBLICATIONS 377 CITATIONS

SEE PROFILE

Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects:

New Speetrophotometric Method for the Determination of Trace. View project

complexes of diphenyl phosphine View project

All content following this page was uploaded by Fatma Hassan on 22 February 2016.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

Egyptian Journal of Petroleum (2015) xxx, xxx–xxx

H O S T E D BY
Egyptian Petroleum Research Institute

Egyptian Journal of Petroleum

www.elsevier.com/locate/egyjp
www.sciencedirect.com

FULL LENGTH ARTICLE

Desalination of Red Sea water using both

electrodialysis and reverse osmosis as
complementary methods
E.A. Abdel-Aal a, M.E. Farid b,*
, Fatma S.M. Hassan c, Adila E. Mohamed c

a
University of Florida, Particle Engineering Research Center, 205 Particle Science & Technology, PO Box 116135, Gainesville,
FL 32611-613, USA
b
Egyptian Petroleum Research Institute, Nasr City, Cairo, Egypt
c
Aswan University, Aswan, Egypt

Received 18 June 2014; accepted 17 August 2014

KEYWORDS Abstract Desalination process separates nearly salt free water from sea or brackish water. So,
Desalination; desalination process is becoming a solution for water scarcity all over the world. Two membrane
Electrodialysis; methods of water desalination namely electrodialysis (ED) and reverse osmosis (RO) are used in
Reverse osmosis; this study as complementary methods. The results show that both ED and RO can be used as inte-
Red Sea water grated system. This system is economic and cost effective compared with each individual method
provided using the ED system before the RO. In this study, it was approved that seawater can
be used as it is an electrolyte. TDS of Red Sea water was decreased from 42070 ppm to
2177 ppm achieving 94.8% removal efficiency using ED for half of its optimum time. Total removal
efficiency of 99.4% can be obtained using the combined system of ED and RO.
ª 2015 The Authors. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of Egyptian Petroleum Research
Institute. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/
licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

1. Introduction by year 2030, the global needs of water would increase to

6900 billion m3 from the current 4500 billion m3 [2]. So, about
In this century, the most crucial problem afflicting people 53% increase in the amount of drinking water is needed by
around the world is global water scarcity. The rapid growth year 2030. Consequently, the present surface water resources
in population has resulted in greater demand on the quantity will no longer be sufficient to meet the future needs for
of drinking water, leading to catastrophic water shortage in mankind.
arid and water-stressed region areas [1]. It is projected that With the fact that only around 0.8% of the total earth’s
water is fresh water [3]. The global installed desalination
capacity by water sources and the use of seawater as feed brine
* Corresponding author. have contributed more than half of the total capacity produced
E-mail address: mostafa_chemist55@yahoo.com (M.E. Farid).
worldwide [4]. Desalination is necessary in arid countries [2]
Peer review under responsibility of Egyptian Petroleum Research
and in cases where good-quality water is required for industrial
Institute. purposes and fresh water is not available [5].
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ejpe.2015.02.007
1110-0621 ª 2015 The Authors. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of Egyptian Petroleum Research Institute.
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Please cite this article in press as: E.A. Abdel-Aal et al., Desalination of Red Sea water using both electrodialysis and reverse osmosis as complementary methods,
Egypt. J. Petrol. (2015), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ejpe.2015.02.007
2 E.A. Abdel-Aal et al.

Membrane based processes include reverse osmosis (RO), Diaphragm pump YZY-800-A2
membrane distillation (MD) and electrodialysis (ED) [6]. For Volts 24 VDC Working pressure 70 PSI
the treatment of brackish groundwater, electrodialysis or elec- Amps 0.8 A Working flow 800 ml
trodialysis reversal is robust against scaling problems [7,8] and In pressure 28 PSI Open flow 2000 ml
they can effectively remove disinfection byproduct precursors,
such as bromide and organic matter [9]. The most important
industrial application of ED is the production of drinking Membranes: FILMTECä TW30-2514 Small Commercial
water from brackish water and seawater as well as dem- Elements with the following specifications:
ineralization of solutions of widely varying industrial fluids
encountered in the food, chemical and pharmaceutical indus-
tries [10,11]. Membrane type: Polyamide thin-film composite
Active area (m2): 0.7 Applied pressure (bar): 15.5
During the past 30 years, reverse osmosis (RO) is increas-
Stabilized salt rejection (%): 99.5 Permeate flow rate (m3/d): 0.7
ingly used in seawater and brackish water desalination, water
treatment and wastewater reclamation due to the superior
and stable quality of the water produced and the relatively
2.1.3. Analytical methods
low cost [12].
In this study, the desalination process was carried out using pH, conductivity and salinity were measured using pH meter
both the electrodialysis and reverse osmosis as complementary WTW Inc. Lab pH 730.
methods to avoid their disadvantages. Electrodialysis process Total dissolved salts were measured by TDS Meter (HO
was applied firstly followed by reverse osmosis. 14D).
Hardness and alkalinity were determined by the titration
2. Experimental method according to Standard Methods for the Examination
of the Water and Wastewater 20th edition, 1999.
Calcium and Magnesium were measured by titration with
2.1. Materials and methods
EDTA and the procedure was applied according to
VOGEL’s textbook of quantitative chemical analysis, fifth edi-
2.1.1. Electrodialysis system
tion, 1989.
Electrodialysis system contains three compartments, compart- Chlorides were determined using silver nitrate (Mohr
ment 1 contains 2 L untreated water (dilute), compartment 2 Method) according to VOGEL’s textbook of quantitative
contains 2.5 L Na2SO4 solution of known concentration or chemical analysis, fifth edition, 1989.
water used as electrode rinse (electrolyte) and compartment 3 Sodium element was analyzed using atomic absorption
contains 2 L distilled water, tab water or sea water (concen- spectrophotometer (AA-6600) SHIMADZU.
trate). Under the influence of direct current, ions in the input Potassium, Sulfate, Ammonium, Nitrate, Nitrite, Silica,
source (dilute) migrate toward the anode. They leave the dilute Iron, Manganese were analyzed by spectrophotometer DR
compartment, move through the anion exchange membrane 2000 Hach Company.
and stop by the cation exchange membrane in the concentrate
compartment. This circulation of water was assured by pumps. 2.1.4. Calculations
Table 1 shows the specifications and operation conditions of
R is the TDS removal efficiency in %. R is defined as the fol-
electrodialysis unit. For electrodialysis operation, 2 L from
lowing equation:
the feed water source of ED system is placed in the dilute com-
partment for the desired electrodialysis time interval at the R ¼ Ci  Cf  Ci  100%
required potential difference. The variables which are studied where Ci and Cf are initial and final TDS concentration of the
are potential difference, concentration of electrolyte and elec- concentrated solution, respectively in ppm.
trodialysis time. During the test, water samples are taken
periodically from dilute and concentrate streams at the desired 2.2. Procedure
electrodialysis time and the total dissolved solids (TDS) and
salinity were measured.
The electrodialysis (ED) system was applied before the reverse
2.1.2. Reverse osmosis system osmosis (RO). During the test time (1 h), samples were taken
every 10 min for measuring of salinity and total dissolved
Specifications of the high pressure pump of the RO system are solids.
given below:

Table 1 Specifications and operation conditions of electrodialysis unit.

Ion exchange membrane (NEOSPTA-TOKUYAMA SODA)
Cationic membrane CMX Sb 12 Anionic membrane AMX Sb 10
Effective area 2 dm Anode Ti/Pt
Cathode Stainless steel Dilute compartment 180 L/H
Concentrate compartment 180 L/H Electrode chamber Anode 150 L/H
Electrode chamber Cathode 50 L/H Current 10 a Max
Voltage 1 V/Cell Max

Please cite this article in press as: E.A. Abdel-Aal et al., Desalination of Red Sea water using both electrodialysis and reverse osmosis as complementary methods,
Egypt. J. Petrol. (2015), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ejpe.2015.02.007
Desalination of Red Sea water using electrodialysis and reverse osmosis 3

3. Results and discussion 45

6V
40 9V
3.1. Red Sea water specifications 35
12 V
15 V
30
18 V
Red Sea water specifications are given in Table 2.

Salinity, %
25

3.2. Effect of applied voltage 20

15
The applied cell voltage is a critical operating condition in elec- 10
trodialysis processes as the voltage determines the current in
5
the cell and hence the desalination efficiency as well as energy
consumption. 0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
A series of experiments were carried out using different
Time, min.
applied voltages from 6 V to 18 V to follow salinity and
TDS with time. The achieved results are given in Figs. 1 and Figure 1 Effect of time on salinity at different applied voltages.
2. These results reveal that the salinity decreases to less than
10% after 30 min using applied voltage from 12 V to 18 V.
Similarly, the TDS decreases to less than 1000 TDS under 45000
6V
the same conditions. 40000 9V
12 V
35000
15 V
3.3. Effect of electrolyte concentration 30000 18 V

TDS, ppm 25000

A series of experiments were carried out using different sodium
20000
sulfate concentrations (as an electrolyte) from 0.1 M to 0.7 M
15000
to follow the salinity and TDS with time. The achieved results
are given in Figs. 3 and 4. These results reveal that the lower 10000

salinity and lower TDS are achieved at electrolyte concentra- 5000

tion ranging between 0.5 M and 0.7 M). The salinity is less 0
than 10% and TDS less than 1000 ppm. So, 0.5 M electrolyte 0 10 20 30 40 50 60
concentration is selected as optimum electrolyte concentration. Time, min.

3.4. Effect of electrolyte type Figure 2 Effect of time on TDS at different applied voltages.

A series of experiments were carried out using different elec- 3.5. The (RO) system
trolyte types (sodium sulfate, sodium chloride and sodium
nitrate) of 0.5 M concentration to follow the salinity and
The results were taken after many experiments done to reach
TDS with time. The achieved results are given in Figs. 5 and
less amount of water rejected and the major produced, and this
6. These results reveal that the lowest salinity and lower
can be made because the entered water was low in the TDS.
TDS are achieved with sodium sulfate electrolyte. The other
This can also be made by using garrote to control the amount
two electrolytes gave near results. NaCl electrolyte gives the
of water rejected or filtrate through the membranes and also
lowest removal efficiency.
this affects the TDS of the water. So the results shown in
In addition, Table 3 shows the chemical analysis of water
Table 3 were total chemical tests for the final produced water.
produced from ED system after 30 min. This product is fed
It was found from the experiments that if the water, which
to RO system for further desalination.
would enter to the RO system, was low in TDS, we can adjust

Table 2 Red Sea water specifications.

Item Value Item Value
pH 7.7 Chloride (Cl) (ppm) 23,607
Conductivity (Ms/cm) 60.3 Sulfate (SO4 ) (ppm) 1260
Total hardness as (CaCO3) (ppm) 8375 Total alkalinity as (CaCO3) (ppm) 98
Ammonium (NH+ 4 ) (ppm) 0.39 Silica (SiO
2 ) (ppm) 9.72
Calcium (Ca++) (ppm) 738 Nitrate (NO 3 ) (ppm) 12.4
Magnesium (Mg++) (ppm) 1570 Nitrite (N) (ppm) 0.41
Iron (Fe++) (ppm) 0.58 Manganese (Mn++) (ppm) 0.35
Bicarbonate alkalinity as (CaCO3) (ppm) 98 Carbonate alkalinity as (CaCO3) (ppm) 0
Hydroxide alkalinity as (CaCO3) (ppm) 0 Total dissolved salts (TDS) (ppm) 42,070
Sodium (Na+) (ppm) 12,339 Salinity (%) 40.6
Potassium (K+) (ppm) 287

Please cite this article in press as: E.A. Abdel-Aal et al., Desalination of Red Sea water using both electrodialysis and reverse osmosis as complementary methods,
Egypt. J. Petrol. (2015), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ejpe.2015.02.007
4 E.A. Abdel-Aal et al.

45 45000
0.1 M Sodium Cholride
40 40000
0.3 M Sodium Nitrate
35 0.5 M Sodium Sulphate
35000
30 0.7 M
Salinity, %

30000
25

TDS, ppm
20 25000

15 20000
10
15000
5
10000
0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 5000
Time, min.
0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Figure 3 Effect of time on salinity at different Na2SO4
electrolyte concentrations. Time, min.

Figure 6 Effect of time on TDS at different electrolyte types.

45000
0.1 M
40000 0.3 M

35000 0.5 M
0.7 M Table 3 Chemical analysis for ED produced water after
30000
30 min.
TDS , ppm

25000
TDS 2177 ppm
20000
Cl 1367 ppm
15000 SO4 10 ppm
10000 Salinity 3.8%
Conductivity 6.89 Ms/cm
5000

0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Time , min.
Table 4 Chemical analysis for final produced water.
Figure 4 Effect of time on TDS at different Na2SO4 electrolyte
Elements to be analyzed (Units) Results Recovery
concentrations. ratio (%)
pH 7.38 –
45 Conductivity (Ms/cm) 0.465 –
Sodium Chloride
Total hardness as (CaCO3) (ppm) 23 99.7
40 Sodium Nitrate
Sodium Sulphate Calcium (Ca++) (ppm) 2.5 99.6
35 Magnesium (Mg++) (ppm) 4.03 99.7
Total alkalinity as (CaCO3) (ppm) 11.5 –
30
Bicarbonate alkalinity as (CaCO3) (ppm) 11.5 –
Salinity, %

25 Carbonate alkalinity as (CaCO3) (ppm) 0 –

20 Hydroxide alkalinity as (CaCO3) (ppm) 0 –
Sodium (Na+) (ppm) 113 99
15
Potassium (K+) (ppm) 2.9 98.9
10 Chloride (Cl) (ppm) 108 99.5
Sulfate (SO4 ) (ppm) 2.3 99.8
5
Ammonium (NH+ 4 ) (ppm) 0.01 97.4
0 Nitrate (NO 3 ) (ppm) 2.81 77.4
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Nitrite (N) (ppm) 0.003 99.2
Time, min.
Silica (SiO
2 ) (ppm) 0.12 98.7
Iron (Fe++) (ppm) 0.04 93.1
Figure 5 Effect of time on salinity at different electrolyte types.
Manganese (Mn++) (ppm) 0.01 97.1
Total dissolved salts (ppm) 243 99.4
Salinity (%) 0.0 100
the system so that we can break the usual results of the system
by half of the entered amount rejected and gain more produced
water by two thirds or more and the rejected can be a third or
less according to the TDS of the entered water. The produced 4. Conclusion
amount from ED system was 1520 ml, and by using garrote the
amount of the produced water from RO was 1450 ml and this The results of this study show that electrodialysis is capable of
gives the ratio of loosing water = 12.12%. being used to desalinate brackish water as well as water with
From Table 4 the recovery ratio reaches 99% for almost all higher salt concentration. The total dissolved salts can reach
the essential elements. Also, the table reveals the presence of 45,000 ppm with a salinity 40% without expensive methods
the important elements in the drinking water. of pretreatment. The results showed that as the salts increase

Please cite this article in press as: E.A. Abdel-Aal et al., Desalination of Red Sea water using both electrodialysis and reverse osmosis as complementary methods,
Egypt. J. Petrol. (2015), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ejpe.2015.02.007
Desalination of Red Sea water using electrodialysis and reverse osmosis 5

in the electrolyte the transfer of ions increases. Also, it can be [3] L.F. Greenlee, D.F. Lawler, B.D. Freeman, B. Marrot, P.
used in integrated system before RO system to play the role of Moulin, Water Res. 43 (2009) 2317–2348.
pretreatment and to decrease the high salinity of the feed [4] Wangnick/Global Water Intelligence, IDA Worldwide
water, and by this with using the RO system we can produce Desalting Plants Inventory, 2005.
[5] Nicos X. Tsiourtis, Desalination and The Environment, Water
more water than usual with low amount in the rejected water
Development Department, Ministry of Agriculture, Natural
which also is low in salinity. Resources and Environment, Nicosia, Cyprus, 2001.
[6] L. Garcı́a-Rodrı́guez, Sol. Energy 75 (2003) 381–393.
References [7] P. Murray (Ed.), Manual of Water Supply Practices e M38:
Electrodialysis and Electrodialysis Reversal, American Water
[1] M.A. Shannon, P.W. Bohn, M. Elimelech, J.G. Georgiadis, B.J. Work Association, Denver, 1995.
Marinas, A.M. Mayes, Nature 452 (2008) 301–310. [8] H. Strathmann, Ion-exchange Membrane Separation Process,
[2] N. Misdan, W.J. Lau, A.F. Ismail, Seawater Reverse Osmosis Elsevier B.V, Amsterdam, 2004.
(SWRO) Desalination by Thin-film Composite Membrane–– [9] F. Valero, R. Arbós, Desalination 253 (1–3) (2010) 170–174.
Current Development, Challenges and Future Prospects, [10] H. Strathmann, Desalination 264 (2010) 268–288.
Advanced Membrane Technology Research Centre (AMTEC), [11] K. Sato, T. Sakairi, T. Yinemato, T. Tadaki, J. Membr. Sci. 100
Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Faculty of Petroleum and (1995) 209–216.
Renewable Energy Engineering, Universiti Teknologi [12] A.B. Koltuniewicz, E. Drioli, Membrane in Clean Technologies:
Malaysia, 2011. Theory and Practice, vol. 1, Wiley-VCH, Berlin, 2008.

Please cite this article in press as: E.A. Abdel-Aal et al., Desalination of Red Sea water using both electrodialysis and reverse osmosis as complementary methods,
Egypt. J. Petrol. (2015), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ejpe.2015.02.007
View publication stats